Before 1950 In the early 1920s, despite the absence of an organised league, Maccabi Tel Aviv were known as the strongest football team in Palestine 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 Jerusalem F.C. 4–0. Maccabi took the championship again one year later with a 2–1 victory over the British Army's 48th regiment and a third time in
1933, when
Hapoel Tel Aviv were beaten, 1–0. In 1936, the club was invited to play in the United States. On their way there, Maccabi played in France, losing 2–0 to
Racing Paris and 3–1 to
Lille.
In the United States, Maccabi defeated the All-star team of New York City in front of 50,000 in
Yankee Stadium. Maccabi also defeated the
American Soccer League team in
Brooklyn and
Philadelphia on their home ground 1–0 and also played in Canada, where they drew 1–1 with
Toronto All-Stars. Maccabi continued their tour in the US and lost, 3–2, to
St. Louis Stars and the
Boston Celtics. After returning from the United States, Maccabi players went on strike because they had not been paid. In 1937, after a year of strike action, the Football Association accepted their demands and the team ended their strike. In that year, Maccabi Tel Aviv also won their first league title. In 1939, after the start of
World War II, Maccabi won their second championship. At the end of the season, Maccabi went to
another tour, this time to Australia Merimovich was just one member of a squad of outstanding players that left Maccabi Tel Aviv unchallenged in their domination of the Israeli Premier League during the 1950s. That squad included the likes of defenders
Itzhak Schneor and
Eli Fuchs, goalkeeper Avraham Bandouri, striker
Zvi Studinski and of course the club's legendary centre forward
Yehoshua "Shiye" Glazer. Glazer, who won the top scorer title in 1952 with 27 goals, is considered Maccabi Tel Aviv's greatest ever striker and was the club's highest goal scorer until
Avi Nimni broke his record in 2003. The 1951–52 season was Maccabi's second league title after the establishment of the State, which they won by eight points ahead of
Maccabi Petah Tikva, though they lost the IFA Cup final. The outstanding player of Maccabi's season had been
Rafi Levi, one of the greatest strikers in the club's history, who was the league's leading goal scorer with 19 goals. A year later the Brazilian club
Santos visited Israel, Under his guardianship Maccabi Tel Aviv slowly returned to form and in the 1963–64 season won the Israel Football Association Cup after a second replay against Hapoel Haifa, which Maccabi won, 2–1. The following season Maccabi Tel Aviv repeated the feat by exactly the same score, this time in a dramatic extra time victory over
Bnei Yehuda that included goals by midfielders Moshe Asis and Rafi Baranes. The league title on the other hand was ensured only on goal difference, but one that was built in part upon one of the finest performances in the club's history, a 5–0 thrashing of city rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Tel Aviv derby. On a rainy day at the end of January 1970, 20,000 spectators saw Maccabi midfielder Giora Shpiegel score a
hat-trick to lead his side to victory. The following season Maccabi Tel Aviv, now under the stewardship of Giora Spiegel, underwent their worst defeat in the club's history, a 0–10 rout suffered at the hands of that same Maccabi Haifa. But the following season Grant and his charges compensated for their disappointment when defender
Alon Brumer's famous goal in
Beer Sheva succeeded in returning the championship to Maccabi Tel Aviv in dramatic fashion. , Head coach, 1991–95, 1996–00 At the end of the 1995 season the "Mofet" Group took control of Maccabi Tel Aviv and as a result of Avraham Grant's decision to leave the club, a new coach,
Dror Kashtan, took over the reins for what would prove to be one of the best seasons in the club's history. Their chief rivals were once again Maccabi Haifa, and the team traveled to their
Kiryat Eliezer Stadium for what will always be remembered as the must-win match of that season. As the players headed for the dressing room trailing 1–0 at half time, coach Kashtan controversially decided to return his players to await their Maccabi Haifa rivals on the pitch. In the second half, goals by striker Eli Dricks and midfielders Nir Klinger and Avi Nimni turned the match around, and that 1–3 victory not only handed Maccabi Tel Aviv the championship but also paved the way for the "double" after a 4–1 thrashing of
Hapoel Rishon Lezion in the State Cup final. Maccabi Tel Aviv also turned their attention to leaving their mark in this prestigious competition as well. The 1992–93 season marked the first time Maccabi Tel Aviv competed in
UEFA Champions League qualifiers and in the first round they defeated the Maltese club
Valletta but lost to
Belgian side
