# Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C.

Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C. (Hebrew: הפועל ראשון לציון) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Rishon LeZion, which currently plays in Liga Leumit, Israel's second football division. Home matches are hosted at the Haberfeld Stadium. In 1991, the club changed its name to Hapoel Ironi Rishon LeZion (Hebrew: הפועל עירוני ראשון לציון), and in June 2008 the name was switched back to Hapoel Rishon LeZion following a change in ownership.

## History

Hapoel Rishon LeZion was one of the first clubs in the history of league football in Israel. The football section of the Sports club was established in 1929, and played several matches since 1933, including competing at the Palestine Cup in 1937 and 1939. The club was formally established in 1940.
Its best achievements were runner-up of the Israel State Cup in 1946 and 1996. On both occasions it lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv. Following its cup final in 1996, it played in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but was eliminated in the qualifying round by Constructorul Chisinau of Moldova on away goals rule (0–1, 3–2).
The club played at the top division in Mandatory Palestine for the first time at the 1941–42 season and after the Israeli Declaration of Independence, became founder members of the Israeli League in 1949. In 1951–52, the club finished second bottom and dropped to the second tier.
Between 1952 and 1994 the club played just three seasons in the top division: 1978–79, 1980–81 (where they finished sixth) and 1981–82. In the 1991–92 season, while playing in Liga Alef, the third tier, it added the word Ironi to its name, and in the next two seasons, made two successive promotions and returned to the top flight once again after winning Liga Artzit in the 1993–94 season. This time the club managed to stay nine consecutive seasons in the top league until it was relegated to the second tier, (Liga Leumit), at the end of the 2002–03 season, and three seasons later dropped further down to Liga Artzit, the third tier at the time.
In 2008–09, after the club changed its name back to Hapoel Rishon LeZion, it was promoted to the second tier (Known as Liga Leumit) .
In 2010–11, the club was promoted to the Israeli Premier League, the top tier. They were relegated back to Liga Leumit the following season.
On 4 December 2012, Hapoel Rishon LeZion won the 2012–13 Toto Cup Leumit.
In 2017–18, the club was just one point short of being promoted to the top tier, The Israeli Premier League, finishing third. In the following year, 2018–19, the club finished twelfth, and narrowly avoided relegation.
In 2023-24, on July 28, 2023, the club sold Mohamed Bamba, an Ivorian striker who played for the club and the youth team for 3.5 years, to Austrian club Wolfsberger AC for 200,000€ and a 20% sell-on fee. After scoring 8 goals and 4 assists in 17 games in the 2023–24 Austrian Football Bundesliga and 2023–24 Austrian Cup, Wolfsberger AC sold Bamba to French club FC Lorient for 5,000,000€, securing Rishon 1,000,000€ from the sell-on. Bamba went on to score 8 goals and 3 assists in 16 games in the 2023–24 Ligue 1.
Season-by-season :
| Season | League Tier | League Position | Israeli Cup | Toto Cup | Notes |
| 2004–05 | 2 | 6th | Round of 32 | X | |
| 2005–06 | 2 | 11th | Round of 16 | X | No toto cup before 2006–07. |
| 2006–07 | 3 | 2nd | DNP | X | No toto cup in 3rd tier |
| 2007–08 | 2 | 11th | Round of 16 | 9th-10th | |
| 2008–09 | 3 | 4th | Round of 64 | X | No toto cup in 3rd tier |
| 2009–10 | 2 | 8th | Round of 64 | 2nd | |
| 2010–11 | 2 | 2nd | Round of 16 | 5th-8th | |
| 2011–12 | 1 | 15th | Round of 32 | 9th-16th | |
| 2012–13 | 2 | 6th | Semi Finals | 1st | |
| 2013–14 | 2 | 11th | Quarter Finals | X | The Toto Cup was not held that year. |
| 2014–15 | 2 | 10th | Round of 32 | 9th-16th | |
| 2015–16 | 2 | 12th | Round of 16 | 9th-16th | |
| 2016–17 | 2 | 10th | Round of 16 | 9th-16th | |
| 2017–18 | 2 | 3rd | Round of 32 | 5th-8th | |
| 2018–19 | 2 | 12th | Round of 64 | 9-10th | |
| 2019–20 | 2 | 5th | Round of 32 | 3rd-4th | |
| 2020–21 | 2 | 4th | Round of 32 | 5th-6th | |
| 2021–22 | 2 | 14th | Round of 32 | 7th | Won the Promotion/relegation playoff |
| 2022–23 | 2 | 12th | Round of 32 | 1st | |
| 2023-24 | 2 | 13th | Round of 16 | 15th-16th |

