Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan

Israel

Founded

1946

Arena

1,400 cap

Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan (Hebrew: מכבי עירוני רמת גן, formerly Ironi Ramat Gan) is a professional basketball club based in Ramat Gan in central Israel. The team currently plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It plays at the Shalom Zisman Municipal sports Arena, which has a seating capacity for 1,400. History The Maccabi Ramat Gan basketball club was formed in 1946. Since 1968, it has been permanent in the first league. In 1972, it lost in the cup final to Maccabi Tel Aviv, 108–99, with Ramat Gan's star, Belgium-born Kamil Dirks, scoring a still-unbroken cup final record of 43 points. In the seasons 1971–72 and 1972–73, it finished second in the league. The same happened in the 1982–83 season. The club also took its first steps in the European Cup in the 1973–74 season. A notable game was its victory over Sinudyne Bologna. With one of the club's founders, Samuel Jacobson, as the coach and stars such as Larry Gordon and Bob Griffin, Ramat Gan gained a surprising victory in the result 114–94. Its all-time leading scorer, Doron Jamchi, made his first steps in 1978; he left to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1985 after incredible years, with him being the league leading scorer for several seasons. In 1987–88, led by head coach Effi Birnbaum, the club lost again to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the cup final at 107–85. In the 1996–97 season, after increasing pressure from the city mayor, Maccabi Ramat Gan merged with another team, Beitar Ramat Gan, and is now called Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan. In 2001–02, it finished the season only second to Maccabi Tel Aviv, the champion. In 2009–10, the team dropped to Liga Leumit after losing the relegation playoff in the Super League. Ramat Gan returned to the first league at the end of the 2022–2023 season, led by its former captain, now coach, Shmulik Brener.

Hapoel Jerusalem BC

Israel

Founded

1943

Arena

11,000 cap

Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורסל הפועל ירושלים), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (הפועל בנק יהב ירושלים), is a professional basketball club based in the City of Jerusalem, and competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball), the Israeli State Cup, and the EuroCup. It has won several titles, including the ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup) in 2004, the Israeli Basketball Premier League championship in 2015 and 2017, and seven state Cups. In 2013, a new ownership group took over, and the club has since seen a remarkable advancement and expansion. The team began playing in the Pais Arena in 2014.