Maccabi Haifa F.C.

Maccabi Haifa plays in Israel's top football division and hosts its home matches at Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, on Israel's northern Mediterranean coast.[1] Haifa University sociologist Oz Almog has observed that "For the Druze and Arab communities, Maccabi Haifa is the team," underscoring the club's strong following among northern Israel's minority communities.[1]

The club is privately owned by Ya'akov Shahar, who has backed it financially since 1985 and completed its purchase in the summer of 1992, becoming the first private owner in Israeli soccer.[4] Before his ownership, Maccabi Haifa had one championship and one State Cup; by 2023, it had won 15 league championships and qualified three times for the Champions League group stage.[4][2] An Israeli government sports-support spreadsheet lists Maccabi Haifa as a men's football team in the Israeli Premier League and records an allocated support amount under a professional sports-support program.[5]

As of 2022, Maccabi Haifa's three Champions League group-stage qualifications were the most by an Israeli club.[2] It has also used trips connected with European matches for commemorative and communal activities, including visits to Holocaust memorials, synagogues, and Jewish communities in Greece.[6][7]

Maccabi Haifa's modern era began in 1985, when Ya'akov Shahar first provided financial backing to the club.[4] At that point, the club held one league championship and one State Cup and was struggling financially. A Jerusalem Post report from December 1984 described Maccabi Haifa as the reigning league champion preparing for a match against Maccabi Tel Aviv at Kiryat Haim.[8] By March 1985, the club remained atop the first-division table, fielding attacking players including Moshe Selektor, Zahi Armeli, Ronnie Rosenthal, and Baruch Maman.[9]

Shahar completed the purchase of the club in the summer of 1992, making him the first private owner in Israeli soccer.[4] He introduced European working standards and invested in youth development and training infrastructure.[4] In May 1986, before his formal ownership was complete, Maccabi Haifa was still contending for a third successive championship; a contemporary report said its superior goalscoring record would effectively secure the title if it obtained one win and one draw from its remaining matches.[10]

During the first 24 years of Shahar's ownership, Maccabi Haifa won 10 championships and four cups.[4] The club's youth system produced prominent Israeli international players including Dekel Keinan, Beram Kayal, and Lior Refaelov.[4] Over the decade preceding the 2009 report, Maccabi Haifa's youth team had claimed five championships and three cups, reflecting the depth of the club's development system.[4]

A State Cup semifinal in April 1998 illustrated the club's competitiveness beyond league play. The team, then coached by Daniel Brailovsky, defeated Ironi Ashdod 5–0 to reach the final and was considered the heavy favorite to claim the cup.[11] A February 1988 report recalled an earlier 5–1 victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv at Bloomfield, Maccabi Haifa's first league win of that season.[12]

Maccabi Haifa had accumulated 15 Israeli league championships by the end of the 2022/23 season. Its three most recent titles came consecutively in 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2022/23. The 2022/23 title made it the first Israeli club to win a third straight championship in a season in which it also reached the UEFA Champions League group stage.[1]

The 2020/21 championship was secured with a 3–2 victory over Hapoel Beersheba at Sammy Ofer Stadium, ending a 10-year league-title drought.[13] Striker Nikita Rukavytsya scored his 19th goal of the season in the match, Neta Lavi captained the side, and head coach Barak Bachar won his first league title with Maccabi Haifa.[13]

The 2022/23 title was clinched with a 5–1 victory over Maccabi Netanya. Tjaron Chery, Dia Saba, Muhamed Abu Fani, and Frantzdy Pierrot scored, with Saba contributing twice.[14] The varied backgrounds of the scorers reflected the wider diversity of a squad described that year as representing 10 countries and four religious communities.[1][14]

Following the championship, Bachar departed to coach Red Star Belgrade, the Serbian club Maccabi Haifa had defeated 5–4 on aggregate while qualifying for the 2022 Champions League group stage.[1][2]

Maccabi Haifa's first significant European achievement came in the 1993/94 season, when it reached the last 16 of the Cup Winners' Cup. The result was described by The Jerusalem Post as Israel's first noteworthy achievement in European club competition.[4]

