Maccabi HaSharon Netanya F.C.

Maccabi HaSharon Netanya is a small football club in Netanya. A 2010 profile described it as an additional local club alongside Maccabi Netanya and Beitar-Tubruk and reported that it was then playing in Liga Bet.[1] By April 2025, it was competing in Liga Gimel Sharon.[2] A May 2026 report placed the club in Liga Gimel Shomron during negotiations for its purchase by Erez Isakov.[3]

Maccabi HaSharon Netanya traces its origins to a family endeavor launched by the Attia family. In 2010, club owner Ailo (Chacho) Attia stated that the club had existed for more than 50 years, describing how his father both founded it and played for it.[1] It operated alongside more prominent Netanya football organizations, including Maccabi Netanya and Beitar-Tubruk, and was described at the time as an additional local club in the city.[1]

For much of this period, the club relied on extremely limited means. Municipal support barely covered basic expenses, and the club at times lacked the budget to pay players or purchase playing kit and equipment.[1] Ailo Attia reportedly served simultaneously as owner, general manager, coach, and equipment manager until midseason 2009–10, leading the report to characterize the operation as a one-man show.[1] Former Beitar Jerusalem chairman Moshe Dadash was described as a lucky charm for the club: after first attending a match when the team sat below the relegation line, Netanya won, and he continued attending thereafter.[1]

As of a March 2010 report, Maccabi HaSharon Netanya was competing in Liga Bet.[1] The club had begun the campaign near the relegation places but underwent a midseason reorganization that helped improve its position.[1] New figures included former Israel international Moshe Glam, who joined as a player after leaving a coaching role at Kfar Yona, and businessman Avi Roimi, who provided financial backing and helped redistribute club responsibilities.[1] Roimi's son Adam, who had also come from Kfar Yona, featured as a central defender.[1]

Coach Baruch Hassan was credited with introducing structured training, punctuality, and tactical discipline after a period of inconsistency.[1] He said that many of the club's players had previously passed through the youth departments of Maccabi Netanya and Tubruk.[1] By March 2010, the club had recorded six consecutive victories, and its immediate target was to finish fifth in the regular season and qualify for the upper playoff bracket.[1] A 0–0 draw with Otzma Holon, played largely with ten men, interrupted that run.[1]

An Israeli government spreadsheet recording actual sports-support payments for 2019 lists מכבי השרון נתניה (Maccabi HaSharon Netanya) under association number 580208536 and identifies its center as Maccabi.[4] The document records a year-to-date payment amount of 23,128.[4] The spreadsheet does not specify a sporting discipline and therefore does not independently establish that the listed association was the football club discussed in contemporary reports.[4]

In April 2025, the club—identified in reports as Maccabi HaSharon Netanya Victor Attia—led Liga Gimel Sharon with 70 points. Maccabi Ironi Kfar Yona and Bnei Jaljulia followed with 68 points each.[2] A 30th-round fixture between Maccabi HaSharon Netanya and Bnei Jaljulia was considered critical to the closely contested three-team promotion race.[2]

In May 2026, reports emerged that former footballer and reality-television finalist Erez Isakov was negotiating to purchase the club, which was described at the time as competing in Liga Gimel Shomron.[3] Isakov confirmed in a broadcast interview that he was negotiating to acquire a Liga Gimel team with the intention of advancing it through multiple divisions, while Double Pass identified that team as Maccabi HaSharon Netanya.[3]

By July 2026, the deal was complete. Isakov formally purchased Maccabi HaSharon Netanya from brothers Ilan and Shimon Attia, who agreed to continue managing day-to-day operations while Isakov took on the role of owner.[5] Isakov also announced his return from retirement to play for the club and appointed Shlomi Dahan—a former player for Maccabi Netanya, Borussia Dortmund, and Maccabi Haifa—as head coach.[5]

In August 2026, Isakov met the squad at the club's training complex in Netanya, underwent medical examinations ahead of renewing his player registration, and set an explicit target: "I did not come here to pass the time ... our one declared goal is to finish in first place and be promoted to Liga Bet."[6] The club planned to compete in shirts bearing the inscription "The Isakovs."[6]

The Israeli Football Association's League and Cup Committee postponed the decisive 2025 match between Bnei Jaljulia and Maccabi HaSharon Netanya from Sunday to Monday. It said that sporting integrity and an on-field decision outweighed the convention of simultaneous kickoff times and described the postponement as a final opportunity to play the fixture.[2]

Maccabi Ironi Kfar Yona manager Amir Avraham sharply criticized the decision and warned of crowd-safety risks at his club's Sunday match.[2] In a related dispute over the venue for the Netanya–Jaljulia fixture, HaSharon Netanya chairman Ilan Attia denied that his club had caused the move and said it resulted from a police requirement.[2]