Full name | Maccabi "Zvi" Yavne Football Club |
---|---|
Founded | 1962 |
Ground | Yavne Municipal Stadium, Yavne |
Capacity | 2,500 |
Chairman | Shuki Nagar |
Manager | Shay Maor |
League | Liga Alef South |
2015–16 | Liga Leumit, 15th (relegated) |
Maccabi "Zvi" Yavne (Hebrew: מכבי יבנה) is an Israeli football club based in Yavne. They currently play in Liga Alef.
The club was founded in 1962 and played in Liga Gimel, the lowest tier of Israeli football, up until the 1971–72 season, when they started their progress and reached Liga Bet for the first time. In the 1975–76 season, they won Liga Bet South B division and were promoted to Liga Alef. Four seasons later, in the 1979–80 season, they won Liga Alef South division and were promoted to Liga Artzit, the second tier of Israeli football at the time. After 9th-place finish in their debut season in the second tier, they finished 3rd in the 1981–82 season and were promoted to Liga Leumit (then the top division) for the first time in their history. In 1985 they won the Toto Cup, beating Beitar Jerusalem 2–1 in the final. After several lower-mid table finishes, Maccabi were relegated at the end of the 1986–87 season in which they finished 14th.
Maccabi narrowly missed out a return to the top division, on goal difference, in 1989–90, when they finished third, level on points with second-placed Hapoel Tel Aviv. In the following season they were promoted, but were relegated at the end of the 1991–92 season, having finished second bottom.