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Hapoel Kfar Saba

Full name	Hapoel Kfar Saba Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Greens from the Sharon
Founded	1928; 96 years ago (1928)
Ground	Levita Stadium, Kfar Saba, Israel
Capacity	5,800
Owner	Itzhak Shum
Manager	Itzik Baruch
League	Liga Leumit
2022–23	Liga Leumit, 7th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. ( Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל הפועל כפר סבא, Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Kfar Saba) is an Israeli football club based in Kfar Saba. The club competes in the Liga Leumit and plays home matches at Levita Stadium.

History

The club was established in 1928. In 1951–52 they won the South Division of Liga Bet to win promotion to Liga Alef (then the top division). Three years later they finished third from bottom and had to take part in promotion/relegation play-offs with the two top clubs from the second tier. They were unbeatnd during the play-offs and retained their place in Liga Leumit (which had replaced Liga Alef as the top division). However, in 1955–56, they finished bottom and were relegated.

Hapoel made an immediate return to Liga Leumit. They finished bottom in 1957–58, but avoided the drop as no clubs were relegated. However, they finished bottom again the following season and were relegated. The club returned to Liga Leumit in 1968. In 1975, they reached the State Cup final for the first time, beating Beitar Jerusalem 1-0. After several mid-table finishes, they were relegated at the end of the 1976–77 season. They made an immediate return to the top division, finishing third in Liga Artzit (the new second tier). In 1980, they reached the State Cup final again, beating Maccabi Ramat Amidar 4–1.

In 1980–81 they narrowly avoided relegation, finishing two points and one place above the relegation zone. The following season the club won the title for the first (and only) time under the management of Dror Kashtan. However, they finished bottom the season after, and returned to Liga Artzit.

They finished as runners-up to Hapoel Haifa in 1983–84 to make another immediate return to Liga Leumit. In 1990, the club reached the State Cup final for a third time, beating Shimshon Tel Aviv 1–0 after extra time. The following season they were relegated again after finishing bottom of the table. In 1992, under the management of Avram Marchinsky, the club signed its first American player, Michael Winograd, out of Lafayette College. The club returned to the top division the following season.

In 1999–2000 they were relegated to Liga Leumit (now the second tier). They won the league in 2001–02 to return to the top division, but were relegated at the end of the following season. The club won Liga Leumit again in 2004–05, and avoided relegation on goal difference the following season. However, two seasons later they were relegated on goal difference.

For the 2010–11 season, a new owner, Harel Raihman, came on after almost 15 years of Eli Tabib's era. At the end of the regular season, the club finished on top of the league, with an advantage of thirteen points over the third place. However, in the Top playoff, where all the points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up), the club failed to record a win, and finished the league in the third place, behind Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon and Hapoel Rishon LeZion which were promoted. As the third placed club, Kfar Saba went to play in the Promotion play-off against the 14th-placed club in the Israeli Premier League, Hapoel Petah Tikva, and lost both games, 1-4 and 0-1. Thus, the club remained in Liga Leumit.

In the 2012–13 season the club have entered administration, and as a result, were deducted nine points. The club finished bottom and relegated to Liga Alef, the third tier of Israeli football. With a new owner, Stav Shaham, together with former club captain, Eli Yani, and the supporters trust, "The Green Heart", the club recovered in the following season, and made an immediate return to Liga Leumit, after finishing on top of Liga Alef North division. In the following season, the club made their second successive promotion, following runners-up finish in Liga Leumit. Thus, the club returned to the Israeli Premier League after seven years.

In 2015-16 season, the team finished at 10th, but one season after (2016–17), the team finished 13th and relegated to the Liga Leumit.

Players

Current squad

As of 29 January 2024

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ISR Dor Hebron 3 DF   ISR Raz Baruchian 5 DF   ISR Ofek Fishler 6 DF   ISR Yehoshua Strimling 7 DF   ISR Tom Shelach 8 MF   ISR Ari Cohen 10 FW   PLE Ali El-Khatib 11 FW   ISR Dudu Biton 12 DF   ISR Daniel Mor Yosef 14 DF   ISR Hagay Goldenberg 16 MF   ISR Roi Maman 17 FW   ISR Roy Fadida 18 GK   ISR Netanel Daloya 19 MF   ISR Awajo Asefa

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF   ISR Liam Malka 22 MF   LBR David Tweh 23 MF   ISR Tal Naim 24 MF   ISR Alon Demol 26 MF   ISR Mustapha Sheikh Yosef 29 FW   ISR Alon Buzorgi 30 DF   SLE Jarjue Abdoulie 47 FW   UKR Daniel Joulani 55 GK   ISR Ariel Bardugo 70 FW   ISR Lior Inbrum 77 FW   ISR Daniel Elmaleh 80 FW   ISR Ronen Hanchis 95 FW   NGA Benjamn Kuku 99 FW   ISR Tom Berkovic

Out on loan

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   ISR Shon Krendi (at Maccabi Sha'arayim until 30 June 2022) — FW   ISR Yahav Afriat (at F.C. Tira until 30 June 2022)

Foreigners 2023–24

Only up to six non-Israeli nationals can be in an Israeli club squad (only five can play at the same time). Those with Jewish ancestry, married to an Israeli or have played in Israel for an extended period of time, can claim a passport or permanent residency which would allow them to play with Israeli status.^{[ citation needed]}

• Benjamin Kuku
• Roscello Vlijter
• Jarjue Abdoulie

Former players

• Jerzy Wijas
• Shmuel Kozokin (born 1987), Israeli footballer

Staff

Position	Staff
Owner	Itzhak Shum The supporters trust "Halev Hayarok" ("The green heart")
CEO	Idan Shum
Board Member	Sharon Shum
Head coach	Ravid Gazal
Goalkeeping coach	Tvrtko Kale
Technical manager	Reuven Avital
Fitness coach	Ran Goldig
Physio	Dafna Cohen
Club doctor	Dr. Jonathan Koch
Logistics	Jacob Serolovich
Manager Youth Department	Amnon raz

Honours

League

Cup competitions

Managers

See also

• Sports in Israel

References

External links

• Official website (in Hebrew)
• Hapoel Kfar Saba. Archived 2015-08-28 at the Wayback Machine. The Israel Football Association (in Hebrew).