Hapoel Beer 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 club was established in 1949, and since 2007 it has been run by businesswoman Alona Barkat, who serves as the club's owner. The club also fields youth teams, and a women's side. There is also a football academy.

The home uniform colors of the club are red and white. Until 1959, the club played its home games at a stadium that was located in the old city of Be'er Sheva. In 1960, the club moved to Vasermil Stadium. Starting from the 2015–16 season, the home ground of the team is Turner Stadium.

The club began to win titles in the 1970s. Throughout the years, the team has won five championships, two Israel State Cup, four Toto Cup (One in Liga Leumit), four Israel Super Cup (One in the Second Division) and one Lilian Cup. Be'er Sheva is also the first team in the history of Israeli football to play in a European competition, together with Beitar Jerusalem, and the first team in the history of Israeli football that played in the UEFA Cup together with Hapoel Tel Aviv.

History

Early years

The team started in 1949, when Zalman Casspi was a footballer at Hapoel Ramat Gan. He set up a department to find young talents in the transit camps in the Be'er Sheva area, in order to eventually establish a soccer team. In April 1950, the group was established in the framework of the Hapoel Center.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva played for the first time on 1 May 1950 and won 5–4 Hapoel Mefalsim, a team made up of players who immigrated to Israel from South America. The goals were scored by Marcus Abergil (duo), Henry Lev (duo) and Baruch Cohen. At that time, the team participated in friendly matches against teams from the two senior leagues, and Derby was held against Maccabi Be'er Sheva, which ended with a 3–3 draw.

In 1952, the club official activity was suspended after the Association decided that the geographical distance would not allow its participation, but in 1954 the group was re-registered in the 1954–55 league in the Negev region of Liga Gimel, the third league at the time. Be'er Sheva finished the season in the seventh and final place in the Negev region with one win from 12 games, 22 mandatory goals and only 5 goals.

The 1955–56 season, under the guidance of coach Yosef Azran, finished first in the Southern District of Liga Gimel, the fourth league at the time. In the qualifying games for relegation to Liga Bet, Be'er Sheva competed against Hapoel Lod, Hapoel Ramla and Hapoel Holon, and in the decisive game in Rehovot she beat Hapoel Jaffa 0–5 and qualified for the second division. In the 1956–57 season, the team finished seventh in the league in the Southern District.

In the 1957–58 season, Lonia Dvorin replaced Yosef Azran at the coaching post. In the same season, the Football Association stopped all the leagues under the first division towards their end, with Be'er Sheva in second place leading to the first round of tests, following suspicions of bribes and biases, all of which have been frozen for the season. At the end of the season the team reached the final of the "Football Association Cup", but lost 7–1 to Hapoel Tiberias.

In the 1958–59 season the team finished second in the league in the Southern District and qualified for the first stage of the tests. In the first test game she lost 0–5 to Hapoel Afula and Dvorin resigned from the team coaching. Former Israeli national team coach Jack Gibbons took his place and led the team to Liga Alef after winning the decisive game against Hapoel Netanya in Rehovot 2–1.

1960s

In the 1959–60 season, Hapoel Be'er Sheva moved to play on a lawn in the municipal stadium in Be'er Sheva. This season, Yechiel Mor, 27-year-old from Hapoel Ramat Gan, joined the team and began to serve as player-coach. Under his guidance, the team finished ninth in Liga Alef. In preparation for the 1960–61 Beer Sheva played their first game against an international team when she hosted Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta for a friendly game, which ended in a 1–2 loss. This season they finished ninth again.

In the 1961–62 season, Rober Eryol was appointed coach of the team, but after five matches Be'er Sheva remained without points, and the club decided to fire Eryol and rehire coach Yechiel Mor back. In the same season, the team reached the semi-finals of the State Cup for the first time in history, in the Liga Alef, after beating Hapoel Ramla 2–1 in the eighth round. In the quarterfinals, Hapoel Tel Aviv won 3–1 and was eliminated after a loss 3–0 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the semi-finals.

In the 1963–64 season, the league was divided into two districts – North and South, and Be'er Sheva finished as the "winter champion" in the Liga Alef South. Be'er Sheva struggled with Beitar Tel Aviv