Hapoel Rishon LeZion was one of the first clubs in the history of league football in
Israel. The football section of the
Sports club was established in 1929, and played several matches since 1933, including competing at the
Palestine Cup in
1937 and
1939. The club was formally established in 1940. Its best achievements were runner-up of the
Israel State Cup in
1946 and
1996. On both occasions it lost to
Maccabi Tel Aviv. Following its cup final in 1996, it played in
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but was eliminated in the qualifying round by
Constructorul Chisinau of Moldova on
away goals rule (0–1, 3–2). The club played at the
top division in
Mandatory Palestine for the first time at the
1941–42 season and after the
Israeli Declaration of Independence, became founder members of the
Israeli League in 1949. In
1951–52, the club finished second bottom and dropped to the second tier. Between 1952 and 1994 the club played just three seasons in the top division:
1978–79,
1980–81 (where they finished sixth) and
1981–82. In the
1991–92 season, while playing in
Liga Alef, the third tier, it added the word Ironi to its name, and in the next two seasons, made two successive promotions and returned to the top flight once again after winning
Liga Artzit in the
1993–94 season. This time the club managed to stay nine consecutive seasons in the top league until it was relegated to the second tier, (
Liga Leumit), at the end of the
2002–03 season, and
three seasons later dropped further down to Liga Artzit, the third tier at the time. In
2008–09, after the club changed its name back to Hapoel Rishon LeZion, it was promoted to the second tier (Known as
Liga Leumit) . In
2010–11, the club was promoted to the
Israeli Premier League, the top tier. They were relegated back to Liga Leumit the
following season. On 4 December 2012, Hapoel Rishon LeZion won the
2012–13 Toto Cup Leumit. In
2017–18, the club was just one point short of being promoted to the top tier, The
Israeli Premier League, finishing third. In the following year,
2018–19, the club finished twelfth, and narrowly avoided relegation. In
2023-24, on July 28, 2023, the club sold
Mohamed Bamba, an
Ivorian striker who played for the club and the youth team for 3.5 years, to
Austrian club
Wolfsberger AC for 200,000€ and a 20% sell-on fee. After scoring 8 goals and 4 assists in 17 games in the
2023–24 Austrian Football Bundesliga and
2023–24 Austrian Cup,
Wolfsberger AC sold Bamba to
French club
FC Lorient for 5,000,000€, securing Rishon 1,000,000€ from the sell-on. Bamba went on to score 8 goals and 3 assists in 16 games in the
2023–24 Ligue 1. ==Current squad==