Hapoel Afula is an Israeli football club based in

Afula Afula ( he, עפולה Arabic: العفولة) is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of . Afula's ancient ...

. The club is currently in

Liga Leumit Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

and plays at the

Afula Illit Stadium Afula Illit Stadium ( he, איצטדיון עפולה עילית, ''Itztadion Afula Illit''), is a football stadium in Afula, Israel. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Hapoel Afula. Inauguration of the Stadium Th ...

. Their main rivals are Hapoel Asi Gilboa.

History

The club was founded in 1924 in

Beit Jann Beit Jann ( ar, بيت جن; he, בֵּיתּ גַ'ן) is a Druze village on Mount Meron in northern Israel. At 940 meters above sea level, Beit Jann is one of the highest inhabited locations in the country. In it had a population of . Etymol ...

, near

Yavne'el Yavne'el ( he, יַבְנְאֵל, ar, يفنيئيل) is a moshava and local council in the Northern District of Israel. Founded in 1901, it is one of the oldest rural Jewish communities in the country. According to the Israel Central Bureau o ...

, by Russian Jews affiliated with

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair ( he, הַשׁוֹמֵר הַצָעִיר, , ''The Young Guard'') is a Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, and it was also the name of the group ...

movement. Due to unemployment in Beit Gan, the club relocated to Afula. During its early days, Hapoel Afula played mostly in

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against the likes of

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups ( ...

Sporting competition
Davar, 8.4.1926, Historical Jewish Press In "Hapoel"
Davar, 26.9.1935, Historical Jewish Press and in regional leagues, comprising clubs from the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

regions.Football league committee at the Northern district
Davar, 3.2.1936, Historical Jewish Press Games at the Haifa district
Doar Hayom, 16.3.1936, Historical Jewish Press After the

Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel ( he, הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 ( 5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive ...

, the club was re-established in 1951. At the summer of 1954, the club merged with neighboring football club, Hapoel Balfouria,FA Operated
Maariv, 29.8.1954, Historical Jewish Press which played at the time at the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

of Israeli football, and played home matches in Afula. Since the 1957–58 season, while playing in

Liga Alef Liga Alef ( he, ליגה א', , League A) is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south. History League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declar ...

, the second tier of Israeli football at the time, the club was officially known under its current name, although they were mentioned by the press in both Hapoel Afula and Hapoel Balfouria names.Bnei Yehuda 0–3 defeat to Kiryat Haim increase chances of Beitar
Heruth, 20.4.1958, Historical Jewish Press Hapoel Balfouria and Beer Sheva in Liga Alef
Davar, 14.6.1959, Historical Jewish Press the club continued to play as Hapoel Afula, and the name of Balfouria was dropped. In the 1958–59 season the club finished bottom in Liga Alef, and went to play in the relegation play-offs. In spite the club finished the relegation play-offs in a perfect record against

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The c ...

, Hapoel Netanya and Maccabi Sha'arayim, they were eventually disqualified and demoted to

Liga Bet Liga Bet ( he, ליגה ב', lit. ''League B'') is the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into four regional divisions. History League football started in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of ...

for fielding ineligible player.Hapoel Afula disqualified
Maariv, 5.7.1959, Historical Jewish Press The club played for 17 successive seasons in Liga Bet, until they were relegated to

Liga Gimel Liga Gimel ( he, ליגה ג', lit. ''League C'') is the fifth and bottom division of Israeli Football League, a position it has held since 2009. From Liga Alef and downwards to this, each league is separated by region as well. History Liga Gimel ...

at the end of the 1976–77 season.Liga Bet (Page 9)
Hadshot HaSport, 24.4.1977, archive.football.co.il The club made an immediate return to Liga Bet, where they played up until the 1983–84 season, in which the club folded during the season.HaShikma, Dimona and Or Akiva to Liga Alef (Page 8)
Hadshot HaSport, 13.5.1984, archive.football.co.il The club reformed in 2001, and reached Liga Bet in the 2002–03 season, where they finished runners-up in the North B division. In the following season, the club won that division and were promoted to Liga Alef. After 9 seasons in Liga Alef, the club finally managed to win promotion to Liga Leumit, when they won the 2012–13 season in Liga Alef North, by a margin of ten points, and made a return to the second tier of Israeli football after 54 years. In The 2013–14 season, the club reached the top play-off in Liga Leumit, and finished in the 6th place, an achievement which was bettered in the following season, after the club finished in the 4th place. In the

2014–15 Israel State Cup The 2014–15 Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina'') was the 76th season of Israel's nationwide football cup competition and the 61st after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. The competition began on 10 September 20 ...

