2016–17 Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. season

The 2016–17 Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona season was the club's 17th season since its establishment in 2000, and 7th straight season in the Israeli Premier League since promoting from Liga Leumit in 2009–10.

Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C.

2016–17 season
Chairman	Izzy Sheratzky
Manager	Motti Ivanir Benny Ben Zaken Tomer Kashtan
Israeli Premier League	7th
State Cup	Quarter-finals
Toto Cup	Final
Top goalscorer	League: Ahmed Abed (8) All: Ahmed Abed (9)
Home colours Away colours

During the 2016–17 campaign the club have competed in the Israeli Premier League, State Cup, Toto Cup.

Season review

After winning just one match of the first eight matches of the season, manager Motti Ivanir was sacked and was replaced by the coach of the U-21 team, Benny Ben Zaken.[1] Ben Zaken himself was replaced following a disagreement with chairmen Izzy Sheratzky over the inclusion of Ahmed Abed in the line-up, with Sheratzky announcing the sacking of Ben Zaken on live radio during the team's match against Hapoel Ashkelon.[2][3] Ben Zaken was replaced by Tomer Kashtan.

By the end of the regular season, the team failed to secure its place in the championship playoffs, falling from 6th to 7th in the last match of the regular season. In the relegation playoffs, the team managed to score only four points, though never dropping below 7th place, while allowing some youth players to get their first taste of league football.[4]

Match results

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
5	Bnei Sakhnin	26	10	9	7	26	26	0	39	Qualification for the Championship round
6	Maccabi Haifa	26	10	8	8	30	25	+5	38
7	Ironi Kiryat Shmona	26	9	8	9	35	33	+2	35	Qualification for the Relegation round
8	Hapoel Haifa	26	8	4	14	29	36	−7	28
9	F.C. Ashdod	26	6	10	10	15	26	−11	28

Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
7	Ironi Kiryat Shmona	33	10	9	14	44	48	−4	39
8	Hapoel Haifa	33	10	7	16	39	46	−7	37
9	F.C. Ashdod	33	7	15	11	22	32	−10	36
10	Hapoel Ra'anana	33	9	9	15	22	40	−18	36
11	Bnei Yehuda (Q)	33	8	11	14	26	39	−13	35	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
12	Hapoel Ashkelon	33	7	11	15	24	42	−18	32
13	Hapoel Kfar Saba (R)	33	7	10	16	23	40	−17	31	Relegation to Liga Leumit
14	Hapoel Tel Aviv[lower-alpha 2] (R)	33	8	14	11	29	34	−5	29

Source: Israel Football Association, Soccerway
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Bnei Yehuda qualified for the Europa League Second qualifying round by winning the 2016–17 Israel State Cup
2. Hapoel Tel Aviv were deducted nine points for entering administration.[5]

