Hapoel Nof HaGalil

Israel

Founded

1962

Arena

Green Stadium Nof HaGalil · 5,200 cap

Hapoel Nof HaGalil Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל הפועל נוף הגליל‎, Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Nof HaGalil) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Nof HaGalil, which was known by the name "Nazareth Illit" until 2019. The club was founded in 1962 as Hapoel Kiryat Nazareth and competed in Liga Gimel for several seasons, before promoting to Liga Bet at the end of the 1971–72 season. The club changed its name in 1973 after Kiryat Nazareth gained city status and was renamed Nazareth Illit. The club won 1975–76 Liga Bet, but, due to the league system restructuring, the club remained in the league system's third tier, which became Liga Alef. In 1978–79 the club won Liga Alef North division and was promoted to Liga Artzit, then the second tier. In 1983–84 they finished second from bottom, and were relegated to Liga Alef. Two seasons later the club finished second from bottom in Liga Alef and dropped to Liga Bet. In 1998–99 the club finished as runners-up in Liga Alef North, and was promoted back to Liga Artzit, which was now the third tier following the formation of the Israeli Premier League in 1999. After narrowly avoiding relegation in 2000–01 when they finished one place above the relegation zone, the club finished as runners-up the following season, and were promoted back to the second tier. In 2003–04 they finished as runners-up (on goal difference), and were promoted to the top division for the first time in their history. In their first season in the Premier League the club finished fifth. Home matches were initially played at Maccabi Ahi Nazareth's Ilut Stadium, whilst their home ground had floodlights installed. They returned home in February 2005. However, the following season, 2005–06, they finished second from bottom (on goal difference), and returned to Liga Leumit. In 2007–08 they finished bottom of Liga Leumit, and were relegated to Liga Artzit. Despite only finishing seventh in Liga Artzit in 2008–09, F.C. Nazareth Illit were promoted back to Liga Leumit as restructuring meant the top seven clubs were automatically promoted. Since then, Nazareth Illit hasn't been relegated for 3 consecutive seasons, finishing seventh in 2009–10, 11th in 2010–11 and twelfth in 2011–12. In the 2012–13 season the club signed several new players, including Ibrahim Basit, Eran Malchin and Moti Malka; they finished second in the league, but lost 3–1 at home in a crucial match against Hapoel Ra'anana in the play-offs, with Ra'anana eventually promoted to the Israeli Premier League, whilst Nazareth Illit finished third and remained in Liga Leumit. In 2018–19 the club finished the regular season at the top of the table, but a collapse during the playoff phase, with the club collecting just 7 points out of 21, led the club to finish in third place and miss out on promotion. On 4 July 2019, after the name of Nazareth Illit was changed to Nof HaGalil, the club changed its name to Hapoel Nof HaGalil

Hapoel Ramat HaSharon

Israel

Founded

1957

Arena

Grundman Stadium · 4,300 cap

Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל הפועל ניר רמת השרון‎) is an Israeli football based in Ramat HaSharon. They are currently members of Liga Leumit and play their home matches at the Grundman Stadium. The club was founded in 1957 as Hapoel Ramat HaSharon, the club was promoted to Liga Artzit (then the second division) in 1984. In the 1984–85 season they narrowly missed out on promotion to Liga Leumit (then the top division), after losing 1–0 to Hapoel Jerusalem on the final day of the season; had they won, they would have been promoted in Jerusalem's place. The following season they were relegated to Liga Alef, and two seasons later to Liga Bet. In 1996 the club returned to Liga Alef and in summer 1997 merged with Maccabi Nir Ramat HaSharon, a club which was named after Nir Itzhaki, by his brother and the club's chairmen, Meir Itzhaki, after Maccabi was refused funding by the local council. The merged club took the name Hapoel Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon. In 1999–2000 they finished second in their division. Due to Beitar Tel Aviv and Shimshon Tel Aviv merging, the club was promoted to Liga Artzit (now the third tier) to fill the vacancy. In 2002–03 they narrowly avoided relegation, finishing one place above the relegation zone. The following season they won the league to earn promotion back to the second division. In the same season they also won the Liga Artzit Toto Cup. The club escaped relegation in 2004–05 after Maccabi Ahi Nazareth had two points deducted. The following season they finished third from bottom again, but avoided the drop. In the 2009–10 season the club made one of its biggest achievements in the club's history when the team reached the semi final of the Israel State Cup. In the 2010–11 season the club won the Toto Cup Leumit and got promoted to the Israeli Premier League for the first time in the history of the club after they finished as champions of Liga Leumit. In June 2013, the club changed its name from Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon to Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon and changed it logo. In the 2012–13 season, the club achieved its best placing to date, when they finished sixth in the Israeli Premier League. However, in the following season, the club finished second bottom and relegated to Liga Leumit.