Maccabi Tel Aviv
Also written as M. Tel Aviv.
The club
Maccabi Tel Aviv were founded in 1906 in Jaffa as the HaRishon Le Zion-Yafo Association and took their present name after Tel Aviv was established in 1909. They are the oldest football club in Israel and have never been relegated from the top division. They play at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, capacity 29,400, in yellow and blue, and are known simply as the Yellows. The owner and chairman is Mitchell Goldhar.
Recent seasons
Precise league finishes for 2020/21 through 2024/25 were not confirmed from the sources read here and are not guessed at. In 2025/26 Maccabi finished third in the Israeli Premier League, with 49 points from 26 regular-season matches, 14 wins, 7 draws and 5 defeats, 55 goals scored and 32 conceded. Dor Peretz was top scorer with 19 league goals and 22 in all competitions. Average home attendance was 22,116. They won the Israel State Cup, lost the Super Cup 2-1 to Hapoel Be'er Sheva on 13 July 2025, and finished fifth in the Toto Cup Al.
In Europe in 2025/26 they entered the Champions League, went out in the second qualifying round, dropped into the Europa League and reached the league phase. Their final placing in that league phase was not established from the sources read here.
Honours and landmarks
Maccabi have won 26 Israeli league championships, 24 State Cups and 8 Toto Cups. They won the Asian Champion Club Tournament twice, in the era before Israel left the Asian confederation in 1974. In 2014/15 they became the only Israeli club to complete a domestic treble.
Notable scorelines
Maccabi's biggest wins in European competition are two 6-0 results, against Zalgiris Vilnius in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup and against Zeljeznicar in the 2011/12 Europa League. No reliable published all-time record win or record defeat was confirmed from the sources read here.
European record
Maccabi have reached the Champions League group stage twice. In 2004/05 they were drawn with Bayern Munich, Juventus and Ajax and took four points, a creditable return. In 2015/16 they were drawn with Chelsea, Porto and Dynamo Kyiv and lost all six.
In the Europa League they reached the round of 32 in 2013/14 and again in 2020/21, and in the Conference League they reached the round of 16 in 2023/24. The tie the club still talks about is the elimination of Olympiacos, sealed by a 1-0 second-leg win at Bloomfield with Roberto Colautti scoring three minutes before half time to go through on away goals.
Since 2023 the club has not been able to host European matches in Israel. In 2026/27 their home European ties are being played at the Batumi Stadium in Georgia.
Quotes
- "They're a tough opponent that came through a very difficult tie against Qarabağ in the previous round." - Kenny Miller, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach, on CSKA Sofia, on the club's official site, 5 August 2026. https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2026/08/miller-we-will-have-to-generate-the-energy-ourselves/
- "They're a team that works extremely hard for one another, with a very strong defence that doesn't give away much." - Kenny Miller, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach, on CSKA Sofia, on the club's official site, 5 August 2026. https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2026/08/miller-we-will-have-to-generate-the-energy-ourselves/
- "It's definitely a loss. The stadium won't have the energy that comes with a full crowd." - Kenny Miller, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach, on playing home matches in Batumi, on the club's official site, 5 August 2026. https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2026/08/miller-we-will-have-to-generate-the-energy-ourselves/
- "Our objective in Europe this season is, first and foremost, to reach the league phase, and to do that we have to get past CSKA Sofia and take the next step." - Kenny Miller, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach, on the club's official site, 5 August 2026. https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2026/08/miller-we-will-have-to-generate-the-energy-ourselves/
- "Once again, we didn't win our individual battles." - Kenny Miller, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach, after the CSKA Sofia defeat, to The Jerusalem Post, 10 August 2026. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-905028
- "We were the better team tonight. We scored five goals and could have scored even more, so we're very pleased with both the result and the performance." - Kenny Miller, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach, after the 5-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol, to The Jerusalem Post, 26 July 2026. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-903708
Right now (2026/27)
Kenny Miller is the head coach. He joined the club's staff in January 2026, following Ronny Deila from Atlanta United, took caretaker charge when Deila left in May 2026, won the State Cup final against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and was appointed permanently in June 2026 on a one-year contract with an option for a further season. Stuart Taylor, formerly of St Mirren, is his assistant. Ester Sokler is a new signing and made his debut off the bench in the CSKA Sofia first leg; other dated summer transfer business was not established from the sources read here.
As State Cup holders Maccabi entered the Europa League, and a rebalancing of the bracket after Aston Villa won the competition put them straight into the second qualifying round. They were drawn with Sheriff Tiraspol and won the first leg 5-0 in Tiraspol on 23 July 2026, Sayed Abu Farchi scoring twice with Dor Peretz, Sagiv Yehezkel and Issouf Sissokho adding the others. The return in Batumi on 30 July finished 1-0, Roy Revivo scoring from a first-half free kick, and Maccabi went through 6-0 on aggregate.
The tie they are in right now is the third qualifying round against CSKA Sofia, and the first leg was a bad night. Playing their home leg at the Batumi Stadium on 6 August 2026, Maccabi lost 3-0. Maks Ebong scored in the ninth minute after Itai Ben Hamo gave the ball away, Leandro Godoy volleyed a second from a corner on 29, and Joel Zwarts curled in a third in the 90th minute. Elad Madmon missed a clear chance in the 77th minute. Miller made five substitutions, including handing Sokler his debut. Maccabi must overturn three goals in Sofia in the return on 13 August 2026. CSKA Sofia reached this round by knocking out Qarabag on penalties.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabi_Tel_Aviv_F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Maccabi_Tel_Aviv_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabi_Tel_Aviv_F.C._in_international_football https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2026/06/kenny-miller-appointed-head-coach/ https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2026/07/europa-league-maccabi-beat-sheriff-5-0/ https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2026/08/miller-we-will-have-to-generate-the-energy-ourselves/ https://www.maccabi-tlv.co.il/en/2026/08/uel-maccabi-beaten-3-0-by-cska-sofia/ https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-903708 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-905028 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports/article-899902 https://www.espn.com/soccer/match/_/gameId/401892170/maccabi-tel-aviv-sheriff-tiraspol https://www.espn.com/soccer/match/_/gameId/401896229/sheriff-tiraspol-maccabi-tel-aviv https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/match/2049130--m-tel-aviv-vs-cska-sofia/ https://www.rangersreview.co.uk/news/26220778.kenny-miller-confirmed-full-time-maccabi-tel-aviv-boss/ https://sportsrabbi.com/en/maccabi-tel-aviv-downs-sheriff-tiraspol-to-advance-in-europa-league-qualifying/
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.