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result[6]	Scorers	Position
20 August 2016 - 20:00	F.C. Ironi Ashdod	H	1–0	Ahmed Abed	4
28 August 2016 - 20:15	Beitar Jerusalem	A	2–2	Tal Genish (o.g.), Didier Brossou	3
10 September 2016 - 18:00	Hapoel Ra'anana	H	0–0		5
17 September 2016 - 18:00	Hapoel Tel Aviv	A	3–3	Marko Simić (o.g.), Ezechiel N'Douassel, Shlomi Yosef Azulai	7
24 September 2016 - 18:00	Bnei Sakhnin	H	2–2	Shlomi Azulai, Ahmed Abed	6
1 October 2016 - 18:00	Maccabi Haifa	A	0–0		7
24 October 2016 - 19:30	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	H	0–2		7
30 October 2016 - 19:00	Maccabi Petah Tikva	A	1–2	Heitor	10
5 November 2016 - 16:00	Bnei Yehuda	A	1–0	Shlomi Azulai	6
20 November 2016 - 20:15	Maccabi Tel Aviv	H	1–2	Ezechiel N'Douassel	7
26 November 2016 - 2015	Hapoel Ashkelon	H	4–1	Shlomi Yosef Azulai, Shlomi Azulai, Eden Shamir, Ahmed Abed	6
3 December 2016 - 16:00	Hapoel Haifa	H	2–0	Shlomi Yosef Azulai, Ahmed Abed	6
10 December 2016 - 18:00	Hapoel Kfar Saba	A	2–2	Mauricio, Ido Davidov	5
17 December 2016 - 18:00	F.C. Ironi Ashdod	A	0–0		5
24 December 2016 - 20:30	Beitar Jerusalem	H	2–0	Ahmed Abed, Mauricio	5
31 December 2016 - 18:00	Hapoel Ra'anana	A	3–0	Ezechiel N'Douassel, Shlomi Yosef Azulai, Shlomi Azulai	5
12 January 2017 - 20:00	Hapoel Tel Aviv	H	2–1	Ofir Kriaf, Ahmed Abed	4
16 January 2017 - 18:30	Bnei Sakhnin	A	2–5	Shlomi Azulai, Ahmed Abed	4
21 January 2017 - 16:00	Maccabi Haifa	H	3–0	Ofir Kriaf, Shlomi Azulai, Shlomi Yosef Azulai	4
28 January 2017 - 18:15	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	A	0–2		4
4 February 2017 - 16:00	Maccabi Petah Tikva	H	0–1		4
11 February 2017 - 18:00	Bnei Yehuda	H	0–1		6
18 February 2017 - 20:35	Maccabi Tel Aviv	A	0–3		7
25 February 2017 - 18:00	Hapoel Ashkelon	A	1–1	Shoval Gozlan	6
4 March 2017 - 16:00	Hapoel Haifa	A	2–1	Shoval Gozlan (2)	6
11 March 2017 - 20:30	Hapoel Kfar Saba	H	1–2	Oded Elkayam	7
18 March 2017 - 16:00	Hapoel Tel Aviv	H	2–3	Eden Shamir, Yogev Lerman	7
1 April 2017 - 18:00	Hapoel Haifa	H	0–2		7
9 April 2017 - 19:00	F.C. Ironi Ashdod	A	1–1	Shoval Gozlan	7
22 April 2017 - 20:15	Hapoel Ra'anana	H	2–3	Shlomi Azulai, Shoval Gozlan	7
27 April 2017 - 19:30	Bnei Yehuda	A	2–0	Ahmed Abed, Shoval Gozlan	7
6 May 2017 - 19:00	Hapoel Kfar Saba	H	1–4	Shlomi Yosef Azulai	7
13 May 2017 - 20:30	Hapoel Ashkelon	A	1–2	Oded Elkayam	7

State Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result[6]	Scorers
6 January 2017 - 13:00	8th round	Hapoel Hod HaSharon	A	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Mauricio
24 January 2017 - 20:55	Round of 16	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	A	2–1	Mauricio (2)
7 February 2017 - 21:10	Quarter-final (1st leg)	Beitar Jerusalem	A	0–2
1 March 2017 - 20:00	Quarter-final (2nd leg)	Beitar Jerusalem	H	1–0	Mauricio

Toto Cup

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Maccabi Haifa	4	3	1	0	6	3	+3	10	Qualified to Quarter-finals
2	Hapoel Haifa	4	1	2	1	5	4	+1	5
3	Hapoel Kiryat Shmona	4	0	4	0	2	2	0	4
4	Bnei Sakhnin	4	0	3	1	4	5	−1	3
5	Hapoel Kfar Saba	4	0	2	2	2	5	−3	2

Updated to match(es) played on 16 August 2016. Source: Israel Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of wins; 4) goals scored; 5) head to head; 6)deciding match.

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result[6]	Scorers
30 July 2016 - 20:00	Group	Maccabi Haifa	H	0–0
2 August 2016 - 20:15	Group	Bnei Sakhnin	A	1–1	Oded Elkayam
6 August 2016 - 20:15	Group	Hapoel Kfar Saba	H	0–0
9 August 2016 - 19:15	Group	Hapoel Haifa	A	1–1	Mauricio
27 October 2016 - 21:00	Quarter-final (1st leg)	Maccabi Tel Aviv	A	2–3	Ezechiel N'Douassel, Ofir Kriaf
30 November 2016 - 21:00	Quarter-final (2nd leg)	Maccabi Tel Aviv	A	1–0	Ahmed Abed
14 December 2016 - 20:30	Semi-final	F.C. Ironi Ashdod	N	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Shlomi Yosef Azulai
28 December 2016 - 20:00	Final	Hapoel Be'er Sheva	N	1–4	Ben Turjeman (o.g.)