Club Brugge in the second round. In the 1994–95 season, Maccabi were knocked out in the second round of the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup by German side
Werder Bremen on a 2–0 aggregate. The following season Maccabi once again tried their luck in the Champions League qualifiers and almost succeeded, but a 2–1 aggregate loss to the
Swiss club
Grasshopper handed the latter the keys to the group stages. In 1996, it was the powerful Turkish side
Fenerbahçe that stood between Maccabi and the group stages and in the resultant
UEFA Cup competition they encountered, and subsequently lost to, the Spanish club
Tenerife. In the 1999–00 season, Maccabi got past Lithuanian opponents
FBK Kaunas in the UEFA Cup qualifiers but then lost to French competitors
Lens 4–3 on aggregate in round one. In the 1990s Maccabi Tel Aviv were blessed with many talented players, among them defenders
Amir Shelach and the Brumer brothers
Gadi and
Alon, midfielder
Noam Shoham and strikers Meir Melika and
Nir Sivilia. Leading the team into battle was the genius of captain Nir Klinger, the free-kick artistry of Itzik Zohar and perhaps the greatest player in Maccabi Tel Aviv's history, midfielder
Avi Nimni. In 1997, the "Mofet" Group broke up and the club was taken over by Loni Herzikovich.
2000s played 15 years in the club, and is the captain of the team Maccabi Tel Aviv won the State Cup in the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons under head coach Nir Klinger. In the 2000–01 season, The following season will largely be remembered for the tragic event that occurred on 26 January 2002 during a match against Beitar Jerusalem. Without a preceding incident, Maccabi defender
Meni Levi suddenly collapsed in the middle of the pitch, picked himself up and then collapsed again. He received treatment on the pitch for quite a long time before being rushed to a hospital. The game, in the meantime, was not resumed. For a number of years Levi received treatment at the rehabilitation facility Beit Levinstein in
Ra'anana but unfortunately was unable to recover and was returned to his family. Subsequently, the club decided to retire Levi's number twelve jersey entirely. As the year progressed the team succeeded in recovering from this tragic incident and ended the season with their second State Cup title in as many years. In the final, Maccabi Tel Aviv won a penalty shoot-out against that season's champion, Maccabi Haifa, after extra time saw the two sides locked in a goalless draw. The following season Maccabi Tel Aviv won a dramatic league championship from title rivals Maccabi Haifa. On the eve of the last day of the season, head coach
Nir Klinger's lads led the league table on goal difference alone. On the day itself Maccabi Haifa led 0–5 at half time against
Ashdod while Maccabi were still looking for their first goal against Hapoel Petah Tikva. Only in the second half did they score the three goals (to no reply) that pushed their goal difference past Maccabi Haifa and brought the Championship plate back to the Maccabi Tel Aviv trophy cabinet. In the play-off stages they beat the Greek side
PAOK and became Israel's second club, after Maccabi Haifa two years earlier, to reach the group stages. There they were drawn against three giants of European football, the German
Bayern Munich, the Italian
Juventus and the Dutch
Ajax. Nonetheless, Maccabi succeeded in finishing the group stage with a precious four points after beating Ajax and drawing with Juventus at home. Paradoxically they ended an unstable league season eighth in the table but once again came away with the State Cup after winning a penalty shoot-out in a final against
Maccabi Herzliya that ended 2–2 after extra time. After this third State Cup in five seasons, Maccabi's fortunes dipped drastically and other clubs took turns winning the league and the Cup. The 2005–06 season will be remembered in particular, earning the nickname "the Galacticos season", for a team that brought together the likes of Israeli international
Eyal Berkovic, Croatian star
Đovani Roso and Maccabi all-time great
Avi Nimni. Despite the star-studded squad, Maccabi failed to translate that quality into winning form and ended the season in the bottom half of the table. On 28 December 2007, during the 2007–08 season, the club was transferred to the hands of billionaire
Alex Shnaider. Shnaider diverted large sums of money to the club, mainly for paying off debts and for developing the youth department. In 2008 alone, Shnaider invested nearly
NIS₪40 million from his own money into the club. Overall, in just over a year's time, Shnaider had invested approximately US$20 million in the team. On 3 August 2009, Shnaider passed the team on to another Canadian billionaire's hands,
Mitchell Goldhar. This handover was done for no cost, but against a commitment to pay off the team's debts to Loni Herzkovitz.
