Hapoel Beer ShevaHapoel Be’er Sheva is a club whose modern history represents one of the clearest shifts in the balance of power in Israeli football. Founded in 1949, the club spent its early decades outside the country's elite before winning its first Israeli championship in the 1970s. The following decades were far less consistent and included periods outside the top division. The major turning point came in the 21st century, particularly after Alona Barkat took over the club in 2007. Her long-term involvement provided the foundations for a team that would regularly compete for the most important domestic trophies.
The club's most successful period came in the second half of the 2010s. Hapoel Be’er Sheva won the Israeli championship in 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18, before returning to the top in 2025/26. This gives the club six league titles in total. The first three championships of this modern run were particularly significant because they interrupted the long-standing dominance of clubs from Tel Aviv and Haifa. In 2016/17, Hapoel collected 85 points from 36 matches, while a year later it successfully defended the title, finishing ahead of Beitar Jerusalem.
The club's domestic honours also include three State Cups, won in 2019, 2021 and 2024. Hapoel Be’er Sheva has also won the Israeli Super Cup five times, most recently in 2025. These achievements have established the club as one of the leading trophy winners in modern Israeli football.
The defining European chapter came in the 2016/17 campaign. After losing to Celtic in the Champions League play-off, Hapoel entered the Europa League group stage, where it faced Inter Milan, Southampton and Sparta Prague. The opening match produced one of the most memorable results in the club's history. On 15 September 2016, Hapoel defeated Inter 2–0 at San Siro, with goals from Miguel Vítor and Maor Buzaglo. In the return fixture in Be’er Sheva, the home side trailed Inter 2–0 at half-time but produced a remarkable second-half comeback to win 3–2.
That season also marked an important step in the club's European development. Hapoel Be’er Sheva continued to appear regularly in UEFA qualifying campaigns, including the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. In 2017, the club reached the Champions League play-off round again, and it returned to the same stage in 2018. However, it has never reached the Champions League group or league phase.
The club is closely associated with Be’er Sheva, the largest city in southern Israel. Since 2015, its home has been Turner Stadium, which has a capacity of 16,126. The ground is named after Yaakov Turner, a former mayor of Be’er Sheva, while its southern stand is named after Arthur Vasermil, the namesake of the club's former stadium. The modern arena has become one of the symbols of Hapoel's development and has hosted many of its most important matches in the modern era.
One of the most important figures in the club's modern history is coach Barak Bakhar, who guided Hapoel to three consecutive championships between 2016 and 2018. Key members of that side also included Maor Melikson, the captain and one of the club's best-known players, Anthony Nwakaeme, Miguel Vítor, Shir Tzedek and John Ogu. Together, they formed a team capable not only of dominating Israeli football but also of defeating a major European opponent away from home.
The history of Hapoel Be’er Sheva therefore combines a long tradition with a clear division between the club's earlier years and its reconstruction in the 21st century. Six Israeli championships, three State Cups and five Super Cups form a substantial domestic record, while the European victories over Inter Milan in 2016 remain central to the club's modern identity. Those famous nights demonstrated that a team from southern Israel could compete with clubs possessing much greater international traditions and resources, permanently raising Be’er Sheva's profile on the Israeli football map.
