Maccabi Rishon LeZion (handball)

Maccabi Rishon LeZion (מכבי ראשון לציון) is a professional handball club from the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel. They compete in the Israeli Handball League, within the Israeli first division.

History
Maccabi Rishon Lezion was founded in 1950 by Danny Reingold, Mishka Davidson, Mena Davidson, Prof. Arnon Sofer and Motella Rosenstein. He won his first championship in 1959. In 1964, the club disbanded for one season and was re-established a season later. The team's biggest achievement in the European Cups was on its first appearance there in 1983 when it reached the EHF Cup Winners' Cup semifinal, losing to the Spanish team FC Barcelona. After some bad years in the 1990s, the team returned to success: between 2003 and 2007 it won three championships and four cups. During its history, it won 18 national championships (in 1959, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2023), 12 national cups (1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2019). Their biggest rival is Hapoel Rishon LeZion, another great Rishon LeZion team. The derby games between them have been very tense throughout the last two decades.

Sports Hall information



 * Arena: - Beit Maccabi Sport Centre
 * City: - Rishon LeZion
 * Capacity: - 1500
 * Address: - Golda Meir 21. 25002 Rishon LeZion, Israel

Current squad

 * Squad for the 2023–24 season

Technical staff

 * Physiotherapist: 🇮🇱 Nelly Aminov

Transfers

 * Transfers for the 2023–24 season


 * Joining [[File:Arrow-up.png]]
 * 🇮🇱 Aviv Leifer (LW) from 🇮🇱 Hapoel Ashdod
 * 🇮🇱 Alon Shulman (RW)


 * Leaving [[File:Arrow-down.gif]]
 * 🇮🇱 Moshe Elimelech (GK) to 🇮🇱 Handball Club Holon
 * 🇮🇱 Amit Motola (RW)
 * 🇮🇱 Sharon Peres Shalem (LW)
 * 🇮🇱 Kesem Amiel (LW)
 * 🇮🇱 Yonatan Hadar (RB)
 * 🇧🇦 Gafar Hadžiomerović (LP) to HSC Kreuzlingen

Titles

 * Winner League
 * Winner (18) : 1959, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2023
 * Israel Handball Cup
 * Winner (12) : 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019

Notable former players

 * 🇧🇦 Ivan Karačić (2016–)
 * Robert Markotić (2016–2017)
 * Marko Matić (2018–2019)
 * 🇭🇺🇷🇸 Milorad Krivokapić (2014–2015)
 * 🇲🇪🇷🇸 Radivoje Ristanović (2017–2018)
 * 🇷🇴 Silviu Băiceanu (2011)
 * 🇷🇺 Pavel Atman (2022–)
 * Rok Praznik (2016–2017)
 * 🇲🇰 Renato Vugrinec (2015–2016)
 * Luis Felipe Jiménez Reina (2017–2018)
 * 🇷🇸🇲🇪 Branko Kankaraš (2021–2022)
 * 🇷🇸 Duško Milinović (2008–2009)
 * 🇷🇸 Rastko Stojković (2018–2019)