2010s In the 2010–11 season, Maccabi enjoyed one moment of glory in Europe, beating a strong Greek
Olympiacos side 1–0 in the home leg of the
UEFA Europa League qualifiers. The victory sent Maccabi into the first round of the competition where, despite an exciting 4–3 victory in the home leg, Maccabi failed to surpass French giants
Paris Saint-Germain after a 2–0 loss in the French capital. The following season Maccabi claimed a famous victory against Greek side
Panathinaikos, beating them 3–0 at Bloomfield Stadium in the qualifying stages of the Europa League. It was a year Maccabi actually did succeed in reaching the group stage of the competition but collected just two points in a group that contained Turkish side
Beşiktaş, the Ukrainians
Dynamo Kyiv and the English
Stoke City. , 99 goals in 120 league apps for Maccabi The 2012–13 season finally put an end to Maccabi Tel Aviv's bad fortunes in the league as they won their first championship in a decade. Under the stewardship of the new Director of Football
Jordi Cruyff and Spanish head coach
Óscar García, Maccabi dominated the league and claimed the title by thirteen points ahead of their nearest rival. They finished the season with the league's highest goal total of 78 while conceding the fewest with just 30 goals conceded. Leading that attack was the league's highest goal scorer, striker
Eliran Atar with 22, but he was joined by midfielder
Maharan Radi with eight (plus eleven assists), young striker
Mu'nas Dabbur with ten and Swedish striker
Rade Prica (eight) and midfielder
Eran Zahavi (seven) who both arrived at the club in the January transfer window. In defense, the tone was set by Maccabi's two center halves,
Eitan Tibi and the Spaniard
Carlos García, backed up by the excellence of Maccabi Tel Aviv's
Nigerian goalkeeper,
Vincent Enyeama. , Coach in 2013–14 The 2013–14 season saw a change in the club's Coach Position with
Paulo Sousa replacing Oscar Garcia, as well as several players leaving and new players arriving. Notably
Vincent Enyeama left for
Lille with Goalkeeper
Juan Pablo Colinas joining between the posts, and
Nikola Mitrović joining from
Videoton. The team continued its success in the league and claimed another championship behind
Eran Zahavi's goal scoring. The Team's main rivals this season were Hapoel Be'er Sheva who came in second. The team also enjoyed relative success in the
UEFA Europa League as they advanced to the round of 32 after a difficult group stage, before ultimately being ousted by
Basel. The 2014–15 season was characterized by a difficult start. The
2014 Israel–Gaza conflict meant that the qualifying games to the
UEFA Champions League were held away from Israel, leading Maccabi to be ousted from both the Champions League and the Europa League. There was also a shake-up at the coach position as
Paulo Sousa left for
Basel.
Óscar García returned but left before the beginning of the season and was replaced by
Pako Ayestarán, who took charge for the full campaign. During the Tel Aviv Derby on 3 November 2014, a fan from Hapoel Tel Aviv broke onto the pitch with an intent to assault Maccabi star
Eran Zahavi, who was shown a red card for defending himself. In the aftermath of the event, both teams had 1 point redacted and forfeited the match. Under Ayestarán, Maccabi went on to become the first Israeli team to win all three major domestic trophies in a single season: the
Premier League, the
State Cup and the
Toto Cup. This remains the only domestic treble ever achieved in Israeli football, and is regarded as one of the most significant seasons in the club’s history. Notable new players in the team were
Nosa Igiebor and
Eden Ben Basat. The best player in the squad was still
Eran Zahavi, who broke the Israeli record for consecutive scoring games and scored 27 goals throughout the season. in
2015–16 Champions League group stage in
2015–16 UEFA Champions League , coached in 2016 In the 2015–16 season, the team qualified for the
UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in 11 years. They were a member of Group G, along with
Chelsea,
Porto and
Dynamo Kyiv. However, these three elite clubs proved to be too much for Maccabi Tel Aviv to handle, and they lost all 6 of their group stage matches, scoring just 1 goal while conceding 16. Maccabi were eliminated in the group stage of the
Toto Cup AI. In the league, Maccabi's main rivals for the title were
Hapoel Be'er Sheva. After a loss to Hapoel Be'er Sheva at