, the club eliminated top flight club,

Maccabi Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. ( he, מכבי פתח תקווה) (Full name: "Maccabi Avshalom Ironi Petah Tikva F.C., ) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. It is part of the Maccabi World Union for international Jewish spo ...

, in the Quarter-finals by

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

(0–0, 2–2), and reached the Semi-finals for the first time in their history. However, in the

Semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, Hapoel Afula were hammered 0–7 by Hapoel Be'er Sheva in

Teddy Stadium Teddy Stadium ( he, אצטדיון טדי) is a sports stadium in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem. Three football teams currently use the stadium: Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Jerusalem, and the Israel national football team for select home match ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. On 6 December 2017, the club won its first major trophy, after beating

Hapoel Ramat Gan Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל הפועל רמת-גן גבעתיים, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim'') is an Israeli football club from Ramat Gan and Givatayim. They currently play in Liga Leumit, ...

in the Toto Cup Leumit final.

Current squad

; As of 31 August 2022

Honours

League

Cups

Managers

* Tzahi Tayer (2006–07) *

Felix Naim Felix Naim ( he, פליקס נעים) is an Israeli former football player and currently the manager of Hapoel Afula. Sports career Naim was a handball player who played for Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin and for the Israel U-18 team. He turned into ...

(2007) * Dror Cohen (2007) * Baruch Sa'ar (2007) * Erez Benodis (2007) *

(2008) * Albert Edri (2008) * Lior Levy (2008–2009) * Alon Schwager (2009–2010) * Oded Koter (2010–11) * Yaron Hochenboim (2011–2015) *

Nissan Yehezkel Nissan Yehezkel (born 1971) is an Israeli Association football, football manager. Honours *Liga Leumit, Israeli Second Division: **Runner-up (2): 2010–11, 2013–14 References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yehezkel, Nissan 1971 births Israeli Jews Liv ...

(2015–2016) *

Eyal Lahman Eyal Lahman ( he, אייל לחמן, born 29 September 1965) is an Israeli football manager. Biography Born in Petah Tikva, Lahman joined the Hapoel Petah Tikva youth system, but left the club at 16 to join Petah Tikva-based Hapoel Mahane Yeh ...

(2016–2017) *

Reuven Atar Reuven Atar ( he, ראובן עטר; born January 3, 1969) is a retired Israeli football player who was mostly known for his career in Maccabi Haifa and now he works as the manager of Bnei Lod. As a manager, he is mostly known for his work with ...

(2017) *

Benny Ben Zaken Benny Ben Zaken ( he, בני בן זקן; born 18 October 1982) is a retired Israeli footballer and currently manager. Honours *Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional ass ...

(2017) *

Ofir Haim Ofir Haim ( he, אופיר חיים; born April 21, 1975) is an Israeli former footballer who manages the Israel national under-19 football team. He has been the head coach of the Israel U-19 since the beginning of the first qualifiers round, ...

(2017–2019) *

Yigal Antebi Yigal Antebi ( he, יגאל אנטבי; born August 1, 1974 in Rishon LeZion) is an Israeli former football player who now manages. He played in Hapoel Tel Aviv for 10 years and for the Israeli national team for 5 years. Antebi started his sen ...

(2019) * Idan Bar On (2019) *

Shlomi Dora Shlomi Dora ( he, שלומי דורה; born June 22, 1973, in Haifa) is an Israeli football manager. His younger brother is the footballer Yossi Dora who was play for Hapoel Haifa F.C., Hapoel Haifa. Honours As manager *Liga Leumit (1): **2008� ...

(2019–)

External links

Hapoel Afula
Israel Football Association

References

{{Liga Leumit

Association football clubs established in 1924

1924 establishments in Mandatory Palestine