Founded in 1912, 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 season, behind champions,
Hapoel Tel Aviv. Maccabi Rehovot took part in the
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
1955–56 season after finishing second from bottom. The
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, the
Israel Football Association decided to hold a promotion/relegation play-offs. Maccabi finished bottom of
the group and remained in the second tier. In the
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==