Full name | Hapoel Ra'anana Association Football Club |
---|---|
Founded | 1938 1972 as Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C. |
as Hapoel Ra'anana F.C.
Ground | Netanya Stadium, Netanya |
Capacity | 13,610 |
Owner | Asher Alon |
Chairman | Ilan Katz |
Manager | Dudu Avraham |
League | Israeli Premier League |
2015–16 | Israeli Premier League, 6th |
Hapoel Ra'anana Association Football Club (Hebrew: עמותת הפועל רעננה מחלקת כדורגל, Amutat Hapoel Ra'anana Mahleket Kaduregel) is an Israeli football club, and based in Ra'anana. They are currently in the Israeli Premier League and play at the Netanya Stadium in Netanya.
A Hapoel Ra'anana was established in 1938. They were placed in the South Division of Liga Bet (then the second division) in 1951–52.
The modern club was established in 1972, and in the mid-1990s was playing in Liga Gimel, the lowest tier of Israeli football. In 1995 they started a remarkable period of success after they won their division of Liga Gimel and were promoted to Liga Bet. In 1997–98, they won Liga Bet South A division and were promoted to Liga Alef. In 1998–99 they won the North Division of Liga Alef to earn promotion to Liga Artzit. After finishing third in 1999–2000, they won the league the following season and were promoted to Liga Leumit.
In 2008–09, the club was promoted to the Israeli Premier League for the first time in their history. However, they had to play its home matches at Hapoel Kfar Saba's Levita Stadium, as its home ground, the Karnei Oren Memorial Field, did not meet Premier League requirements. In January 2010, the city council published plans for a 7,500-capacity new stadium in Lev HaPark neighborhood.