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| Full name | Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | The Neighbourhood The Goldens The Oranges | |||
| Founded | 1936; 89 years ago (1936) | |||
| Ground | Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel | |||
| Capacity | 2,300 | |||
| Owner | Eliran Oved | |||
| Chairman | Keren Sallem | |||
| Manager | Eli Levi | |||
| League | Liga Leumit | |||
| 2024–25 | Liga Leumit, 6th of 16 | |||
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. (Hebrew:מועדון כדורגל בני יהודה תל אביב,Moadon Kaduregel Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv), commonly referred to asBnei Yehuda (בני יהודה), is an Israelifootball club from theHatikva Quarter of the city ofTel Aviv. The club is a member of theLiga Leumit.
The club was formed in January 1936 byYemenite religious Jews, With them Nathan Sulami and his friends.[1] It was named afterJudah (Hebrew: יהודה, Yehuda).[2] Sulami and his friends were first promoted to the top division in 1959.Two seasons later they narrowly avoided relegation, finishing second from bottom. In 1965 the club reached theState Cup final for the first time, but lost 2–1 toMaccabi Tel Aviv.[3] In 1968 they reached the final again, this time beatingHapoel Petah Tikva to claim their first piece of major silverware.
After several near-misses, the club was relegated at the end of the1971–72 season after finishing second from bottom. However, they made an immediate return asLiga Alef champions but were relegated again in 1976. In the 1977–78 season the club were promoted back to the top division asLiga Artzit champions, and also reached the State Cup final, where they lost 2–1 toMaccabi Netanya. The following season the club finished fourth in Liga Leumit.
The1980–81 season was the club's best so far. Managed byShlomo Sharf they finished second in the league and reached the cup final again, this time beatingHapoel Tel Aviv 4–3 after a penalty shootout. However, the success was not maintained, and they were relegated at the end of the1983–84 season.
The club made an immediate return as Liga Artzit champions and finished second in1986–87. The1989–90 season saw the club win its first, and to date only, championship under the leadership ofGiora Spiegel. Two seasons later they won theToto Cup for the first time, repeating the feat in 1997.
The2000–01 season saw Bnei Yehuda finish second from bottom of the Premier League (which had replaced Liga Leumit as the top division) and the club was relegated. However, they made an immediate return as Liga Leumit runners-up.[4] In2005–06 they reached the cup final, losing 1–0 to Hapoel Tel Aviv, but also qualifying for Europe for the first time. In the2006–07 UEFA Cup they lost 6–0 on aggregate toLokomotiv Sofia and had to play their home match inSenec inSlovakia due to security concerns.[5]
At the beginning of the 2006–07 season Abu Siam made the eyebrow-raising decision to sign with one of Mac TA's crosstown rivals, Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, a club with a fanatical fanbase smaller than Maccabi's, but more violent. Which is Bnei Yehuda. Although at the beginning of the season the fans ridiculed the decision to sign the club's first Arab player, the furor soon died down, which came to a surprise following similar affairs with Beitar Jerusalem that had occurred in 2005 and 2006 in regards to efforts to sign Muslim Nigerian player Ndala Ibrahim.
In the 2009–10 season Bnei Yehuda reached theEuropean League play-off, after starting in the first qualifying round, but lost toPSV 2–0 on aggregate. The following season they reached the second qualifying round of the Europa League, but lost toShamrock Rovers.
From2009–10 to the2012–13 season, Bnei Yehuda managed to finish regularly in the top 3–4 ranks of the Israeli Premier League which won her participation in the European League qualifying. Following the success, the group became a springboard for players. Many players who were remarkable in the ranks of Bnei Yehuda have moved or were sold to bigger clubs and others were called to the national team.
In the2013–14 season, Bnei Yehuda finished bottom and relegated to Liga Leumit. However, they made an immediate return to the Premier League as the2014–15 Liga Leumit champions.
In the 2016–17 season, the club won theNational cup, and it was their first major title in 27 years (last one was the championship in 1989–90).
In 2017, HAP Investments became the Group's main sponsor. In June 2018 a new contract was signed for the 2018/2019 season.
The Bnei Yehuda fanbase is predominantly a working-class neighbourhood support fromHatikva, and has one supporter group, theultras "Lions Army", who express far-right political views.[6] have been involved in various racist incidents,[7] such as that involving Arab playerSalim Tyameh[8] and have developed a reputation for this as well as violence.[9][10] The fans heavily criticisedIsmaila Soro when he decided to move toCeltic F.C.[11]
For most of its existence, Bnei Yehuda played at theHatikva Neighborhood Stadium in theHatikva Quarter of Tel Aviv. However, in 2004 the team moved their home matches to theBloomfield Stadium, they returned to the old stadium in the 25/26 season
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07 | UEFA Cup | Q2 |  Lokomotiv Sofia | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–6 |
| 2009–10 | Europa League | Q1 |  Simurq PFC | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Q2 |  Dinaburg Daugavpils | 4–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 | ||
| Q3 |  Paços Ferreira | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| PO |  PSV | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | ||
| 2010–11 | Europa League | Q1 |  Ulisses | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Q2 |  Shamrock Rovers | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | ||
| 2011–12 | Europa League | Q2 |  UE Sant Julià | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| Q3 |  Helsingborgs IF | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | ||
| 2012–13 | Europa League | Q2 | Shirak | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Q3 |  PAOK | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–6 | ||
| 2017–18 | Europa League | Q2 |  Trenčín | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Q3 |  Zenit Saint Petersburg | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Europa League | Q3 | Neftçi Baku | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–3 |
| PO | Malmö | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–4 |
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| Title | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Israeli Championships | 1 | 1989–90 |
| Title | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| State Cup | 4 | 1967–68,1980–81,2016–17,2018–19 |
| Toto Cup | 2 | 1991–92,1996–97 |
| Super cup | 1 | 1990 |
