# Hapoel Ashdod (handball)

Hapoel Ashdod (Hebrew: הפועל אשדוד), is a professional handball club from the city of Ashdod, Israel. They compete in the Israeli Handball League, within the Israeli first division.

## History

In 1967, when the club was first formed, they played in the second division; for an intermediate period, they played in the third division, but returned to their earlier position in 2008. At the end of 2010/11 season, for the first time in its history, the team reached the first division. During its history, it has won 2 national championships (in 2019 and 2022), 3 national Cups (in 2021, 2022 and 2023).

## Crest, colours, supporters
### Kits

HOME :
| 2022–23 | 2023–24 |
AWAY :
| 2022–23 | 2023–24 |

## Team
### Current squad

    Squad for the 2023–24 season
Hapoel Ashdod :
Goalkeepers
01 Oren Meirovich
12 Vladimir Božić
63 Oz Itzhak
Left Wingers
11 Or Farkash
Right Wingers
08 Lou Axebrud
24 Amit Stelman
98 Philip Irovich
Line Players
33 Filip Leovac
Central Backs
17 Omri Kushmaro (c)
32 Itay Suissa
Left Backs
07 Aleksandar Babić
21 Niv Levy
22 Roi Avraham Solomon
Right Backs
03 Uroš Todorović
14 Shon Meir Solomon :

### Technical staff

* Head Coach: Assaf Levy
* Assistant Coach: Amir Dan
* Physiotherapist: Saidov Natanel

### Transfers

    Transfers for the 2023–24 season

## Previous squads

2021–2022 Team :
| Shirt No | Nationality | Player | Birth Date | Position |
| 1 | Serbia | Igor Arsić | (1989-10-19) 19 October 1989 (age 35) | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Israel | Guy Korodva | (1994-11-07) 7 November 1994 (age 30) | Right Winger |
| 3 | Israel | Asaf Ben Guzi | (1998-09-24) 24 September 1998 (age 26) | Left Winger |
| 5 | Israel | Omer Gera | (1992-07-28) 28 July 1992 (age 32) | Line Player |
| 7 | Serbia | Aleksandar Babić | (1993-10-28) 28 October 1993 (age 31) | Left Back |
| 8 | Israel | Lou Axebrud | (2001-02-04) 4 February 2001 (age 24) | Right Winger |
| 9 | Israel | Ori Guez | (2002-11-19) 19 November 2002 (age 22) | Left Back |
| 10 | Montenegro | Risto Vujačić | (1993-12-04) 4 December 1993 (age 31) | Right Back |
| 11 | Israel | Yossi Biterman | (1993-10-03) 3 October 1993 (age 31) | Line Player |
| 15 | Israel | Yarin Naten Liberman | (2004-10-07) 7 October 2004 (age 20) | Left Winger |
| 17 | Israel | Omri Kushmaro | (1994-12-29) 29 December 1994 (age 30) | Central Back |
| 21 | Israel | Niv Levy | (1993-06-08) 8 June 1993 (age 31) | Left Back |
| 24 | Israel | Amit Stelman | (1993-01-09) 9 January 1993 (age 32) | Right Winger |
| 30 | Israel | Naor Cohen | (2004-09-22) 22 September 2004 (age 20) | Line Player |
| 31 | Israel | Or Farkash | (2000-03-10) 10 March 2000 (age 25) | Left Winger |
| 32 | Israel | Itay Suissa | (2001-05-20) 20 May 2001 (age 23) | Central Back |
| 45 | Israel | Shahar Levin | (1994-01-11) 11 January 1994 (age 31) | Left Winger |
| 63 | Israel | Oz Itzhak | (1998-03-14) 14 March 1998 (age 26) | Goalkeeper |
| 89 | Israel | Shon Morohov | (2004-04-05) 5 April 2004 (age 20) | Goalkeeper |

## Titles

* Winner League
** Winner (2) : 2019, 2022
* Israel Handball Cup
** Winner (3) : 2021, 2022, 2023

## EHF ranking

    As of 6/3/2024
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 158 | HIFK Handboll | 27 |
| 159 | RK Leotar | 26 |
| 160 | VÍF | 26 |
| 161 | Hapoel Ashdod | 26 |
| 162 | MRK Trogir | 26 |
| 163 | SC DHfK Leipzig Handball | 25 |
| 164 | HSV Hamburg | 25 |

## Former club members
### Notable former players

* Vladimir Božić (2024–)
* Gabor Langhans (2018–2021)
* Milorad Krivokapić (2016–2017)
* Darko Dimitrievski (2018)
* Žarko Pejović (2019–2020)
* David Špiler (2019–2020)
* Tihomir Doder (2014–2017)
* Tomislav Stojković (2019–2020)
* Svetislav Verkić (2022–2023)

### Former coaches

| Seasons | Coach |
| 2017–2021 | Oleg Butenko |
| 2021–2023 | Andreja Vukojević |
| 2023 | Nedeljko Matić |
| 2023–2024 | Amir Dan |
| 2024– | Assaf Levy |