The landmark moment came in the 2002/03 season, when Maccabi Haifa became the first Israeli club to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage.[4] Because UEFA prohibited matches in Israel during the intifada, the club played its home fixtures in Nicosia, Cyprus.[15] In a group that included Manchester United, Maccabi Haifa finished third with seven points from six matches: two wins, one draw, and three losses. It scored 12 goals.[15]

Highlights of the campaign included a 3–0 victory over Olympiacos and two goals in a 5–2 defeat away to Manchester United at Old Trafford.[15] The campaign established Maccabi Haifa as the first Israeli representative in the competition's group stage.[4]

The 2009 Champions League group-stage campaign ended with six defeats, eight goals conceded, no goals scored, and last place in the group.[2] Qualification nevertheless marked the club's second appearance at that stage.

In 2022, Maccabi Haifa qualified for the Champions League group stage for the third time, then the most appearances by any Israeli club.[2] After falling two goals behind Red Star Belgrade in the first half of the second leg, Maccabi Haifa recovered through a deflected 30-meter shot by Swedish defender Daniel Sundgren and a late own goal by Red Star striker Milan Pavkov. The club prevailed 5–4 on aggregate.[2]

In 2023, Maccabi Haifa returned to Champions League qualifying but lost 3–0 on aggregate to Swiss club Young Boys in the third round of qualifiers.[1] A contemporary account valued the squad at approximately $23.4 million and described Maccabi Haifa as one of the top four sides in the Israeli Premier League.[1]

A 2023 account described Maccabi Haifa's squad as drawing players from 10 countries and spanning four religious communities: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Druze faith.[1] Arab Israeli players including Dia Saba and Mahmoud Jaber featured prominently in first-team competition, and Saba scored twice in the 2022/23 championship-clinching victory over Maccabi Netanya.[1][14]

Home fixtures at Sammy Ofer Stadium regularly attracted more than 30,000 Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze, and Circassian supporters.[1] Haifa University sociologist Oz Almog described the club's resonance with minority communities by stating, "For the Druze and Arab communities, Maccabi Haifa is the team."[1] The same account said the club's management sought quality players regardless of their country of origin or religion.[1]

The club's youth academy has also produced Israeli international players including Dekel Keinan, Beram Kayal, and Lior Refaelov. In the decade preceding a 2009 report, its youth team won five championships and three cups.[4]

Maccabi Haifa has made Holocaust remembrance and Jewish communal engagement part of its institutional activity. The World Jewish Congress lists it among the premier football clubs with which the organization has forged relationships, within a wider program that uses sport to combat antisemitism, promote Holocaust remembrance, and engage Jewish communities.[3]

One expression of this work was a friendly against Aris Thessaloniki F.C. in Greece. Before the match, players from both clubs wore shirts reading "United Against Antisemitism." Maccabi Haifa players also wore shirts identifying the Jewish Holocaust Museum of Thessaloniki, and proceeds from the match, signed-jersey sales, television rights, and ticket revenue were donated to the museum.[7] Players and representatives of the World Jewish Congress and the local Jewish community visited Thessaloniki's Holocaust monument and laid wreaths. Maccabi Haifa player Rami Gershon visited his grandfather's grave in the city's Jewish cemetery. The friendly ended 2–2.[7]

Ahead of a UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Olympiacos F.C., a Maccabi Haifa delegation led by club CEO Itzik Ovadia visited two Athens synagogues with representatives of the local Jewish community and the World Jewish Congress.[6] The delegation heard testimony from Holocaust survivor Emmy Mekiou, laid a wreath at a memorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Greece, and was received at the headquarters of the Jewish Community of Athens.[6]

Maccabi Haifa board member Zvi Wizner articulated the philosophy behind the visits, stating, "Preserving the memory of the Holocaust is a core principle of Maccabi Haifa." He connected the club's public platform to building relationships with Jewish communities and amplifying the voices of Holocaust survivors.[6]

The venue restrictions surrounding Maccabi Haifa's 2002/03 Champions League campaign remain an important part of its historical context. UEFA prohibited matches in Israel during the intifada, requiring the club to stage its home group fixtures in Nicosia, Cyprus rather than at its regular home venue.[15]