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| Full name | Ihoud Bnei Sakhnin F.C. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1991; 35 years ago (1991) | ||
| Ground | Doha Stadium,Sakhnin | ||
| Capacity | 8,500 | ||
| Chairman | Muhamed Abu Younis | ||
| Manager | Sharon Mimer | ||
| League | Israeli Premier League | ||
| 2024–25 | Israeli Premier League, 10th of 14 | ||
| Website | sakhninfc | ||
Bnei Sakhnin F.C. (Arabic:اتحاد أبناء سخنين,romanized: Ittiḥād ’Abnā’ Saḫnīn,Hebrew:איחוד בני סכנין,romanized: Iḥud Bnei Sakhnin,lit. 'Sons of Sakhnin United') is anIsraeli professionalfootball club based at theDoha Stadium inSakhnin. They are the most successful club among theArab-Israeli clubs in the country, having won theState Cup in 2004.
Bnei Sakhnin was formed in 1991 by a merger of Maccabi Sakhnin andHapoel Sakhnin. They were promoted toLiga Artzit (then the second tier) in 1997. In1998–99 they finished in the relegation zone, but were reprieved whenMaccabi Jaffa, who had finished bottom of the top division, were relegated three leagues due to financial problems.
In2002–03 the club finished as runners-up and promoted alongside fellow Israeli-Arab clubMaccabi Ahi Nazareth, becoming the joint-second Israeli-Arab club to play in the top flight afterHapoel Tayibe. Promotion was only won on the last day of the season, the club overtakingHapoel Jerusalem when they won 1–0 away toMaccabi Kiryat Gat, whilst Hapoel were held to a 0–0 draw atHapoel Ra'anana.
Prior to their first season in the top division, Sakhnin were favourites to be relegated, and it was thought that Nazareth had a better chance of survival. Questions remained as to whether the squad that gained promotion would be able to compete at the top level, along with the added pressures not to become the nextHapoel Taibe (who were relegated in their first season in the top flight, and subsequently suffered financial problems leading to repeated relegations thereafter). They also lost managerMomy Zafran who resigned shortly after the club won promotion, replacing him withEyal Lahman. In addition, the club had to play games inHaifa'sKiryat Eliezer Stadium, as their home ground in Sakhnin was deemed unfit for the Premier League.
The club signed formerMaccabi Haifa striker Raffi Cohen and loaned another striker,Lior Asulin fromMaccabi Herzliya.Sagi Strauss was brought in to mind the nets fromMaccabi Petah Tikva. Despite the gloomy predictions, the club defied the odds, eventuallyfinishing 10th, four points clear of relegation, whilst Nazareth finished bottom. However, the highlight of the season was theState Cup victory, also a first by an Israeli-Arab club.[1] In the final, Sakhnin beat surprise finalists, second division sideHapoel Haifa 4–1. The team gained a reputation for being a tough, combative outfit, similar in style to theCrazy Gang period at English clubWimbledon. Captain and club stalwartAbbas Suan (he had been at the club since its formation, having been part of the Hapoel Sakhnin team since 1994) won particular acclaim, gaining a call-up to theIsrael squad, and winning his first cap in February 2004.
The cup win meant that the club became the firstArab team to play in Europe, entering theUEFA Cup. After beatingPartizani Tirana 6–1 on aggregate in thesecond qualifying round, the club facedNewcastle United in thefirst round. However, Sakhnin were beaten 7–1 on aggregate, including a 5–1 home defeat in a match played at theRamat Gan Stadium inTel Aviv District due to security concerns.
During the2004–05 season, with its stadium still under development the club played many of its home matches atHapoel Nazareth Illit's Municipal Stadium.
During their spell in the top flight, several Sakhnin games were plagued by hooliganism. Palestinians were viewed as inferior during the time, and faced hardships both inside and outside of the soccer stadium. At the annual Land Day ceremony in Sakhnin in the year of 2000, a large crowd of Palestinians were unexplainably tear gassed. Political power controlled not only the population, but the atmosphere at soccer games as well. Studies have shown that Arab males who attended soccer games were less likely to be proud of their Palestinian descent. In 2000, Sakhnin's first game was delayed for weeks, though when the game did come about, the visiting Jewish team received flowers. Though events (such as this) coated by such turmoil aggravated those who resided in Sakhnin, their people still attempted to use the soccer stadium as an outlet to ease the relations with those who brought political unrest and corruption.[2]
Despite chairman Ghnaim's stated mission to create a "cultural rainbow" from his football club, games againstBeitar Jerusalem were particularly violent, at least partially due to the presence of notoriously anti-Arab supporters of Beitar;[3] when Sakhnin won the State Cup, Beitar fans paid for an obituary to be printed in Israel's leading dailyYedioth Ahronoth, claiming that Israeli football was dead. On 29 January 2005 Sakhnin fans rioted during a home match (played at Kiryat Eliezer) againstHapoel Tel Aviv after a violent incident on the field between a team official and a referee, who had earlier had sent off two Sakhnin players. As a punishment, theIFA ordered the club to play two games behind closed doors.
