The club was established as Maccabi Kiryat Gat in 1961 by Yehuda Ivanir who also served as chairman. In 1969, he bought the Kfar Gavirol F.C., and Maccabi took its place in the
Liga Bet. In the
1978–79 season, the club reached
Liga Alef, for the first time in its history, and finished in the second place. however at the end of the season, the club lost in promotion play-off to
Hapoel Herzliya, and remained in Liga Alef, up until the
1980–81 season, where the club won Liga Alef South division, and achieved historic promotion to
Liga Artzit, the second tier of
Israeli football at the time, but dropped, after one season, to Liga Alef, where the club played until 1994 when it made a return to Liga Artzit. After seven seasons in the second division, Maccabi finished second in the
2000–01 season of Liga Leumit (Liga Leumit replaced Liga Artzit as the new second tier of Israeli football in the 1999–2000 season), and for the first time in history, promoted to the
Premier League. The club has played the
2001–02 season in the Premier League under the management of
Gili Landau, and during the season, recorded their biggest win in their history, when Maccabi won 4–0 against
Maccabi Haifa, in
Kiryat Eliezer Stadium. The club finished last in that season and returned to the
Liga Leumit. Maccabi remained in the Second Division, Liga Leumit, until 2004, when the club was forced to relegated to
Liga Alef due to heavy financial debts. In 2006, the club merged with
Beitar Kiryat Gat F.C. to one municipal club, thus after lengthy negotiations. For years Maccabi was the only Football Club in
Kiryat Gat (except short period with the existence of
F.C. Kiryat Gat since 2009 until 2012 when the club was merged into Maccabi). At the beginning of season 2012–13 the Maccabi changed its name to Ironi Kiryat Gat and after a while returned to the former name: Maccabi Kiryat Gat. Since 2013, the club's sponsor is a
Hamei Yoav baths. In the
2013–14 season, Maccabi won Liga Alef South division, and promoted to Liga Leumit. In the
2015–16 season, the club finished bottom in Liga Leumit and relegated to Liga Alef. ==Players==