Bloomfield Stadium thanks to two clinical goals from
Elyaniv Barda and
Maor Melikson, head coach
Slavisa Jokanovic was signed by
Fulham and replaced by
Peter Bosz, who helped improve Maccabi's performances in the league. Be'er Sheva fell under huge pressure before the end of the season, which helped Maccabi fight back and get into the title race again. Maccabi managed to take advantage of Be'er Sheva's bad results, beating
Beitar Jerusalem in a close and dramatic tie, where
Eran Zahavi scored the winning goal for Maccabi in the 90th minute, breaking the goalscoring record of
Nisim Elmaliah by scoring more than 31 goals in one league season. In the biggest game of the season, against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, a win would have brought Maccabi to 1st place because of their goal difference, while any other result would have left Hapoel Be'er Sheva alone at 1st place with a 3 points advantage and only 3 games to go. Maccabi tied the game 0-0, leaving Hapoel Be'er Sheva 3 points ahead of Maccabi and top of the league. Maccabi continued their bad form and dropped points again in their next game, this time against
Hapoel Ra'anana, drawing 1-1, and the title came closer to Hapoel Be'er Sheva, who had a 5 points advantage with only 2 games to go. The last game of the league season was a rollercoaster of emotions for Maccabi fans who were hoping for Be'er Sheva to lose against Sakhnin, and who needed to defeat Maccabi Haifa to win the championship. Sakhnin took the lead after 6 minutes, however, Be'er Sheva responded quickly and got a goal after only 10 minutes. At that stage, Be'er Sheva were championed as Maccabi kept on searching for a goal, which finally came when Eran Zahavi scored, which meant Maccabi were the champions at the time. 12 minutes after Maccabi's goal, Be'er Sheva went 2–1 up. Maccabi got a 6–0 lead over Haifa but was unable to win the title, as Be'er Sheva had scored the third goal and became champions. The
State Cup Final was Maccabi's last chance to win a trophy this season, and they faced Maccabi Haifa in the final. However, Haifa defeated Maccabi 1-0 and won their first cup in 18 years, which caused Peter Bosz to be released to Ajax as Maccabi had finished with no trophies. The 2015–16 season was called "the worst year in Jordi's Era". Eran Zahavi, Maccabi's star player, was sold to
Guangzhou R&F for 8.5 million dollars at the end of the season. The following campaign
Shota Arveladze was named Head Coach and successfully helped the Club advance to the Europa League Group stages where they played
Zenit,
Alkmaar and
Dundalk. Over the course of the 2016/17 season, Maccabi defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 5:0 which tied the biggest Derby victory set in 1969/70. Arveladze left the Club midway through the campaign and was replaced by Angolan
Lito Vidigal as the squad ended the season in 2nd place while falling in the Cup Final.
Jordi Cruyff was appointed Head Coach for the 2017–18 season as the Sports Director moved down to the sidelines in his 6th season with the Yellow & Blue. The Club advanced to the
Europa League Group Stage for the second straight season where they faced
Astana,
Slavia Prague and
Villarreal, defeating the
La Liga side in Spain 1:0. Maccabi captured the Toto Cup while finishing in second place in league play.
Vladimir Ivic was appointed head coach at the start of the 2018/19 season. Under the Serbian coach, Maccabi had an impressive season and set many records. The Yellow & Blue won the league championship by a 31-point margin, recorded 89 points (club record), and won the title by the end of March, the earliest ever. The club also won the Toto Cup for the second straight season with a 2:1 win over Maccabi Haifa in the final. The following season under Ivic the team continued their successful run in the league and won a second successive league title. During that season, Maccabi kept a clean sheet for 14 matches, conceded a total of only 10 league goals thus shattering the all-time Israeli top-flight records. At the end of the season, Ivic ended his role as Maccabi's Head Coach.
2020s Ahead of the 2020–21 season Maccabi appointed
Georgios Donis of Greece as the successor of Ivic before the league season had begun. The club added two titles to their trophy cabinet by winning the Super Cup and Toto Cup. In June 2023, Maccabi appointed
Robbie Keane as their new coach. ==Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors==