Shimshon Tel Aviv F.C. (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Shimshon Tel Aviv'') is an Israeli football club based in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. In 2000 it merged with

Beitar Tel Aviv Beitar Tel Aviv Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל בית"ר תל אביב) was an Israeli football club based from Tel Aviv. The club merged in 2000 with Shimshon Tel Aviv to create Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv,Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv.Israel Third Level 2000/01
RSSSF In 2011, the merge came apart after

Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla Beitar Tel Aviv Bat Yam F.C. ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר תל אביב בת ים) is an Israeli football club which represents Tel Aviv and Bat Yam. It plays in the Liga Alef, the second level of Israeli football. Home matches are p ...

, whilst Shimshon withdrew from the union and functioned as youth section, without a senior team.Shimshon returns to the center of the stage
Uri Shamir, vole.co.il, 30.7.2011 In 2014, the club was resurrected by local businessmen.Shimshon Tel Aviv returns
Goler1, 10.9.2014 Did You Missed Them? Shimshon Tel Aviv Is Resurrected
Michael Weissermann, doublepass.sport5.co.il, 10 September 2014 On 11 September 2014 Shimshom beat Hapoel Ramat Gan 1–0 in a historic first win in 10 years.

History

The club was formed in memory of

Shimshon Rouzi Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution ...

,"Shimshon" – From the wonders of Israeli football
Maariv, 29.5.1960, Historical Jewish Press a former

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

player who died in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was commonly referred to as the club of Kerem HaTeimanim, a neighbourhood of

. The club spent its first few years in the lower leagues, before winning promotion to the top flight (then called Liga Leumit) in 1960 as Liga Alef champions. In 1962–63 the Shimshon finished 4th, the club's highest position to date. In 1965–66, Shimshon player Moshe Romano was the division's joint top scorer alongside Maccabi Netanya's prolific striker

Mordechai Spiegler Mordechai "Motaleh" Shpigler ( he, מרדכי "מוטל'ה" שפיגלר; born 19 August 1944) is a retired Israeli footballer, and manager. Shpigler is placed second in Israel's all time goalscoring list, with 32 goals in 83 caps. Early life ...

, with 17 goals. The club also made their first appearance in a State Cup final, going down 2–1 to Hapoel Haifa. Another 4th-place finish was achieved in 1969–70, with Romano again finishing as the league's top scorer. The following season they went one better by finishing second to champions Maccabi Netanya. However, the success was not sustained, and a season after finishing second, the club narrowly avoided relegation, finishing one place above the drop zone. The 1972–73 was even worse, as the club was relegated alongside Hapoel Marmorek. Despite their setback the previous season, Shimshon had a successful season in 1973–74, finishing second in Liga Alef North and took part in the new promotion/relegation play-offs. They finished second in the play-off group, and were promoted back to Liga Leumit. The early 1980s were a period of relative success, as the club finished third in 1979–80 and 1984–85, and another second-place finish achieved in 1982–83. A second cup final was reached in 1986, but they lost 2–1 to Beitar Jerusalem. In 1987–88 the club qualified for the Intertoto Cup. Although they reached another cup final in 1989–90, losing again, 1–0 after extra time to Hapoel Kfar Saba, the club finished bottom of Liga Leumit for the first time in their history, and were relegated to Liga Artzit (the second tier since the 1976). Unable to bounce back to the top flight, and overshadowed by more popular and successful teams in Tel Aviv (

Hapoel Hapoel ( he, הפועל, lit. ''the worker'') is an Israeli Jewish sports association established in 1926 by the Histadrut Labor Federation. History During the British Mandate of Palestine period Hapoel had a bitter rivalry with Maccabi and org ...

, Maccabi and Bnei Yehuda, the club merged with fellow Tel Aviv strugglers Beitar to form Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv. In 2014, the club returned to the map of

Israeli football Football ( he, כַּדוּרֶגֶל, ''Kaduregel'') is the most popular sport in Israel. Football as an organised sport, first developed in the United Kingdom, who controlled Mandatory Palestine during the days of the British Mandate. The ...

after 14 years.

Current squad

Honours

* Israeli Premier League **Runners-up 1970–71, 1982–83 * Israeli Second Division **Champions 1959–60 * Toto Cup **Winners 1986–87, 1987–88 *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...

**Runners-up 1966, 1986, 1990

Notable players

''Internationally capped players'' * Pini Balili *

Eli Cohen Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen ( he, אֱלִיָּהוּ בֵּן שָׁאוּל כֹּהֵן‎, ar, إيلياهو بن شاؤول كوهين‎; 6 December 1924 – 18 May 1965), commonly known as Eli Cohen, was an Egyptian-born Israel ...

Gidi Damti Gideon 'Gidi' Damti (born 31 October 1951) is an Israeli football manager and former player. He is currently manager of Sektzia Nes Tziona. He has also been manager at Maccabi Netanya.UEFA, Netanya hunting for new coach' See also *List of one-c ...

Ya'akov Hodorov Ya'akov "Yankele" Hodorov ( Hebrew: יעקב חודורוב) (16 June 1927 – 31 December 2006) was an Israeli football goalkeeper in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He is one Israel's best goalkeepers of all time and the leading goalkeeper of his ...

Adoram Keisi Adoram Keisi ( he, אדורם קייסי; born June 17, 1972) is a retired Israeli professional association footballer. He played most of his career as a left back in Maccabi Haifa F.C. in which he won 4 championship, one state cup and 2 Toto cup ...

* Vicky Peretz * Moshe Romano

References

{{Liga Alef Football clubs in Israel Football clubs in Tel Aviv Shimshon Association football clubs established in 1949 Association football clubs established in 2014 1949 establishments in Israel 2014 establishments in Israel