Maccabi Kiryat Gat F.C. () was an Israeli football team based in the southern city of

Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat () also spelled Qiryat Gat, is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies south of Tel Aviv, north of Beersheba, and west southwest of Jerusalem. In it had a population of . The city hosts one of the most advanced semicondu ...

. The club's best achievement has been promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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 ...

runners-up in 2001, after beating Hapoel Beit She'an on the final day of the season. However, in their first season in the top division, they finished at the bottom of the table, six points from safety, and were relegated back to the second tier. As a result of the overspending while in the top division, the club suffered financial difficulties, and was demoted to the fourth division by the

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Act ...

in 2004, where they played for a decade until 2014, when they were promoted to Liga Leumit.

History

The club was established as Maccabi Kiryat Gat in 196112 New teams registered for Liga Gimel so far (Page 3)
Hadshot HaSport, 27 September 1961, archive.football.co.il by Yehuda Ivanir who also served as chairman. In 1969, he bought the Kfar Gavirol F.C., and Maccabi took its place in the

Liga Bet Liga Bet () is the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into four regional divisions. History League football started in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. However, the financial ...

. In the 1978–79 season, the club reached

Liga Alef Liga Alef () is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south. History League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Howe ...

, for the first time in its history, and finished in the second place. however at the end of the season, the club lost in promotion play-off to Hapoel Herzliya, and remained in Liga Alef, up until the 1980–81 season, where the club won Liga Alef South division, and achieved historic promotion to

Liga Artzit Liga Artzit (, lit. ''Country League'') is the defunct third division of Israeli Football League, beneath its highest division Premier League and the second division Liga Leumit. Before being cancelled in 2009, it was run by the Israel Football A ...

, the second tier of Israeli football at the time, but dropped, after one season, to Liga Alef, where the club played until 1994 when it made a return to Liga Artzit. After seven seasons in the second division, Maccabi finished second in the 2000–01 season of Liga Leumit (Liga Leumit replaced Liga Artzit as the new second tier of Israeli football in the 1999–2000 season), and for the first time in history, promoted to the

. The club has played the 2001–02 season in the Premier League under the management of

Gili Landau Gili Landau (; born 7 May 1958) is an Israeli former footballer and currently a manager, coaching the Israel women's national football team. Biopgraphy Gili Landau was born in Bat Yam, Israel. He played soccer as a striker for Hapoel Tel ...

, and during the season, recorded their biggest win in their history, when Maccabi won 4–0 against

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

, in

Kiryat Eliezer Stadium The Haifa Municipal Stadium (, ''Etztadion HaIroni Haifa''), more commonly known as Kiryat Eliezer (), was a multi-use stadium in the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. It was mostly used for football matches and as the home stadium o ...

. The club finished last in that season and returned to the

. Maccabi remained in the Second Division, Liga Leumit, until 2004, when the club was forced to relegated to

due to heavy financial debts. In 2006, the club merged with Beitar Kiryat Gat F.C. to one municipal club, thus after lengthy negotiations. For years Maccabi was the only Football Club in

(except short period with the existence of F.C. Kiryat Gat since 2009 until 2012 when the club was merged into Maccabi). At the beginning of season 2012–13 the Maccabi changed its name to Ironi Kiryat Gat and after a while returned to the former name: Maccabi Kiryat Gat. Since 2013, the club's sponsor is a Hamei Yoav baths. In the 2013–14 season, Maccabi won Liga Alef South division, and promoted to Liga Leumit. In the 2015–16 season, the club finished bottom in Liga Leumit and relegated to Liga Alef.

Players

Notable former players

Notable former coaches

Women's section

The Women's section of the club won the

Israeli Women's Cup The Israeli Women's Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina Nashim'') is the annual knock-out tournament of women's football teams in Israel. It is equivalent to the men's Israel State Cup, and organized by the Israel Football Association (IFA). Its first season ...

in 2016 and the

Ligat Nashim Ligat Nashim (, lit. ''Women's League'') is the Israeli Women's association football, women's football league. It has been run by the Israel Football Association since 1998. Format The league is divided into two divisions, with the top divisio ...

championship in 2016–17, 2017–2018, 2020–21, 2021–22.

Honours

Domestic

League

***Winners***

External links

Ironi Kiryat Gat
The Israel Football Association

References

{{Israeli Premier League

1961 establishments in Israel 2020 establishments in Israel Association football clubs established in 1961 Association football clubs established in 2020 Sport in Kiryat Gat