Hapoel Taibe

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Hapoel Taibe (also Hapoel Tayyibe , Hebrew הפועל טייבה) was an Israeli soccer club from Tayyibe . Hapoel Taibe was the first Arab-Israeli club in the highest Israeli football league. In 2003 it was dissolved after various relegations.

history

The club was founded in 1961 with the support of the Histadrut by Arab Israelis and started in the lowest, fifth division Gimel . As a result, there was a slow but continuous increase with promotions in 1974, 1986 and 1993. In 1996, Hapoel Taibe was surprisingly able to win the title of the second Israeli league and thus rise to the top division, which was then still under the name Liga Leumit (now the second division behind the Ligat ha'Al ). Due to the fact that the club was run by Arab officials and the team consisted mainly of Arab players alongside some Jewish and foreign players, the rise attracted great media and international attention and sparked enthusiasm for football, especially among young Arab Israelis.

The first division season 1996/1997 was difficult for the financially and infrastructurally weak club. The home stadium did not meet the requirements of the top division, for example the access roads to the stadium were not asphalted, the only grandstand did not meet the safety regulations. Since those in charge of the club and the city administration shied away from major investments, the club's "home games" were played first in Netanya , then in Haifa and Umm al-Fahm , which annoyed fans and players.

After initial successes - the first three home games could all be won - a long, winless negative series began from the 7th match day. On the 24th matchday, Taibe was hit by a stroke of fate during the game against Bne Jehuda Tel Aviv . Midfielder Waheeb Jabarra suffered a sudden cardiac death on the pitch . The game was canceled and later rescheduled. After the dismissal of the Polish promotion coach Wojciech Łazarek first tried the former Israeli international Zvi Rosen and later Rifaat Turk to avert relegation, but without success. Hapoel finally came in last. Major fan clashes feared by the Israeli security authorities before the season, like the one that had occurred a year earlier at a cup match between Taibe and Beitar Jerusalem , a club notorious for its nationalist Ultas , did not occur during the season. Comparable fan riots did not occur until the following second division season when Taibe met Arab-Israeli rivals FC Bnei Sachnin , as a result of which the game had to be abandoned and later scored 0-0 goals and without points.

There followed a rapid crash of the club, which was forced by mismanagement. In the 1999/2000 and 2001/2002 seasons, Hapoel was punished with point deductions for violating the license provisions. The latter decided the relegation battle in the then third division to the detriment of the club. The subsequent descent into fifth class in 2003 led to bankruptcy and finally the dissolution of Hapoel Taibe. In the same season, the Arab-Israeli clubs Maccabi Ahi Nazareth and FC Bnei Sachnin achieved their first promotion to the first division.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ It's a level playing field . In: Ha'aretz , June 11, 2003
  2. Mix and match . In: When Saturday Comes , November 17, 1996
  3. Results of the 1996/1997 season on RSSSF.com