Full name | Hapoel Ashdod Football Club |
---|---|
Founded | 1957 2015 (Re-established) |
Ground | Feeder Stadium, Ashdod |
Capacity | 2,000 |
Owner | private Voluntary association |
Chairman | Naim Shomer |
Manager | Pini Ayesh |
League | Liga Gimel South |
1998–99 | Liga Artzit, 10th |
Hapoel Ashdod F.C. (Hebrew: הפועל אשדוד) is an Israeli football club based in Ashdod. In 1999, it merged with local rivals Ironi Ashdod to create F.C. Ashdod.
In 2015, the club was resurrected by its fans.
The club was founded in 1957 and reached the second tier after winning Liga Bet South B Division in the 1970–71 season. After several lower-table finishes, the club were relegated to Liga Alef at the end of the 1978–79 season, in which they finished bottom. They returned to the second division at the end of the 1989–90 season, in which they won the southern division of Liga Alef, beating local rivals Maccabi Ironi Ashdod to the title by a single point. They narrowly avoiding relegation in 1993–94, when they finished one place above the relegation zone, but after several more lower-table finishes, in 1997–98 the club finished third, one place below promotion to the top division, but the following season finished tenth, and were due to be relegated two divisions due to financial problems. However, the club merged with Maccabi Ironi Ashdod, to form F.C. Ashdod.
In 2001 a new club, Hapoel Namal Ashdod was established, playing in Liga Gimel. Although the club was initially successful, winning its division and gaining promotion to Liga Bet, at the end of the 2003–04 season, in which it finished fourth, it was disbanded.
In March 2015, fans of Hapoel Ashdod gathered and re-established the club, with the purpose of joining Liga Gimel in the 2015–16 season.