Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C.
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Full name:
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club
Nicknames:
Negev's Pride
HaGmalim (The Camels)
Founded:
1949
Ground:
Vasermil Stadium, Beersheba
Capacity:
13,000
Chairman:
Alona Barkat
Manager:
Elisha Levy
League:
Israeli Premier League
2013-14:
2nd
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club is an Israeli football club based in Beersheba.
The club is currently in the Israeli Premier League and plays home matches at the Vasermil Stadium.
HISTORY
Founded in 1949, the year after Israeli independence.
The club was first promoted to Liga Leumit (then the top division) in 1965.
In their first season they finished 13th.
In 1968-69 they finished one place above the relegation zone, and the following season they finished bottom of the league and were relegated back to Liga Alef.
Hapoel were promoted back to the top division after one season, and after slow progression, the mid-1970s became the club's golden period. Back-to-back championships were won in 1974-75 and 1975-76.
However, due to Israel's expulsion from the Asian Football Confederation a few years earlier and the fact that the Israel Football Association did not join UEFA until 1994, the club did not participate in any international club competitions.
In the season after the second championship, the club returned to its previous form, finishing one place above relegation.
The early 1980s saw a small revival in fortunes, with a third-place finish in 1982-83 and a State Cup final in 1983-84 (they lost 3:2 on penalties to Hapoel Lod after a 0:0 draw), though the club was almost relegated the following season.
They reached the Toto Cup final in 1983 and 1984, but lost both matches (3:1 and 3:2 respectively) to Maccabi Netanya.
After that came a period of relative success.
Third-place finishes were achieved in 1987-88, 1993-94 and 1994-95 (though relegation was narrowly avoided (by one place) in 1991-2).
They also won the Toto Cup in 1989.
The third place finishes of 1993-94 and 1994-95, combined with Israel's new membership of UEFA, allowed the club entry to the UEFA Cup.
Their first outing was not a success, losing 5:2 (3:1, 2:1) on aggregate to Aris Thessaloniki F.C. of Greece in the preliminary round.
However, in 1995-96 competition, they beat KS Tirana 3:0 (1:0, 2:0) in the preliminary round, and qualified for the first round.
Drawn against Barcelona, the club lost both legs heavily (5:0 and 7:0) leading to a 12:0 aggregate defeat.
In 1996 the club won the Toto Cup for a second time.
A year later, Hapoel picked up their fifth piece of silverware and qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup by winning the State Cup final, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 1:0.
Their third season in Europe started successfully, beating Lithuanian club Zalgiris Vilnius 2:1 (0:0, 2:1) in the preliminary round, before being thrashed 14:1 (4:1, 10:0) by Roda JC of the Netherlands in the next round.
The club were also relegated in the same season and did not return to the top division until 2001-2.
In 2001-02, the club become the first top division team to be beaten by a lower division side in a State Cup final, losing 5:4 on penalties to second division Hapoel Ramat Gan after a 1:1 draw.
In the beginning of 2004-2005 season, Hapoel Beer Sheva was play against FK Vllaznia (Albania) in the competition of UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Hapoel won in the sum of two games (2:1,0:1) but have lost the qualification due to fails in squad players document fax sending.
At the end of the 2004-05 season, the club were relegated to the second division.
The following season saw them play Maccabi Be'er Sheva (who were groundsharing at the Vasermil Stadium) for the first time.
During the 2006-07 several players were accused of match fixing.
A loss of form saw the club miss out on promotion.
In 2007 chirman Eli Zino sold the club to Alona Barakat.
Barakat, known as The Queen in Be'er Sheva, has been on a mission to revive the club.
In 2008-09, the club was promoted to the Israeli Premier League.