Hapoel Be'er Sheva · History

Hapoel Be'er Sheva are the football club of Be'er Sheva, the largest city of the Negev desert, and one of the most decorated institutions in Israeli football. Founded on 1 May 1949 by Zalman Caspi, they play in red and white, are known as "the Camels" and "the Reds from the South", and have won six league championships: 1974-75 and 1975-76, the treble of 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18, and the 2025-26 title. They have played at the Turner Stadium since 2015 and over the last decade have become regulars in European competition.

Founded in the Negev desert

The club was born alongside the State of Israel itself, in May 1949, in a city that was only then beginning to grow in the middle of the desert. Its first match came exactly a year later, on 1 May 1950, a 5-4 win over Hapoel Mefalsim. The early years were an apprenticeship in the lower tiers: the team were promoted to Liga Alef in 1959 and reached the Israeli top flight in 1965, by then the sporting standard-bearer of the whole south of the country, a status that has shaped its identity ever since and explains the loyalty of a support that stretches far beyond the city limits.

The 1970s: back-to-back titles

The first golden age arrived in the mid-1970s under coach Amazia Levkovich. Hapoel were league champions in 1974-75, the first title in their history, and repeated the feat the following season, in 1975-76, a double that placed them among the country's heavyweights. In 1975 they also took the Israeli Super Cup, beating Hapoel Kfar Saba 2-1, and defender Uri Benjamin was voted footballer of the year. That generation produced names the fans still invoke, such as Meir Barad and Shalom Avitan, and the club later gave Israeli football Yossi Benayoun, the most widely travelled Israeli player of his generation.

Decline, financial crisis and relegation

After a strong late 1970s and early 1980s the club slid into trouble. It won the Toto Cup in 1988-89 and 1995-96 and lifted the 1996-97 State Cup with a 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv, Eli Guttman in the dugout, but financial mismanagement eventually took its toll: in 1997-98 it was relegated after 27 consecutive seasons in the top division. Several years in Liga Artzit followed, along with a return in 2000-01 that did not prevent further upheaval. In Europe, that era left one of the harshest nights in club history: the 1995-96 UEFA Cup tie against FC Barcelona, a 0-7 defeat at home and 5-0 in the return.

The Alona Barkat era and the three-in-a-row

The decisive turn came in July 2007, when businesswoman Alona Barkat bought the club and set a long-term rebuild in motion. The team returned to the top flight in 2008-09, steadied itself under Elisha Levi between 2012 and 2014, and exploded under Barak Bakhar, manager from 2015 to 2020: with him came three consecutive league titles — 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 — the 2016-17 Toto Cup and the Super Cups of 2016-17 and 2017-18. The desert club went from survival to setting the pace of Israeli football, and rounded off the cycle with the 2019-20 State Cup, won 2-0 against Maccabi Petah Tikva.

The Turner Stadium and the European nights

Hapoel played at the Vasermil from 1960 until 2015, when they moved into the Turner Stadium, a modern ground holding 16,126 spectators that opened during the 2015-16 season and proved decisive in the club's competitive leap. With that backing came their best continental campaigns: in 2016-17 they reached the Europa League group stage, where they beat Inter Milan 2-0 and drew with Southampton before going out to Beşiktaş in the round of 32; in 2017-18 they reached the Champions League play-off round, eliminated by Maribor; and in 2020-21 they returned to the Europa League group stage after a 1-0 play-off win over Viktoria Plzeň. Those campaigns gave the club an international profile unprecedented in its history and established Be'er Sheva as a European venue, in a country where continental representation had traditionally been shared out among the big names of Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Honours

Hapoel Be'er Sheva's record comprises six league championships (1974-75, 1975-76, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2025-26), four State Cups — among them those of 1996-97 and 2019-20 — four Toto Cups (1988-89, 1995-96, 2008-09 and 2016-17), several Israeli Super Cups, with 1975, 2016-17 and 2017-18 among the confirmed years, and the 1987-88 Lilian Cup. Players such as Elyaniv Barda, Maor Buzaglo, Anthony Nwakaeme and Glynor Plet have passed through the squad in the recent era, the building blocks of the most dominant cycle in club history. On the bench, the list of defining managers is headed by Amazia Levkovich, Eli Guttman, Elisha Levi and Barak Bakhar.

Where the club stands: 2025-26 champions and back in Europe

Hapoel Be'er Sheva were crowned 2025-26 Israeli Premier League champions with 79 points from 36 matches, three more than Beitar Jerusalem, who finished second on 76, in a season overseen by Ran Kozuch. The title, their sixth and their first since 2018, opened the door to the following season's Champions League qualifying, where they went a long way: they knocked out Víkingur Reykjavík 3-2 on aggregate in the second round and Red Star Belgrade by an emphatic 3-0 in the third, before falling in the decisive play-off to Azerbaijan's Sabah, who won 5-2 after extra time in Baku and 6-4 on aggregate. The Negev club therefore dropped into the Europa League.