Israeli Football, Seen Through An American Eyes

I recently attended my first Israeli football (soccer) match, Hapoel Tel Aviv vs. Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon FC. Despite going to numerous soccer matches all over the world including England, Italy, Australia, and the United States, I was extremely eager to see my first live match in Israel.

As an intern for Mifalot, Hapoel Tel Aviv’s social youth project that serves the educational and social needs of children and youth in the Middle East, I received a number of tickets for some friends and myself for this game. Although Bloomfield Stadium is the true home field for the Hapoel Tel Aviv club, the match was played at Ramat Gan Stadium, home of the Israeli National team.

Hapoel Tel Aviv is currently at the top of the Israel Premier League, also known as “Ligat Ha’Al.”  The League consists of 16 club-member teams throughout Israel, with each squad playing a total of 37 matches during the course of a season.

The league was formed in 1999, creating a promotion and relegation system with Liga Le’umit being the second or lower division in Israel. This performance-based system is used throughout Europe and provides an incentive for teams to be victorious in their respective leagues.

The way these leagues work is the worst teams in the top division move down – relegated — to the lower division and the top teams in the lower division are given the opportunity to play – promoted — to the top league. For Americans who do not follow professional soccer outside the States, this is not always an easy system to understand since the leagues in the U.S. do not follow this methodology.

When I arrived at Ramat Gan Stadium, I immediately went to the will-call counter to pick up game tickets for everyone. I expected to receive typical paper tickets as I’ve received in the past at other professional football matches I’ve attended. However, at this event, I received an unconventional ticket — a wristband – similar to one given out at nightclubs.

Placing the wristband on and walking into the stadium, I found myself able to choose any seat in the stands. This was another peculiar difference I was not accustomed to. It’s important to note this isn’t the normal way of attending matches in Israel, but it happened in this manner due to my connection with Mifalot.

My friends and I sat down and were happy to find that all of the seats in the stadium provided the fans with exceptional views. This often isn’t the case in American stadiums where the capacity may reach 90,000 persons. Ramat Gan Stadium seats a total of 41,583 and was, unfortunately, nowhere near capacity.

Initially I was surprised to see the Hapoel club mostly made up of Israeli players, but as the man behind me explained, each squad could only field up to five non-Israeli nationals on its entire team. This rule was apparent when I read the names of the players in the team magazine and noticed all the names being Israeli except for the five internationals, which ranged from Slovakia, Croatia, South Africa, Armenia, and Nigeria, on the roster.

The final whistle blew and all the fans surrounding the pitch booed at the 0 – 0 final result between both clubs. Although the match lacked the same quality of play of other leagues such as the English Premier League, Serie A in Italy, or La Liga in Spain, I was able to appreciate the passion of the fans.

Hapoel Tel Aviv’s red color was seen throughout the stadium as its supporters stood for the duration of the match, changing their collective chorus between singing, yelling and screaming at various points of the game. I could only imagine the passion and fire emanating from the fans during the derby between Hapoel and Maccabi Tel Aviv, who both share the same stadium. The mere mention of “Maccabi Tel Aviv” unleashed ire and disgust from the fan sitting behind me exclaiming, “Do not mention that team here!”

I was extremely grateful to Mifalot for providing my friends and I with tickets to the game and for the experience that came with it. Although I arrived in Israel not a supporter of any team, this exposure is surely the beginning of my loyalty for the Hapoel Tel Aviv club.