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| Full name | Hapoel Petah Tikva Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Melabs (Mulabbis) Hamlabsim (The Mulabbis) | ||
| Short name | HPT | ||
| Founded | 1934; 91 years ago (1934) | ||
| Ground | HaMoshava Stadium,Petah Tikva,Israel | ||
| Capacity | 11,500 | ||
| Owners | Supporters of Hapoel Petah Tikva | ||
| Chairman | Almog Portman | ||
| Manager | Omer Peretz | ||
| League | Israeli Premier League | ||
Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. (Hebrew:הפועל פתח תקווה) is an Israeli professionalfootball club based in the city ofPetah Tikva, currently playing inIsraeli Premier League.Its most successful period was throughout the 1950s and 1960s, in which the club won sixLeague Championships and oneState Cups. The club holds to this day the record for most consecutive championships – five – and was ranked in the top three of the league for 14 years between 1954 and 1968. Hapoel Petah Tikva has not won the championship since 1963, and its last titles were the State Cup in 1992 and theToto Cup in 2005.
Hapoel Petah Tikva was founded in 1926, and its football division was established in 1934. The club made it to the second league in 1938, and its first season in the top tier was1941/42, two years after a new stadium was built on Abarbanel Street. In 1945, the club first came close to winning a title after beating Maccabi Petah Tikva 7–0 in the Cup semi-final, but lost 0–1 to Hapoel Tel Aviv in the final.Some of the leading players in the 1940s wereMeir Nevenhoiz,Amichai Shoham,Eliyahu Kroshar,Yaakov Visoker andMoshe Varon.
Hapoel Petah Tikva won its first championship in1955, becoming the first team outsideTel Aviv to do so. The team was coached by Moshe Varon, and the top scorer was the young rising star,Nahum Stelmach, with 28 goals in 26 games. A chance to win adouble was missed out after making it to the Cup final, but losing 1–3 to Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Two years later, in1957, Hapoel Petah Tikva won its first state cup after beatingMaccabi Jaffa 2–1 in the final. In1959, after three consecutive years in second place, the team finally won its second championship. This was the first out of five back-to-back championships, a record no team in Israel has achieved again. Some of the leading players during these years were Nahum Stelmach, Yaakov Visoker,Boaz Koffman,Zakharia Ratzabi,Avshalom Ratzabi,Reuven Yeffet, andJerry Haledy. The coaches were all foreign –Jackie Gibbons (England),Ignác Molnár (Hungary) andMiodrag Jovanović (Yugoslavia).
In1961, they were invited to participate in theInternational Soccer League.
The streak ended in1964, but in the following years, Hapoel Petah Tikva was still one of the strongest teams in Israel. The last season of this era was1968, where the team ranked second and lost in the Cup Final toBnei Yehuda. During the 14 years, Hapoel Petah Tikva won six championships, never dropped below third place, and made it to five cup finals (one win and four losses).
In1969, Hapoel Petah Tikva found itself at the lower part of the table for the first time since making it to the first division. Their leading players had retired, and during the first half of the 1970s, Hapoel was no longer a title contender and faced the danger of relegation several times. The only chance for a title during these years was in1974, when the team made it to the cup final but lost toHapoel Haifa. The semi-final againstBeitar Jerusalem, which took place in Petah Tikva one week earlier, was marred by a violent incident, during which the supporters of Beitar invaded the pitch and attacked Hapoel players and supporters.
In1976 Hapoel Petah Tikva dropped to the second division for the first time. This was an unfortunate relegation as it was the only season in the Israeli League in which four teams were relegated from the first division, with Hapoel being the fourth team to be relegated, and they were relegated on the final day of the season.
The club spent three years in the second division until achieving promotion back to the first division in1979. Three years later, in1982, Hapoel Petah Tikva was ranked last in the league and relegated again. Hapoel returned to the top flight after promotion in1984. Around this time, the club first showed signs of recovering, withGiora Spiegel andDror Bar Nur as managers building a firm base for the upcoming years.
Towards the end of the 80s, Hapoel Petah Tikva once again became one of the leading football clubs in Israel.Avram Grant led the team for five seasons, starting at1987. Between1989 and1991, Hapoel was on the brink of winning a seventh championship, their first in over 25 years, but finished second three times in a row. In 1991, it was an extremely close call, with one point missing to topMaccabi Haifa. Two matches prior to the end of that season, the two clubs met for a critical match in which two goals scored by Hapoel were controversially disallowed by Haim Livkovich, the referee. The controversial 0–0 draw cost Hapoel the title.
In the following year, the team dropped to fourth place, but finally won a major trophy again, after beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the state cup final, 3–1. Following that, Hapoel Petah Tikva became the first Israeli team to participate in theUEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. It also became the first Israeli team to beat a major European club in any UEFA contest, with a 2–1 victory overFeyenoord (but knocked out due to a 0–1 loss in the away game).
In 1996, the club was purchased by the businessman Meir Shamir. In1997, Hapoel Petah Tikva was ranked second in the league once again and competed inUEFA Cup for the first time.2000 was another positive season, with the team competing for the championship, but ended up ranking third. Overall, the club seemed to be in a strong position in this era, being ranked in the top half of the league in 14 out of 15 seasons, with a strong player base and good youth teams. However, that did not last much longer.
