Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C.

Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל הפועל עירוני קרית שמונה‎) is an Israeli football club based in Kiryat Shmona.[2] The club are currently members of the Israeli Premier League and play at the Ironi Stadium.[1] They won their first league title in 2011–12.

Ironi Kiryat Shmona
Full nameIroni Kiryat Shmona Football Club
Founded2000 (2000)
GroundMunicipal Stadium, Kiryat Shmona[1]
Capacity5,300
ChairmanIzzy Sheratzky
ManagerSlobodan Drapic
LeagueIsraeli Premier League
2020–21Israeli Premier League, 6th of 14

History

The club was founded in 2000 by a merger of Hapoel Kiryat Shmona of Liga Alef and Maccabi Kiryat Shmona of Liga Bet, and took Hapoel Kiryat Shmona's place in Liga Alef, as well as playing at Hapoel's stadium. The merger was initiated by businessman Izzy Sheratzky owner of Ituran Location and Control, who are the official sponsors of the team.[3]

In the new club's first season they won the North Division of Liga Alef and were promoted to Liga Artzit. In 2002–03 they finished as runners-up to Hakoah Ramat Gan and were promoted to Liga Leumit. In their first season at the second level they narrowly missed out on promotion, only finishing below runners-up Hapoel Nazareth Illit on goal difference. They finished third again in 2005–06, but won the league in 2006–07 to earn promotion to the Israeli Premier League, the first time a club from the town had played in the top division. In the same season they also won the Liga Leumit Toto Cup.

The club's first season in the Premier League saw them finish third and qualify for the UEFA Cup. In their first season in Europe, home matches had to be played at the Kiryat Eliezer Stadium in Haifa. After knocking out FK Mogren, they lost to Litex Lovech in the second qualifying round.

In 2008–09, the club finished bottom of the Premier League and were relegated to Liga Leumit. However, the following season they won the division and were promoted back to the Premier League.

On 15 December 2009, Ironi Kiryat Shmona won the 2009–10 Toto Cup Leumit.

On 19 January 2011, Ironi Kiryat Shmona won the 2010–11 Toto Cup Al, a year after winning the Leumit version of the cup, it was their first major title. In addition, Ironi Kiryat Shmona became the first team to win both first and second Toto Cup trophy in a back-to-back year.

On 24 January 2012, Ironi Kiryat Shmona defended their Toto Cup Al by beating Hapoel Tel Aviv in the 2011–12 Toto Cup Al finals.

On 2 April 2012, Ironi Kiryat Shmona won the Israeli Premier League and became the 14th Israeli champions. They won the league after finishing their match against runner-up Hapoel Tel Aviv in a goalless draw with five rounds left in the league. Their championship was the first to be won by a team outside the three major cities (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa) for almost 30 years.

On 20 May 2012, The club changed its badge due to UEFA sponsorship rules which forbids the use of a sponsor name in both the kit and team badge. The new badge includes a number of footballs including a big one which used in the former badge, the Lion of Judah statue from the Battle of Tel Hai and a gold star to mark the only team championship.[4]

In 2020, the club were on the verge of relegation to the Liga Leumit, trailing three points behind the 12th placed team (safe from relegation) with one match to go, but managed to stay in the Israeli Premier league and finished 12th thanks to goal difference.

European record
Season Competition Round Opponent 1st leg 2nd leg Aggregate
2008–09 UEFA Cup Q1 Mogren 1–1 3–0 4–1
Q2 Litex Lovech 0–0 1–2 1–2
2012–13 Champions League Q2 MŠK Žilina 0–1 2–0 2–1
Q3 Neftchi Baku 4–0 2–2 6–2
Play-off BATE Borisov 0–2 1–1 1–3
Europa League Group stage Lyon 3–4 0–2 4th
Athletic Bilbao 1–1 0–2
Sparta Prague 1–3 1–1
2014–15 Europa League Q3 Dynamo Moscow 1–1 1–2 2–3
2015–16 Europa League Q3 Slovan Liberec 1–2 0–3 1–5

Current squad
As of 31 August 2021
No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  ISR Nadav Zamir
3 DF  ISR Ziv Morgan
4 DF  ISR Itay Ben Shabat
5 DF  ISR Ayid Habshi
6 MF  ISR Nadav Nidam (on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv)
7 FW  ISR Guy Ben Lulu
8 MF  ISR Yadin Lugasi
9 FW  MNE Stefan Milošević
11 MF  ISR Ron Peretz
12 DF  ISR Shalev Desta
15 MF  ISR Ariel Sheratzky
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 FW  ISR Mohammed Shaker
19 MF  ISR Roi Kahat
20 DF  ISR Nir Drori
22 DF  ISR Alaa Jafar
23 MF  ISR Adrian Rochet
26 DF  CIV Stephane Acka
28 DF  ISR Guy Mizrahi
30 FW  ISR Itamar Shviro
29 GK  LTU Džiugas Bartkus
94 MF  ROU Ovidiu Bic (on loan from Universitatea Craiova)
99 FW  ENG Morgan Ferrier

Out on loan
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF  ISR Yuval Levin (at Sektzia Nes Tziona until 30 June 2022)
— MF  ISR Hussam Mer'i (at Abiriei HaZafon Kisra-Sumeil until 30 June 2022)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  ISR Yazan Mer'i (at Beitar Mateh Binyamin until 30 June 2022)
— FW  ISR Snir Abergel (at Hapoel Ironi Safed until 30 June 2022)
— FW  ISR Tal Vigdorovich (at Hapoel Bu'eine until 30 June 2022)

Foreigners for 2020–21 season

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, can claim a passport or permanent residency which would allow them to play with Israeli status.

Former players

Managers

Titles

References
  1. "The Israel Football Association". Eng.football.org.il. Archived from the original on 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  2. Mittelstaedt, Juliane von (2012-09-19). "The Secret Behind Israel's Star Soccer Team Kiryat Shmona – SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel Online. Spiegel.de. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  3. "Izzy Sheratzky's Thwarted Attempt to Invigorate Kiryat Shmona". Haaretz. September 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  4. "Ironi Kiryat Shmona new badge: The lion from the battle of Tel Hai and the championship star" (in Hebrew). ONE. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
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