View source for Maccabi Rehovot F.C.

{{Short description|Israeli football club}}
{{ infobox Football club
| clubname      = Maccabi Rehovot
| image         = 
| fullname      = [[Maccabi (sports)|Maccabi]] Rehovot Football Club
| nickname      = 
| shortname     = 
| founded       = 1912
| dissolved     = 
| ground        = Kiryat Moshe, [[Rehovot]]
| capacity      = 
| owntitle      =
| owner         = 
| chrtitle      = Chairman
| chairman      = Meir Nahmani
| ceo           = 
| mgrtitle      = 
| manager       = 
| league      = {{Israeli football updater|MRehovot}}
| season      = {{Israeli football updater|MRehovot2}}
| position    = {{Israeli football updater|MRehovot3}}
| pattern_la1=_0000FF|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=_0000FF|
 leftarm1=0000FF|body1=0000FF|rightarm1=0000FF|shorts1=0000FF|socks1=0000FF|
| pattern_la2   = | pattern_b2    = | pattern_ra2   = | pattern_sh2   = 
| pattern_so2   = | leftarm2 =FFFFFF | body2 =FFFFFF | rightarm2 =FFFFFF
| shorts2 =FFFFFF | socks2 =FFFFFF
}}

'''[[Maccabi (sports)|Maccabi]] Rehovot F.C.''' ({{langx|he|מכבי רחובות}}) is an Israeli football club based in [[Rehovot]]. The club was a founding member of the [[1949–50 Israeli League|Israeli League]] in 1949 and competed in the top division during the 1950s, but today plays in [[Liga Gimel]], the fifth and lowest level of [[Football in Israel|Israeli football]].

==History==
Founded in 1912,<ref>[http://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=13086 The buds of division&nbsp;– The controversy about Hebrew labor within Maccabi] Dr. Haim Kaufman, lib.cet.ac.il {{in lang|he}}</ref> Maccabi Rehovot is one of the oldest clubs in Israeli football. Prior to the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence]], the club played at the [[Palestine League]] and were runners-up in the [[1943–44 Palestine League|1943–44 season]], behind champions, [[Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.|Hapoel Tel Aviv]].

Maccabi Rehovot took part in the [[Israeli League 1949-50|first post-independence league]] in 1949–50, finishing 8th out of 13. After several mid-table finishes, the club was relegated to [[Liga Alef]] at the end of the [[Liga Leumit 1955-56|1955–56 season]] after finishing second from bottom. The [[1956–57 Liga Alef|following season]] the club finished second in [[Liga Alef]], which would have resulted in automatic promotion to the top division. However, after it was discovered that 9 out of the 12 clubs of Liga Alef were involved in [[Match fixing in association football|match-fixing]], the [[Israel Football Association]] decided to hold a promotion/relegation play-offs.<ref name="Football commission of inquiry: Five more play-off matches will be held">[http://jpress.nli.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=AOzFrgpawkoItcbhpW9HP3eXwRtodnjSA61J9e2wsWGxKEil7vwbP7rRXFAxyfuyYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=HRT%2F1957%2F07%2F09&page=4&rtl=true Football commission of inquiry: "Five more play-off matches will be held"] Heruth, 9.7.1957, Historical Jewish Press {{in lang|he}}</ref> Maccabi finished bottom of [[1956–57 Liga Alef#Promotion play-offs|the group]] and remained in the second tier.

In the [[1959–60 Liga Alef|1959–60 season]], the club was relegated to [[Liga Bet]], the third tier at the time. Ever since, the club plays in the lower divisions of Israeli football. In the 1990s they dropped into Liga Gimel, where they play today.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://football.org.il/Clubs/Pages/TeamDetails.aspx?TEAM_ID=1019 Maccabi Rehovot] Israel Football Association {{in lang|he}}

{{Liga Gimel}}

[[Category:Maccabi Rehovot F.C.| ]]
[[Category:Football clubs in Israel|Rehovot]]
[[Category:Maccabi football clubs|Rehovot]]
[[Category:Association football clubs established in 1912]]
[[Category:1912 establishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Sport in Rehovot]]