## Current squad
### As to 7 February 2025

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | MF | FRA | Sacha Petshi |
| 3 | DF | ISR | Liad Levi |
| 4 | DF | ISR | Roei Zrihan |
| 5 | DF | ISR | Osher Abu |
| 6 | MF | ISR | Shay Ayzen |
| 7 | FW | ISR | Dor Jan |
| 8 | MF | ISR | Moshe Semel |
| 10 | MF | ISR | Samuel Broun |
| 11 | FW | ISR | Ofek Osher |
| 12 | DF | ISR | Tomer Machluf |
| 14 | MF | ISR | Daniel Bohadana |
| 15 | MF | ISR | Dan Kaduri |
| 17 | FW | NGA | Innocent Kingsley |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | MF | ISR | Ido Davidov |
| 22 | GK | ISR | Arik Yanko |
| 23 | DF | ISR | Asher Ashata |
| 24 | MF | ISR | Yosef Balata |
| 26 | DF | ISR | Yorai Maliach |
| 28 | MF | ISR | Noam Cohen |
| 29 | MF | ISR | Itay Zada |
| 30 | MF | ISR | Sarel Cohen |
| 44 | DF | ZAM | Gift Mphande |
| 55 | GK | ISR | Dvir Nir |
| 77 | FW | ISR | Amir Berkovits |
| — | DF | HAI | Djimy Alexis |

## International former players

Europe
* Sejad Halilović (had one cap for croatia before Bosnia got their independence)
* Yevgeni Kashentsev
* Gennadi Tumilovich
* Ivan Yaremchuk
* Marc Van Der Linden
* Dean Racunica
* Gábor Márton
* Tomasz Cebula
* Karol Schulz
Asia
* Andriy Zavyalov
Africa
* Paul Akouokou
* Mohamed Bamba
* Patrick Ovie
* Emmanuel Samadia
* Luwagga Kizito
* Gift Mphande
Central and North America
* Matan Peleg
Israel
* Rami Gershon
* Omer Atzili
* Baruch Dego
* Ya'akov Hodorov
* Shay Holtzman
* Eyal Ben Ami
* Itamar Shviro

## Managers

* Eli Cohen (born 1951)
* Arik Gilrovich (2008–09)
* Nissan Yehezkel (2010–12)
* Eyal Lahman (2012–13)
* Sharon Mimer (2013–15)
* Ofir Haim (2015–16)
* Gili Levanda (2016)
* Nir Berkovic (2016–2018)
* Ron Marcus (2018–2019)
* Nir Berkovic (2019)
* Ofer Taselpapa (2019–2020)
* Meni Koretski (2020)
* Ismaeel Amar (2020–2022)
* Amir Nussbaum (2022–2023)
* Yuval Naim (2023-)

## Honours
### League

| Honour | No. | Years |
| Second tier | 1 | 1993–94 |
| Third tier | 3 | 1964–65, 1988–89, 1992–93 |

### Cups

| Honour | No. | Years |
| Toto Cup (second division) | 2 | 2012–13, 2022–23 |

## European record

| Season | Round | Opponents | Home leg | Away leg | Aggregate |
| 1996–97 | Qualifying Round | Constructorul Chişinău | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–3 (a) |