Moadon Sport Ashdod (, ''Sport Club Ashdod''), commonly referred to as F.C Ashdod (, ''Mem Samekh Ashdod''), is an Israeli professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club, playing in the port city of

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

. The unusual name of the team (unlike most Israeli football teams, this one only indicates the club's home city without any specific Jewish sporting association, such as

Hapoel Hapoel (, ) is an Israeli Jewish sports association established in 1926 by the Histadrut Labor Federation. History During the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine period Hapoel had a bitter rivalry with Maccabi World Union, Maccab ...

, Maccabi, or

Beitar The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It was one of several right-wing youth movements tha ...

) is the result of the union of two city rivals, Hapoel Ashdod and Maccabi Ironi Ashdod in 1999. The club currently plays in the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

( Ligat Ha'Al).

History

During the club's first years, its kit colors were completely blue. However, when Israeli footballer

Haim Revivo Haim Michael Revivo (; born 22 February 1972) is an Israeli former professional association football, footballer, who played as an attacking midfielder or winger (association football), winger, and a businessman. Early life Revivo is Jews, Jewi ...

took a more prominent role in the club, the colors were changed to red and yellow. The decision was made that the kit should incorporate the previous two clubs' colors, Hapoel having been red and Maccabi yellow. The club was not immediately successful after the merger, and fan support was lacking. During the 2004–05 season, they reached their greatest achievement, a third-place finish in the

and a berth in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. The club also reached the final of the

Israeli Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of these leagues a ...

, only to go out on penalty kicks. Their first time in a continental competition was not a memorable one, as they went out to the

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

runners-up,

NK Domžale Nogometni klub Domžale (), commonly referred to as NK Domžale or simply Domžale, is a Slovenian professional Association football, football club based in the town of Domžale that competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of Slovenian ...

. Prior to the 2014–15 season, the club added Ironi to its name. However, following a dispute with fans of the previous club, Maccabi Ironi Ashdod, during the 2–3 defeat against

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period last ...

in the last match of the regular season, the club's chairman, Jacky Ben-Zaken, decided to rename the club to Hapoel Ashdod and to play in red shirts. Despite warnings from the

Israel Football Association The Israel Football Association (IFA; , ''HaHit'aḥdut leKaduregel beIsrael'', ) is the governing body of football in Israel. It organizes a variety of association football leagues where the highest level is the Israeli Premier League; as well a ...

, which informed the club that such changes during season are illegal, Ashdod did show up for their next match, which opened the

Bottom playoff Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant * Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM * Buttocks or bottom, part of t ...

, against

Hapoel Ra'anana Hapoel Ra'anana Association Football Club (, ''Amutat Hapoel Ra'anana Mahleket Kaduregel'') is an Israeli football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to s ...

in red shirts, with the caption "F.C. Hapoel Ashdod", and was eventually disciplined. Furthermore, the club was punished by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

with six points deduction for failing to pay an arbitration award to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n club, Kaduna United, for the transfer of

Efe Ambrose Efe Eric Ambrose (born 18 October 1988) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Workington. Ambrose has previously played for Kaduna United, Bayelsa United, Israeli club Ashdod, Scottish clubs Celtic, Hibernia ...

in 2010. As a result, the club has been dropped to the bottom place in the Israeli Premier League. However, in an exceptional decision, FIFA reversed its decision after it was found out that the club did pay the arbitration award. At the end of the season, the club finished at the bottom of the league, after failing to register a win during their last 15 matches, and for the first time in their history, were relegated to the second tier,

Liga Leumit The Israeli Liga Leumit (, HaLiga HaLeumit, ) is the second division of the professional Israeli association football (soccer) league system. This second-tier league is placed directly below the Israeli Premier League. Structure There are 16 ...

, following a defeat of 0–1 against

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

.Watch: F.C. Ashdod relegated to Leumit after 18 years
Erez Na'aman & Igal Berman, One, 16 May 2015 In the 2015–16 season, the club won Liga Leumit and made an immediate return to the Israeli Premier League.

