Hapoel Acre F.C.

Hapoel Acre was founded in 1946 and spent much of its history outside Israel’s top football division. Its first top-flight spell lasted from 1976 to 1978, followed by returns in 2009/10 and 2017/18.[1][4]

The club’s listed title is the 2005/06 National League Toto Cup. Its move into Toto Stadium in Acre also strengthened its connection with local supporters, with reported average attendance almost tripling after the club returned to its home city.[1][2]

Hapoel Acre was founded in 1946. Its first spell in the top division came in 1976, and the club was relegated in 1978; it then spent decades in the second and third tiers. The club’s rise back toward the top flight included movement from Liga Alef to the Artzit League and, after four seasons there, promotion to the National League before its eventual return to the premier division.[1][5]

The 1970s are remembered as a high point in the club’s earlier history. Players named in an account of that period include Roland Vatcher, Shalom Assayag, Timur Chechashvili, Shimon “Samo” Cohen, Nabil Mansour and Albert Edri, with Avraham Menzel as coach. Former player Zion Assayag recalled that 12 of the squad’s 18 players were born in Acre. Supporter Roi Ozen described the era as one in which players played “for the emblem,” while Shalom Assayag emphasized the squad’s family ties and its modest, noncash promotion rewards.[5]

Under chairman Zion Weitzman and coach Yaron Hohenboim, Acre finished second in the National League in 2008/09, one point behind Hapoel Haifa, and earned promotion.[1][5] The promotion was celebrated after a 0–0 match against Bnei Lod.[5] One report described the return as following a 31-year absence; a 2009 Jerusalem Post preview instead described the interval as 32 years. The club’s previous top-flight seasons had been 1976–78.[5][6]

In its first season back, 2009/10, Acre survived in the Premier League. It finished 12th and then eighth in the next two seasons.[1] The club’s return thus began a seven-season run in the top flight, ending with relegation in May 2016.[7]

Hapoel Acre’s historic ground was at Givat Napoleon, a hill associated in the club’s history with Napoleon’s unsuccessful siege of Acre in 1799. When the club won promotion in 2009, however, Acre lacked a suitable stadium for Premier League matches, so the team initially played away from the city.[5][6]

During the 2009/10 season, the club played 14 matches at Green Stadium in Nazareth Illit and two at Ilut. Its average attendance was 788 per match. The travel between venues was described as having disconnected the team from many of its supporters.[8]

Ahead of the 2011/12 season, the club moved to the new Toto Stadium in Acre.[1] A 2011 report described the facility as seating 5,000, mostly under a roof, and costing 50 million shekels to build.[9] After the move, average attendance reached 2,356 per match—an increase the later report characterized as almost 200 percent.[2] The stadium was also identified as a major reason for the club’s strong opening to the 2011/12 season.[2]

The stadium’s opening did not mean that every planned feature was finished: the 2011 report said additions, including a scoreboard, were still needed. The Acre Economic Company managed season-ticket and match-ticket sales, refreshments, advertising and sponsorships; the club had sold 1,500 season tickets, then a record for Acre.[9]

The 2008/09 promotion campaign ended with a second-place finish in the National League: 17 wins, 10 draws and six losses for 61 points. At the start of the following top-flight season, a preview listed no league championships or State Cup titles for the club.[6] Hapoel Acre’s listed cup honour is the National League Toto Cup, won in 2005/06 after a final against Hapoel Be’er Sheva was decided by a penalty shootout.[1]

Acre’s early 2011/12 results exceeded expectations. Despite having been widely tipped for relegation, it collected nine points from its first five matches and was described as playing combative, energetic and entertaining football. Chairman Zion Weizman had considered a major change in the club’s approach, while manager Eli Cohen came close to leaving after disagreements with the chairman; Weizman ultimately retained him.[9]

The 2014/15 season brought a dramatic fight to avoid relegation. Acre spent more than five consecutive months in the relegation zone and, less than three months before securing survival, was last and 10 points from safety after winning only two of its first 23 matches. After Shlomi Dora replaced Alon Harazi as coach in January, Acre won six of its last nine games, including its final four. A 2–1 victory over Maccabi Netanya—with goals from Branislav Jovanovic and Yiannis Papadopoulos—secured survival with one match remaining. Dora said he had not expected the team to stay up with a match to spare.[10]

Acre’s seven-season Premier League run ended in May 2016. On the final day, it drew 1–1 with Ironi Kiryat Shmona; Hapoel Haifa also drew 1–1, and both clubs finished on 34 points. Acre was relegated because its goal difference was worse: minus 21 against Haifa’s minus 10. Dylan Seys equalized in the 90th minute against Kiryat Shmona, but Acre could not score a winner.[7][11]

The club returned to the top division for 2017/18 but went down again in 2018. It finished that season with 67 goals conceded, the league’s weakest defense, and the poorest home record, with 11 points and 10 goals scored at home.[4]

In October 2026, Hapoel Acre reached the Leumit League Toto Cup final but lost 1–0 to Bnei Yehuda. Stav Nahmani scored in the second minute of stoppage time, leaving Acre just short of taking the match to a penalty shootout. The final came amid a difficult league start: the team had one point from its first nine matches and had not scored, with that point coming in a 0–0 draw against Maccabi Bnei Reineh.[3]

A 2026 report described Hapoel Acre as struggling to stay afloat in the National League. After 10 league matches, the club had scored no goals, conceded 27 and earned one point. The report characterized the start as unprecedented, but that description was its assessment rather than an independently verified all-time comparison.[12]

The report traced the club’s broader deterioration since its 2018 relegation to repeated management changes, budget instability and disputes over municipal support amid political upheaval in Acre. It said the club went without municipal funding and came close to dissolution before renewed discussions led the city’s leadership to express willingness to allocate resources.[12]

On the professional side, Acre had used three coaches during the season: Adham Hadiya, Lior De-Kalbo and Nimrod Kostika. The account of the campaign and the late Toto Cup final defeat together illustrate the contrast between the club’s cup progress and its poor league results at that point in the season.[12][3]