Player details

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		State Cup		Toto Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Itamar Nitzan	39	0	28	0	4	0	7	0
45	GK		Mahadi Zuabi	6	0	5	0	0	0	1	0
2	DF		Idan Nahmias	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF		Heitor	10	1	7	1	0	0	3	0
6	DF		Amir Nassar	30	0	22	0	3	0	5	0
12	DF		Oren Biton	36	0	28	0	4	0	4	0
14	DF		Oded Elkayam	29	3	22	2	3	0	4	1
15	DF		Eli Balilti	9	0	2	0	0	0	7	0
17	DF		Bar Hillel	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF		Yogev Lerman	30	1	20	1	3	0	7	0
26	DF		Dean Maimoni	34	0	25	0	3	0	6	0
3	MF		Kassio	29	0	20	0	2	0	7	0
5	MF		Nizar Abu Ktifan	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF		Ahmed Abed	38	9	28	8	3	0	7	1
8	MF		Ido Davidov	16	1	7	1	1	0	8	0
8	MF		Shlomi Yosef Azulay	33	7	28	6	2	0	3	1
10	MF		Ofir Kriaf	38	3	26	2	4	0	8	1
16	MF		Omer Tchalisher	35	0	24	0	4	0	7	0
18	MF		Eden Shamir	36	2	24	2	4	0	8	0
19	MF		Josef Ganda	9	0	3	0	1	0	5	0
21	MF		Rafael Jataí	8	0	5	0	0	0	3	0
22	MF		Malachy Ilo	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
22	MF		Omer Lakau	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF		Eden Dahan	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF		Didier Brossou	37	1	28	1	3	0	6	0
9	FW		Mauricio	36	7	25	2	4	4	7	1
11	FW		Shlomi Azulay	39	7	30	7	3	0	6	0
15	FW		Anas Mahamid	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
19	FW		Rotem Hatuel	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
21	FW		Shoval Gozlan	15	6	13	6	2	0	0	0
24	FW		Ofir Takiar	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
27	FW		Jacob Njuko	13	0	10	0	3	0	0	0
29	FW		Ezechiel N'Douassel	15	4	11	3	0	0	4	1

Transfers

In

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ISR Itamar Nitzan (loan return from Maccabi Petah Tikva) — DF  ISR Yogev Hazuharoui (from Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem)[7] — DF  ISR Eli Balilty (loan return from Hapoel Afula) — DF  ISR Oren Biton (from Hapoel Haifa, previously loaned to Hapoel Nazareth Illit)[8] — DF  BRA Heidor (from Tupi)[9] — MF  CIV Didier Brossou (from Hapoel Ramat Gan)[10] — MF  ISR Ido Davidov (from Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon)[11] — MF  ISR Ofir Kriaf (from Maccabi Haifa)[12] — MF  ISR Rafael Jataí (from Tupi)[13] — MF  ISR Shlomi Azulay (on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv)[14] — FW  BRA Mauricio (loan return from F.C. Ashdod) — FW  ISR Shlomi Azulay (from Bnei Sakhnin)[15] — FW  ISR Ofir Takiar (loan return from Hapoel Afula) — FW  CHA Ezechiel N'Douassel (from Sfaxien)[16] — FW  NGA Jacob Njoku (from Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla)[17] — FW  ISR Shoval Gozlan (on loan from Maccabi Haifa)[18] — FW  ISR Anas Mahamid (from Hapoel Tel Aviv)[19]

Out

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ISR Guy Haimov (to Hapoel Be'er Sheva)[20] — GK  ISR Ofek Antman (on loan to Ironi Nesher) — DF  ISR Eran Azrad (on loan to Hapoel Afula) — DF  ISR Oz Raly (to Beitar Jerusalem, previously loaned from Bnei Yehuda)[21] — DF  ISR Daniel Borchal (to Hapoel Acre)[22] — MF  LTU Rokas Stanulevičius (on loan to Hapoel Nazareth Illit)[23] — MF  ISR Naor Abudi (on loan to Ironi Nesher)[24] — MF  ISR Dan Cohen (to Ironi Beit Dagan) — MF  ISR Roei Shukrani (to Hapoel Ra'anana)[25] — MF  ISR Or Ostvind (to Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon)[26] — FW  ISR Ofir Mizrahi (on loan to FC Lugano)[27] — FW  BRA Bruno Cantanhede (on loan to Tondela)[28] — FW  NGA Austin Amutu (on loan to Yeni Malatyaspor)[29] — FW  NGA Anthony Lukusa (to Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla) — DF  BRA Heitor (to Fortaleza) — DF  ISR Eli Balilty (on loan to Hapoel Afula)[30] — MF  BRA Rafael Jataí (to América Mineiro) — MF  ISR Shaked Shemo (to Hapoel Nazareth Illit) — MF  ISR Ido Davidov (on loan to F.C. Ashdod)[11] — FW  CHA Ezechiel N'Douassel (to Hapoel Tel Aviv)[31]