Players

Current squad

''Updated 22 January, 2025.''

Out on loan

Other players under contract

Notable former players

Foreigners 2023–24

Only up six non-Israeli nationals can be in an Israeli club squad (only five can play at the same time). Those with Jewish ancestry, married to an Israeli or have played in Israel for an extended period of time, can claim a passport or permanent residency which would allow them to play with Israeli status. * Martin Atemengue * Ebenezer Mamatah *

Clark Robertson Clark Robertson (born 5 September 1993) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Dundee. Career He signed a full-time contract with Aberdeen in June 2009, and made his debut for the club in a 3–1 defeat to Ha ...

* Timothy Awany

Managers

Yossi Mizrahi Yossi Mizrahi (; born 1953) is a retired Israeli goalkeeper and is a current manager. Early life Yosef (Yossi) Mizrahi was born in West Jerusalem on April 4, 1953. He grew up in Katamon and studied at Ma'aleh state religious school. As a teenag ...

(2004, 21 April 2008 – 20 May 2010) * John Gregory (1 July 2010 – 18 April 2011) *

(18 April 2011 – 30 June 2013) *

Nir Klinger Nir Klinger (; born 25 May 1966) is an Israeli football coach and former player. During the 1990s, Klinger served as Captain for Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Israel national football team. He was the coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv for three seasons, be ...

(1 July 2013 – 7 June 2015) *

Eyal Lahman Eyal Lahman (; born 29 September 1965) is an Israeli football manager. Biography Born in Petah Tikva, Lahman joined the Hapoel Petah Tikva youth system, but left the club at 16 to join Petah Tikva-based Hapoel Mahane Yehuda. He returned to H ...

(7 June 2015 – 18 December 2015) * Ronny Awat (18 December 2015 – 14 February 2017) *

Ran Ben Shimon Ran Ben-Shimon (; born ) is a former Israeli football player and current manager, who serves as the head-coach of the Israel national team. As a footballer, he has played as a center-back. Early and personal life Ben-Shimon was born and rais ...

(14 February 2017 – 5 July 2017) *

(16 July 2017 – 3 August 2017) (caretaker) *

Reuven Atar Reuven Atar (; born 3 January 1969) is an Israeli football manager and former player. As a player, he played as a midfielder, most notably with Maccabi Haifa. As a manager, he's mostly known for having five spells with Maccabi Netanya. Early l ...

(3 August 2017 – 3 October 2017) *

Amir Turgeman Amir Turgeman (; born May 10, 1972) is an Israeli football coach and a former international player. While playing for Ironi Ashdod during the 1994/95 season, Turgeman scored seventeen league goals and shared the golden boot award with Ashdod nat ...

(10 October 2017 – 24 April 2018) *

(24 April 2018 – 11 May 2018) *

Blagoja Milevski Blagoja "Bobi" Milevski-Kiceec (Macedonian: Благоја Боби Милевски-Кичеец); born 25 March 1971) is a North Macedonia, Macedonian Association football, football manager and former player who is coaching the North Macedonia ...

(11 May 2018 – November 2018) *

Yuval Naim Yuval Naim (; born 22 November 1967) is an Israeli football manager and former player. Playing career Yuval Naim grew up and played as a centre back in the youth academy of Hapoel Ramat Gan and in the mid-80's he was selected to the senior squa ...

(November 2018 – January 2019) * Moshe Ohayon (January 2019 – February 2019) * Avi Buchbut (February 2019 – June 2019) * Ronny Awat (June 2019 – January 2020) *

(January 2020 – June 2023) *

Eli Levi Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

(July 2023 – January 2025)

European cup history

Club personnel

Kit makers

References

External links

Moadon Sport Ironi Ashdod
– Israel Football Association (archived 28 August 2017) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashdod M.S. Ashdod Association football clubs established in 1999 Football clubs in Israel Sport in Ashdod 1999 establishments in Israel