Starting at2003, the team became gradually weaker. Homegrown players were being sold to other clubs, and every year, a larger portion of the squad was being replaced. In2007, Hapoel Petach Tikva was relegated to the second division after 23 consecutive years in the first league. The club won promotion the following year, but signs of poor management were clear.
In the summer of 2011, the poor management proved to be even worse than expected when large debts were discovered and the club filed for bankruptcy. The team started the season with a 9-point deduction, which led to another relegation. In2014 the team was promoted back, but faced relegation once again in the following season.
The following years were even worse, with the team struggling in the second division. In the summer of 2018, seven years after the first time, the club declared bankruptcy once again. Therefore, the team started the2019 season with a point deduction of 11 points, but still managed to avoid relegation.
In March 2019, Hapoel Petah Tikva became a fan-owned team, after the supporters' trust named 'The Blue' bought the club. This did not prevent an awful season in2021, which ended with a relegation to thethird division for the first time in history. However, the club ended up staying in the second division due to financial trouble inHapoel Iksal.
In 2022, Israeli businessmanAdam Neumann became a sponsor for the team.[1]
At the end of the2022-23 season, the team was ranked in second place and was promoted to theIsraeli Premier League after 8 years in theLiga Leumit.
Near the end of the2023-24 Israeli Premier League, Hapoel Petah Tikva was ranked the last place, thus making it go to Liga Leumit.The season after it,(2024-25), the team managed to advance to the Premier League with 4 rounds to go, thanks to a season characterized by a high rate of points accumulation and a strong defense that conceded few goals.
The home ground of Hapoel Petah Tikva isHaMoshava Stadium, which opened at the end of 2011, and replacedPetah Tikva Municipal Stadium as the home ground of the team.
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| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Israeli Championships | 6 | 1954–55,1958–59,1959–60,1960–61,1961–62,1962–63 |
| Honour | No. | Years |
|---|---|---|
| State Cup | 2 | 1956–57,1991–92 |
| Toto Cup (top division) | 4 | 1985–86,1989–90,1990–91,2004–05 |
| Toto Cup (second division) | 1 | 2007–08 |
| Lilian Cup | 1 | 1989 |
| 20th Anniversary Cup | 1 | 1968 |
David Wagner (1934–36)
Shimon Ratner (1937–39)Morris Elazar (1939–41)Shlomo Poliakov (1942–46)
Moshe Poliakov (1947–52)Moshe Varon (1952–53)Moshe Poliakov (1953)Moshe Varon (1953–54)Moshe Poliakov (1954)Moshe Varon (1954–56)
Jackie Gibbons (1956–57)Eliezer Spiegel (1957–58)Jackie Gibbons (1958–60)
Ignác Molnár (1960–61)
Miodrag Jovanović (1961–63)Slavko Milošević (1963–64)Edmond Schmilovich (1964–66)Béla Pálfi (1966–67)Nahum Stelmach (1967–69)Milovan Beljin (1969–72)Rehavia Rosenbaum (1972–73)Boaz Kofman (1973–75)Arie Redler (1975–76)Boaz Kofman (1976–77)Aharon Kapitolnik (1977–78)Amnon Raz (1978)Michael Sheinfeld (1978–79)Zvi Singel (1979–80)Shimon Shenhar (1980)Amatsia Levkovich (1980–81)Itzhak Schneor (1981–82)Boaz Kofman (1982)Aharon Kapitolnik (1982–83)Giora Spiegel (1983–86)Avram Grant (July 1, 1986 – June 30, 1991)Ze'ev Seltzer (1991–92)
Ján Pivarník (1992–93)David Schweitzer (1993)Moshe Meiri (1993–94)Dov Remler (1994)Guy Levy (July 1, 1994 – June 30, 1996)Nir Levine (1996–98)Giora Spiegel (1998–99)Nir Levine (1999–00)Eli Cohen (July 1, 2000 – June 30, 2001)Eli Guttman (2001–02)Nir Levine (2002)Freddy David (2003–05)Dror Kashtan (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005)Rafi Cohen (2005)Nir Levine (2005–06)Eyal Lahman (2006–07)Uri Malmilian (2007–08)Eli Mahpud (Feb 20, 2008 – April 9, 2009)Danny Nir'on (July 1, 2009 – Nov 23, 2009)Shavit Elimelech (Nov 22, 2009 – Dec 16, 2009)Eli Mahpud (Dec 16, 2009 – Oct 16, 2010)Yuval Naim (Oct 16, 2010 – April 13, 2011)Gili Landau (Aug 17, 2011 – May 13, 2012)Eli Mahpud (Aug 14, 2012–13)Alon Mizrahi (2013)Nissan Yehezkel (2013–14)Idan Bar-On (2014–15)Meni Koretski (2015–16)Guy Tzarfati (2016)Felix Naim (2016) Asaf Nimni (2016)Yaron Hochenboim (2016–2017) Oren Krispin (2017)Dani Golan (2017–2018) Tomer Kashtan (2018)Messay Dego (2018–2019)Amir Nussbaum (2019–2020)Messay Dego (2020)Haim Shabo (2020–2021)Klemi Saban (2021)Ofer Talsepapa (2021–2024)Benyamin Lam (2024)Omer Peretz (2024-)| International | |
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| National | |