Despite a large cash injection made by Israeli businessmanArcadi Gaydamak ($400,000) in the hope of promoting peace and harmony among the citizens of Israel,[4] and a return to their rebuilt home stadium (largely financed by theEmir of Qatar, hence the renaming toDoha Stadium), Sakhnin were relegated at the end of2005–06 season, finishing nine points from safety.
However, with one of the largest budgets in the division (around five and a half millionshekels), the club were amongst the favourites to return quickly to the Premier League, and did so byfinishing as runners-up toKiryat Shmona. In theirfirst season back in the Premier League, they finished fourth, their highest ever league position, qualifying for theIntertoto Cup.Problems due to political unrest in the region caused the club's leadership to ask for the postponement of Intertoto cup matches in the Summer of 2008,[5] Most of the stars of the team were sold, most notablyMaor Buzaglo who signed for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In the 2018–19 season the club ended dead last. After repromotion one year later the club's 2020–21 season started off painfully, with the first match ending in a 3–0 home loss to Bnei Yehuda. The next week, some of the team's players and management team had to quarantine as a result ofCOVID-19 pandemic precautions, and they played their away match against Maccabi Netanya with several absent players and no coach. After suffering a 7–0 loss, the greatest defeat in the club's history, the Sakhnin chairman left the administrative division of Ligat Ha'al. Despite a horrible start with just one point after the first six matches and closing the season with four more losses the club could avoid relegation by being one point better than Bnei Yehuda.
The rise of the Bnei Sakhnin F.C. was the subject of a popular documentary film by noted Israeli directorRam Loevy.[1]
The team is also the subject of the critically acclaimed 2010 documentary filmAfter The Cup: Sons of Sakhnin United directed by AmericanChristopher Browne, which follows the team after they win theIsrael State Cup.
Bnei Sakhnin is also mentioned in the popular Israeli rap song ״רעל עכברים״ (rat poison) by popular Israeli rappermc fitusi where he says ״הסיכוי שהם ידעו מה בשקיות נמוך כמו בני סכנין בליגת האלופות״ (the chance they’ll realise what’s in the bags is as low as Bnei Sakhnin in the premier league) this reference was met with some backlash with some fans describing it as racist towards Arabs, so he later apologised and changed the line.
During the 2005–06 season, the club signed a shirt sponsorship deal with Israeli mobile phone companyCellcom.
The club's budget was bolstered on 15 June 2006 when Gaydamak announced that he would donate two million shekels to the club in hope that they will make a return to Israel's top league.
The majority of fans of Bnei Sakhnin areIsraeli Arabs. The Bnei Sakhnin fan club is called Ultras Sakhnin 2003 (US03) or Duha Gate 4–5 (named due to the gate numbers that leads to their stand), it was established in 2003 after they got promoted to the top division. Other fan clubs that they have friendship with is Ultras Hapoel 99 fans ofHapoel Tel Aviv F.C., Ultrà Sankt Pauli 2002 ofFC St. Pauli and Ultras Winners 2005 ofWydad Casablanca.
Big matches (especially those against rival clubBeitar Jerusalem) can attract large crowds but toward the end of the 2005–06 season when the club was set to be relegated, the attendance at matches declined dramatically. The highest attendance ever to be in a match of Sakhnin was at the 2004 Israel State Cup Final whenRamat Gan Stadium was filled with Arab supporters fromGalilee to the farNegev which all of them came to support the club.
On 1 September 2024, violent clashes broke out during a match between Bnei Sakhnin andHapoel Beersheba after Arab-Israeli fans of Bnei Sakhnin turned their backs during the national anthemHatikvah. Twelve people were arrested, and the match was cancelled. When the two teams matched up in the previous season, Bnei Sakhnin fans also whistled and booed during the national anthem.[6]
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Only up to six non-Israeli nationals can be in an Israeli club squad. Those with Jewish ancestry, married to an Israeli, or have played in Israel for an extended period of time (e.g.Gustavo Boccoli), can claim a passport or permanent residency which would allow them to play with Israeli status.
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Slobodan Drapić |
| Assistant Manager |  Salah Hasarma |
Azmi Nassar (1999–00)Momi Zafran (2002–2005)Eyal Lahman (2003–2005)Momi Zafran (2005)Michael Kadosh (2005–2006)Elisha Levy (1 July 2006 – 30 June 2008)Freddy David (1 July 2008 – 2008)Eyal Lahman (2008–09)Eran Kulik (2009 – 19 Oct 2009)Marco Balbul (21 Oct 2009 – 30 June 2010)Yuval Naim (1 July 2010 – 11 Aug 2010)Haim Levy (2010)Slobodan Drapić (2010–11)Shlomi Dora (4 April 2011 – 10 March 2013)Marco Balbul (11 March 2013 – 19 June 2014)Guy Levy (19 June 2014)Eli Cohen (2014–2015)Yossi Abuksis (2015–2017)
Jairo Swirsky (2017)Aiman Khalaila (caretaker) (2017)Felix Naim (2017)Tal Banin (2018)Benny Ben Zaken (2018)Amir Turgeman (2018–2019)
Giorgi Daraselia (2019)Eldad Shavit (2019)Nissan Yehezkel (2019)Nisso Avitan (2020)Sharon Mimer (2020–2021)Haim Silvas (2021–2022)Kobi Refua (2022–2023)Slobodan Drapić (2023–present)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
