F.C. Haifa

F.C. Haifa Robi Shapira, also referred to as Hapoel Robi Shapira Haifa, was an Israeli football club from Haifa. It was founded in 2014 by fans of Hapoel Haifa who opposed the club's owner, Yoav Katz. The team played in Liga Alef North before its operations were halted in June 2023.

The parent club, Hapoel Haifa, was established in 1924 and had won the Israel State Cup four times, along with several minor trophies, spending most of its history in the top division. In 1992, businessman Robi Shapira bought the club and led it to its first league championship in the 1998–99 season.

Shapira died by suicide in December 2001, and the club was run by temporary liquidators until 2004, when Yoav Katz purchased it. From 2004 onward, a core of fans opposed to Katz’s management formed, and in 2014 these dissenting supporters created an alternate association called "Ir Hapo'alim" (City of Laborers). Through this association, a new club—initially informally called Hapoel Robi Haifa—was established.

In August 2014, the club registered with the Israel Football Association (IFA). The IFA rejected the chosen name because it was already registered to Hapoel Haifa’s youth team, which played in the Israeli Noar Premier League. The club then settled on "F.C. Haifa Robi Shapira" and was placed in the Shomron division of Liga Gimel. During the 2014–15 season, the Hapoel association authorized the club to add "Hapoel" to its name, so from the 2015–16 season it was called "Hapoel Robi Shapira Haifa."

History

The club played its first official match on 12 September 2014, defeating Hapoel Tirat HaCarmel 3–0 in the second round of the State Cup. In the 2014–15 season, it finished top of Liga Gimel Samaria division without a single loss—24 wins and 2 draws—earning promotion to Liga Bet. The following season, 2015–16, it again finished first in Liga Bet, with 22 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses, securing promotion to the third-tier Liga Alef. The club ceased activity in June 2023.