See also

• List of Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. seasons

References

1. Bnei Yehuda Bettles to 2-2 Draw With Beitar in Jerusalem Allon Sinai, 1 November 2016, Jerusalem Post
2. Leader Hapoel Beersheba Goes 8 Points Clear Allon Sinai, 27 November 2016, Jerusalem Post
3. The Full Story Behind the Sacking of Benny Ben Zaken Shimon Elbaz, 27 November 2016, Ynet (in Hebrew)
4. A Tough Season: Ironi Kiryat Shmona's 2016/17 Shalom Elbaz, 31 May 2017, One (in Hebrew)
5. "Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer club heading for bankruptcy". The Times of Israel. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
6. Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona's score written first
7. איוניר ממשיך לעבוד: לרמן חתם לשלוש שנים בק"ש Shimon Elbaz & Yossi Aslan, 24 May 2016 (in Hebrew)
8. אורן ביטון חתם בעירוני קריית שמונה לארבע שנים Shalom Elbaz, 15 June 2016 (in Hebrew)
9. רכש חמישי לשרצקי: הבלם פריירה חתם בק"ש Shalom Elbaz, 16 June 2016 (in Hebrew)
10. דידייה ברוסו סיכם בקריית שמונה לשלוש עונות Shalom Elbaz, 22 May 2016 (in Hebrew)
11. עידו דוידוב חתם על חוזה ל-5 שנים בק"ש Shalom Elbaz, 9 June 2016 (in Hebrew)
12. אופיר קריאף חתם לשלוש שנים בעירוני קריית שמונה Shlomo Weiss, 19 June 2016 (in Hebrew)
13. התחדשה: רפאל ז'טאי הברזילאי חתם בק"ש Tomer Levy, 26 July 2016 (in Hebrew)
14. יש אישור: שלומי אזולאי עובר ממכבי ת"א לק"ש Tomer Levy, 8 September 2016 (in Hebrew)
15. חיזוק לאיוניר: שלומי אזולאי חתם ל-3 שנים Shalom Elbaz, 12 July 2016 (in Hebrew)
16. חלוץ נבחרת צ'אד איזקאל נדואסל חתם בק"ש Tomer Levy, 4 September 2016 (in Hebrew)
17. ג'ייקוב נג'וקו חתם בעירוני קריית שמונה Tomer Levy, 28 December 2016 (in Hebrew)
18. עירוני קרית שמונה: שובל גוזלן חתם עד סיום העונה Yaniv Tuchman, 16 January 2017 (in Hebrew)
19. אנס מחמיד חתם בעירוני ק"ש לארבע שנים וחצי Shalom Elbaz, 1 February 2017 (in Hebrew)
20. רשמית: גיא חיימוב מצטרף להפועל באר שבע Itzik Itzhaki, 7 June 2016 (in Hebrew)
21. רשמי: עוז ראלי חתם לשנתיים בבית"ר ירושלים Guy Ben Ziv, 11 July 2016 (in Hebrew)
22. דניאל בורחל חתם בהפועל עכו Doublepass system, 13 July 2016 (in Hebrew)
23. רוקאס סטנולביצ'וס, קשרה של קרית שמונה מליגת העל, חתם בהפועל נצרת עילית Doublepass system, 14 June 2016 (in Hebrew)
24. אלדר שפשה ונאור עבודי חתמו בעירוני נשר Doublepass system, 30 June 2016 (in Hebrew)
25. מתחזקים: קולה ושוקרני חתמו ברעננה Einat Hirsh, 4 September 2016 (in Hebrew)
26. שב הביתה: אור אוסטוינד חתם בהפועל רמה"ש Raz Amir, 26 September 2016 (in Hebrew)
27. ליגיונר חדש: נחתמה עסקת השאלתו של מזרחי Shalom Elbaz, 23 June 2016 (in Hebrew)
28. קוניה נפרד מק"ש, הושאל לטונדלה הפורטוגזית Shalom Elbaz, 10 July 2016 (in Hebrew)
29. אוסטין אמוטו הושאל מעירוני קרית שמונה למלאטיספור הטורקית Shlomo Weiss, 31 July 2016 (in Hebrew)
30. אלי בלילתי חתם בהפועל עפולה Sapir Nedler, 8 January 2017 (in Hebrew)
31. הפועל תל אביב מנסה למכור את אלטמן, אנדואסל חתם עד תום העונה Amit Goldstein, 1 February 2017 (in Hebrew)