Nostalgia Sunday – Football… or soccer

July 11, 2010 - 9:16 PM by

Whether you know it as football, soccer or kadur regel, it’s the most popular sport in Israel. Let’s kick off with a video of the greatest highlights of Israel football, courtesy of the Israel Football Association YouTube channel.

Wikipedia has a nice summary of the history of football in Israel and the Israel National Football Team, starting with the pre-State period: “During the British Mandate for Palestine, organized football consisted of British and Jewish clubs.”

The first club was Maccabi Tel Aviv, which was founded just after Passover in 1906. As Wikipedia has it, “a group of boys between the age 14-16 were called to the Meir Dizengoff house. There they decided to found the first Israeli football team. They were called, ‘Maccabi Harishon Le-Zyion’. Their first match ended with a victory against a team of sailors from a French ship 3:0. After the city of Tel Aviv founded in 1909, the club changed its name to ‘Maccabi Tel Aviv’.”

In 1924, Hapoel Haifa was formed. “In February 1928, the first ever derby took place in the British Mandate between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv. Maccabi won 3–0. Thus began the country’s oldest football club rivalry, one that still goes on today.

“Nine teams started the first league in 1932. The first winner of the league were the British Police, who, under the guidance of Police Chief Speiser, were the best organized club in the country; Speiser would later serve as the first chairman of the football association.”

Upon the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the Israel Football Association (IFA) became the official association of the new state. “Just four months after Israel gained independence, the Israeli national team traveled to New York City to play their American counterparts in a friendly at the Polo Grounds. Over 40,000 spectators witnessed the newly formed Israeli side lose to the Americans 3–1.”

Israel initially competed in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) vying for European (UEFA) or Oceanian (OFC) World Cup qualifying tournaments. “In 1964, Israel hosted and won the Asian Nations Cup. In 1968, Israel went to their first Olympic Games and lost to Bulgaria in the quarterfinals. In 1970, Israel qualified for their first and only World Cup, via Oceania, but only earned two points after draws with Sweden and finalist Italy and a loss to Uruguay.”

Here’s a picture from the 70s of the Israeli team at the Asian Cup games in Teheran. Yes, that Teheran.

And a picture of Hapoel Haifa in 1974, when they won the Israel State Cup.

“In 1976, Israel went to their second Olympic Games and lost in the quarterfinals again, this time against Brazil. In 1972 and 1977 Israel attempted World Cup qualification as part of Asia, which both times ended in failure.” In 1974, Israel was expelled from AFC as many countries were unwilling to play against it (or acknowledge its right to exist).

Israel then began its bid to become part of the Continent. “During the 1980s, Israel played their majority of matches against European teams, and competed in the European leg of qualification for the 1982 World Cup… In 1991, Israeli clubs began participating in European club competitions and Israel returned to the European leg of World Cup qualifying in 1992… In 1994, Israel received full UEFA membership, 20 years since they had left Asia. Within Europe, Israel have been a relatively minor nation, though with some successes.” Israel’s highest FIFA ranking was 15th in November 2008.

Interestingly, the Asia-Europe switcheroo hasn’t gone unnoticed. “The continued presence of the Israeli Football Association in UEFA was a precedent cited by Australia to justify its transfer from the Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian Football Federation.”

The Ramat Gan stadium, by the way, is home to the Israel national football team. It seats 41,583 and hosts all Israel-international football matches. A virtual tour of the stadium is available here. And here’s a clip from a 1956 game between Israel and the USSR, which took place at the Ramat Gan stadium.


מצא עוד סרטים כאלה ב-Ein Hod עין הוד

Tags: , , • Category: General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Sports, tv 

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One Comment on Nostalgia Sunday – Football… or soccer

  1. Nostalgia Sunday – Football… or soccer | ISRAELITY | Blog Cast on Mon, Jul 12th 2010 2:43 AM

    2. [...] reading here: Nostalgia Sunday – Football… or soccer | ISRAELITY Tags: association, greatest, Israel, kadur-regel, popular-sport, the-greatest, [...]

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