Maccabi Hakoah Sydney City East FC, commonly known as Maccabi Hakoah, is an Australian semi-professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, New South Wales. The club was formed in 1939 as Sydney Hakoah by members of Sydney's

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 ...

community. They played between 1977 and 1986 in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

as Eastern Suburbs (1977–1979) and Sydney City (1979–1987). One of the most successful sides in New South Wales and interstate competitions in the 1960s and early 1970s coached by the now retired Bob Szatmari, Hakoah were also one of the main instigators for the establishment of a national league. The club currently competes in the

National Premier Leagues NSW The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, one of the two organising bodies in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier L ...

, with games played from

Hensley Athletic Field Hensley Athletic Field is primarily a track and field athletics field, home ground of the Randwick-Botany Little Athletics Club and the South Sydney Athletics Club, it is also used as a ground for association football in Sydney, Australia ...

. A foundation member of the NSL, Sydney City were also its most dominant side in the competition's first decade, winning four titles, including three in a row from 1980 to 1982, and finishing below third only once. However, despite this level of success, crowds were perennially low, and even though they were one of the sides retained for 1987, after the NSL scrapped the split conference system at the end of 1986, Sydney City withdrew from the NSL one round into the 1987 season.Lowy names task force to set ball rolling on premier league – www.smh.com.au
/ref> Hakoah Sydney City East FC are one of just three winners of the 1960s Australia Cup that are still active, the other being

Caroline Springs George Cross FC Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club is an Australian association football, soccer club based in Fraser Rise, Victoria, Fraser Rise, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in the Victorian Premier League, Vic ...

and

APIA Leichhardt FC APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was forme ...

History

In January 1939 a group of Jewish immigrants, who had been playing soccer in

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb of Rushcutters Ba ...

each Sunday met to discuss the formation of a soccer club. That meeting resulted in the birth of Sydney Hakoah Football Club. However, it was not until 1954 that Hakoah was admitted to the Southern League, a semi-professional regional league in New South Wales. The team played in distinctive blue and white striped shirts featuring the Magen David badge. The club was admitted to the newly created first division of the New South Wales Soccer Federation following the breakaway of a number of clubs from the

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 ...

associated Soccer Association in 1956/57. In

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, the club's name was changed to Eastern Suburbs Hakoah. They were the winner of the first National League, known as the

. The club's name was again changed to Sydney City in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, and the home ground was moved from

Wentworth Park Wentworth Park is a park near the suburbs of Glebe and Ultimo in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The park contains several multi-purpose sporting pitches, cricket nets and a number of fitness installations. There is a playground in the s ...

to ES Marks Field in a successful year for the club.

Eddie Thomson Eddie Thomson (25 February 1947 – 21 February 2003) was a Scottish association football player and coach, who played as a defender. He played for Heart of Midlothian and Aberdeen in Scotland, San Antonio Thunder in the United States and ...

became coach in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and together with manager Andrew Lederer led the club through its final years as Australia's most successful club. The team included future International

Jimmy Cant Jim Cant (born 24 September 1953) is a former soccer player who played in the Scottish and Australian national leagues. Born in Scotland, he played at international level for Australia. Playing career Club career Cant signed for Hearts Of Midl ...

Jim Patikas Dimitris "Jimmy" Patikas (; born 18 October 1963) is a former Australian football player. Renowned for his exceptional speed and for being the first established Australian player to be signed by a professional European football club, he was cap ...

, striker

Ken Boden Ken Boden (born 5 July 1950) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in England, he represented Australia. Club career Boden spent his early career with Hull City, Scunthorpe United, Sheffield United, Matlock Town ...

and Australia's most successful goal scorer

John Kosmina Alexander John Kosmina (born 17 August 1956), known as John Kosmina, is an Australian former football (soccer) player and manager, most recently being the Senior Head Coach of Brisbane Strikers. He is a member of the Football Federation Austra ...

for the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

season. They went on to win the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

NSL seasons with Australian International striker David Mitchell joining the star-studded club. In

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

Sydney City withdrew mid-season as the most successful club in League history.

NSW State League return

Since 1988 to the present, Sydney City have competed in the NSW State League North Conference in the NSW State Leagues. Recently, they have moved up through the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

football ranks and have been promoted rapidly. In 2014 Hakoah were in NSW's 3rd division (State League 1) and won the Premiership and Grand Final Championship trophies which culminated in winning the Club Championship crown and gaining promotion to the (national premier leagues NSW2), eventually almost replicating that season in 2015, once again winning promotion, this time into the top tier in NSW. In 2012 they also won the double as State League Division Two Premiers and Grand Final Champions under the Hakoah FC banner playing out of Hensley Athletic Field. They have been in the

since the 2016 season.

Seasons

:Notes

Honours

International

* OFC Cup Winners Cup 1987

National

* NSL Champions 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982 * NSL Runner Up 1978, 1983, 1985 * NSL Minor Premiers 1984 (Northern Division), 1985 (Northern Division) *

Australia Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national association football, soccer single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Fo ...

NSL Cup The National Soccer League Cup (known most commonly as the NSL Cup) was an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Australian soccer organised by the Australian Soccer Federation between 1977 and 1997. History The NSL Cup was or ...

FFA Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia (known as Football Federation Austra ...

Winners 1965, 1968, 1986 * Australian Club of the Decade (2) 1970s, 1980s

State

* New South Wales/NPL Minor Premiers 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974 * New South Wales/NPL Champions 1961, 1962, 1966, 1968 * New South Wales/NPL Runner Up 1973, 1974 * New South Wales Federation Cup & Waratah Cup Winners 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1976, 2017 *

Ampol Ampol Limited is an Australian petroleum company headquartered in Sydney, New South Wales. Ampol is the largest transport energy distributor and retailer in Australia, with more than 1,800 Ampol-branded service stations across the country . Amp ...

Cup Winners 1957, 1968, 1973, *NSW State League/NSW League Two Premiers & Champions 2014 *NSW Club Championship winners 2014, 2015 *NSW State League Division Two/NSW League Three Champions 2012 *NSW State League Division Two/NSW League Three Premiers 2012

References

External links

* {{NSWSF original clubs Jews and Judaism in New South Wales Hakoah sport clubs Jewish football clubs Jews and Judaism in Sydney National Soccer League (Australia) clubs Football NSW League

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Association football clubs established in 1939 1939 establishments in Australia Diaspora association football clubs Diaspora sports clubs in Australia