Maccabi Holon F.C. (Women)

Maccabi Holon's history combines domestic success with periods of institutional and financial instability. Naama Cohen's five cup wins and four league championships with the club provide one measure of its achievements, while contemporary reporting has described Holon as one of the major clubs in Israeli women's football history.[3][2] The club remained in the top division for the 2026/27 season following the identity change and move associated with Hapoel Petah Tikva's women's team in 2025.[6][1]

By the early 2010s, Maccabi Holon had established itself as one of the leading clubs in Israeli women's football.[8] In the 2010/11 season its principal rival was ASA Tel Aviv, which defeated Holon 1–0 in the decisive league fixture two weeks before beating it 3–2 in the State Cup final.[8] Holon took an early lead in the final through a Tal Mahlev free kick. After ASA moved ahead 2–1, Or Erez equalised from a Vered Cohen pass, but ASA scored again in the 85th minute and Erez was sent off four minutes later.[8] The Holon lineup included goalkeeper Iris Antman, Naama Cohen, Diana Redman, Michal Ravitz, Suzy Yangerker, Shani Shmuel, Meital Dayan, Vered Cohen and Shirley Ohana, with Hila Zuckerel replacing Naama Cohen in the 51st minute.[8] Antman announced her retirement from professional football after the match, saying she had wanted a sweeter ending to her career.[8]

By the approach of the 2015/16 season, Maccabi Holon had declined sharply from that level. Many players had departed, and the club had finished seventh in the previous season without reaching the upper playoff.[5] Coach Gabi Burstein acknowledged that the club had been on the verge of collapse and that no player initially wanted to join, so the squad was rebuilt with foreign reinforcements and players willing to help restore the Maccabi Holon name.[5] The club recruited Colombian national-team goalkeeper Stephanie Castaño, Katrin Vega from Colombia's extended national squad and Fani Gauto of the Paraguay national team, alongside several Israeli additions.[5] Its stated goals were to qualify for the upper playoff and integrate talented young players; its season opener was scheduled against reigning State Cup holder Maccabi Kishronot Hadera.[5]

At the start of the 2020/21 season, Maccabi Holon failed to pass the league's budgetary-control process and was initially relegated to the National League.[2] The club appealed to the Supreme Court of the Israel Football Association, which reversed the decision and kept Holon in the top division. Five other clubs petitioned against that ruling, arguing that it was unfair and contrary to league regulations.[2] One club official stated that all teams had had approximately seven months to prepare and that a club that was not ready should not be in the league.[2] Holon's second- and third-round matches against Bnot Netanya and Bnot Kiryat Gat were postponed by two weeks, while Maccabi Kishronot Hadera received a technical victory after Holon failed to appear for its opening match.[2]

The conditions under which Maccabi Holon and its players operated reflected wider challenges facing women's football in Israel. Top-flight players earned an average of NIS 2,000 per month during the early 2010s—barely enough to cover basic expenses—and the term "professional" was described as misleading under those conditions.[4] Redman noted that Israeli teams held fewer weekly practices than clubs in the United States and that players frequently needed to supplement team sessions with individual training.[4] She said the women's league was being restructured gradually but that meaningful improvement would take considerable time. In her view, Israel possessed considerable talent, but training needed to begin at a young age rather than waiting until girls found teams in high school.[4]

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel's national team, which included Maccabi Holon players, also encountered political protests during a Euro 2013 qualifying match in Scotland.[4] Israel lost 8–0 while approximately 200 spectators shouted pro-Palestinian chants, booed Israel's national anthem and protested during the match.[4] At that point Israel was bottom of its qualifying group after seven defeats in seven matches, with one goal scored and 33 conceded.[4]

Naama Cohen, profiled at age 24, compiled one of the most decorated individual records associated with Maccabi Holon, winning five cup titles and four league championships with the club.[3] She had begun professional training at age 16 and described her ambition as coaching Israel's women's national team.[3]

Diana Redman, a midfielder born in Queens, New York, who made aliyah in 2007, played for Maccabi Holon while representing Israel's women's national team and completing a second master's degree in trauma and crisis management.[4] Redman was also interning as a social worker during her playing career, illustrating the limited professional infrastructure available to players in Israeli women's football at the time.[4]

In summer 2025, Hapoel Petah Tikva's women's team changed its name and identity to Maccabi Holon, opening the season under a new emblem, home venue and uniforms.[6] The transition created difficulties in the club's youth department, affecting approximately 30 players aged 14–16 who had played for Hapoel Petah Tikva the previous year.[6] Parents alleged that club owner Tamir Hofi demanded thousands of shekels in training-compensation fees to release those young players.[6] During a Premier League match between Maccabi Holon and Maccabi ASA Tel Aviv, several affected players and parents entered the field around the 12th minute with signs reading, "We only want to play; football is not a prison, and players are not property."[6] The match resumed after 13 minutes, and one parent who led the protest was detained by police.[6]

A separate report characterised the 2025 change as a merger between Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Holon. It claimed that Maccabi Holon had previously encountered financial difficulties, ceased operating and closed before returning to the Premier League under the management of the Association for the Advancement of Women's Football Petah Tikva.[9] These characterisations have not been independently confirmed and should be treated as contested.

Despite those off-field difficulties, Maccabi Holon finished fourth in the 2025/26 Premier League and qualified for the upper playoff, ending the campaign with a 3–1 loss to M.S. Kiryat Gat.[7] Before the 2026/27 league season, Holon finished third in Group A of the Athenah Cup and sixth overall after losing 3–1 to Hapoel Tel Aviv in a placement match.[10] Gabi Burstein was set to continue as head coach, although the club entered the season with a thin squad.[10] Israeli additions included Opal Sofer, Maor Or Lev, Maya Hitman and Gali Shiller, while captain Meital Sharabi and Alicia Pallister continued in defence.[10] Brazilian goalkeeper Ana Lucia dos Santos, who had previously played for the club in 2018/19, returned as the lone foreign recruit at the time of the preview.[10]

After two matches of the 2026/27 Premier League season, Maccabi Holon stood fifth with one win, one loss and three points.[1] It suffered a 5–0 opening defeat to defending champion Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem before defeating Hapoel Tel Aviv 2–1 in the second round, with goals by Adesina Rosemary Oluapomilayo in the 34th minute and Immaculate Mesifa in the 98th minute.[1]

Two episodes in particular have drawn scrutiny. The club's retention in the top division at the start of the 2020/21 season—following a failed budgetary-control process—prompted complaints from five rival clubs, which argued that the Israel Football Association's Supreme Court had acted contrary to league regulations in reversing the initial relegation decision.[2]

The 2025 reorganisation also generated controversy. The club's handling of youth-team transfers, the allegation that release fees were demanded from teenage players and the pitch invasion during a Premier League fixture all attracted media attention.[6] The characterisation of the 2025 change—whether it constituted a rebranding, a merger or a revival of a previously dissolved entity—differed between published reports.[9][6]