The club was founded in 1962 as
Hapoel Kiryat Nazareth and competed in
Liga Gimel for several seasons, before promoting to
Liga Bet at the end of the
1971–72 season. The club changed its name in 1973 after Kiryat Nazareth gained city status and was renamed
Nazareth Illit. The club won
1975–76 Liga Bet, but, due to the
league system restructuring, the club remained in the league system's third tier, which became
Liga Alef. In
1978–79 the club won
Liga Alef North division and was promoted to
Liga Artzit, then the second tier. In
1983–84 they finished second from bottom, and were relegated to Liga Alef.
Two seasons later the club finished second from bottom in Liga Alef and dropped to
Liga Bet. In
1998–99 the club finished as runners-up in Liga Alef North, and was promoted back to Liga Artzit, which was now the third tier following the formation of the
Israeli Premier League in 1999. After narrowly avoiding relegation in
2000–01 when they finished one place above the relegation zone, the club finished as runners-up
the following season, and were promoted back to the second tier. In
2003–04 they finished as runners-up (on goal difference), and were promoted to the
top division for the first time in their history. In their
first season in the Premier League the club finished fifth. Home matches were initially played at
Maccabi Ahi Nazareth's
Ilut Stadium, whilst their
home ground had floodlights installed. They returned home in February 2005. However, the following season,
2005–06, they finished second from bottom (on goal difference), and returned to
Liga Leumit. In
2007–08 they finished bottom of Liga Leumit, and were relegated to Liga Artzit. Despite only finishing seventh in Liga Artzit in
2008–09, F.C. Nazareth Illit were promoted back to Liga Leumit as restructuring meant the top seven clubs were automatically promoted. Since then, Nazareth Illit hasn't been relegated for 3 consecutive seasons, finishing seventh in
2009–10, 11th in
2010–11 and twelfth in
2011–12. In the
2012–13 season the club signed several new players, including
Ibrahim Basit,
Eran Malchin and
Moti Malka; they finished second in the league, but lost 3–1 at home in a crucial match against
Hapoel Ra'anana in the play-offs, with Ra'anana eventually promoted to the Israeli Premier League, whilst Nazareth Illit finished third and remained in Liga Leumit. In
2018–19 the club finished the regular season at the top of the table, but a collapse during the playoff phase, with the club collecting just 7 points out of 21, led the club to finish in third place and miss out on promotion. On 4 July 2019, after the name of Nazareth Illit was changed to Nof HaGalil, the club changed its name to Hapoel Nof HaGalil. ==Current squad==