Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club (מועדון כדורגל מכבי תל אביב; Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Tel Aviv) is an Israeli professional football club from Tel Aviv and part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Sport Club. Founded in 1906 in Jaffa as the HaRishon Le Zion-Yafo Association, it is the oldest and most decorated football club in Israel. With the establishment of the city of Tel Aviv in 1909, the club changed its name to Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 1922, it became the first Jewish football club to participate in local competitions. The meaning of the name Maccabi – 'there is no one like you among the gods' – forms an integral part of the character of the team, which took the Star of David as their logo to represent the Jewish people. Maccabi Tel Aviv have won more titles than any other Israeli club, winning League Championships, State Cups, seven Toto (League) Cups, and two Asian Champion Club Tournaments before Israel were expelled from the AFC in 1974. Maccabi Tel Aviv is the only football team that have never been relegated from the Israeli Premier League and one of only three Israeli teams to ever progress to the UEFA Champions League group stage. The club is named after the Maccabees and invest in the development and nurturing of young talent: the club runs three football academies in the Tel Aviv area as part of its youth programme, working with over 750 children aged 6–15, as well as running 17 youth teams with 400 players between 9 and 19 years old. These teams tend to compete very successfully in local and national leagues. In the early 1920s, despite the absence of an organised league, Maccabi Tel Aviv were known as the strongest football team in the country and were invited to numerous friendly matches, even against British teams of the local Mandate. Official tournaments began taking place in 1928 with the establishment of the Football Association and FIFA's recognition of Israeli football. In 1929, the team won their first trophy after beating Maccabi Hashmonai Jerusalem 4–0.