Maccabi Ramla () was an Israeli football club based in

Ramla Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph S ...

. The club played two seasons in

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 ...

, then the second tier of

Israeli football league system The Israeli football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Israel. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, and allows even the smallest club to dream ...

History

The club was founded in December 1953 by Ya'akov (Jacques) Asa and Albert Kiyosso, the chairman of Maccabi Bulgaria organization and

Maccabi Jaffa Maccabi Jaffa Football Club () is an Israeli football club from Jaffa, Tel Aviv. Founded in 2007 as a phoenix football club by fans of Maccabi Jaffa F.C., which was dissolved in 2000 and all previous attempts in the intervening years to revive it ...

, who gave the greeting of Maccabi Jaffa for the newly formed club. The name of Maccabi was given to the club, as the founders were members of Maccabi Bulgaria, the only

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

sports association in their country of origin,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. The club joined

Liga Gimel Liga Gimel (, lit. ''League C'') is, since 2009, the fifth and bottom division of Israeli football league system, Israeli Football League. From Liga Alef and downwards, including Liga Gimel, each league is separated by region. History Liga Gimel ...

at the 1954–55 season, in which they finished runners-up at the Central division and promoted to

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 ...

, which became the third tier of Israeli football following restructuring of the

. After six seasons playing in Liga Bet, Maccabi won the South A division in the 1960–61 season and qualified for the

Promotion play-offs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

, where they beat S.K. Nes Tziona in two legs, 2–0 and 2–1, and promoted to

, then the second tier. In Liga Alef, the club narrowly avoided relegation in the 1961–62 season after twelfth-place finish. However, in the following season, Maccabi finished bottom and relegated to Liga Bet. The club suffered further relegation in the 1963–64 season, this time to Liga Gimel, after finished bottom of Liga Bet South B division. In the 1965–66 season, Maccabi won Liga Gimel Jaffa division, and after

, returned to Liga Bet, where they played in most of their football seasons, with being relegated to Liga Gimel and bouncing back to Liga Bet on several occasions. The club folded in 1996.

Honours

: ** Winners (1): 1960–61 ** ''Runners-up'' (1): 1959–60 *

: ** Winners (3): 1965–66, 1971–72, 1983–84 ** ''Runners-up'' (1): 1954–55

References

"The Bulgarians from Ramla" achieved their goal – But Maccabi team is ready to continue (Page 3)
Hadshot HaSport, 11 July 1961, archive.football.co.il

Association football clubs established in 1953 Association football clubs established in 2020 Association football clubs disestablished in 1996 1953 establishments in Israel 2020 establishments in Israel 1996 disestablishments in Israel {{Israel-footyclub-stub