Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium


The Hatikva Neighborhood Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Hatikva Quarter of Tel Aviv in Israel.

History

The stadium was built in 1951, when the former stadium of Bnei Yehuda was built over. The club was forced to find a different location and its members invaded an abandoned open space to the south of the Hatikva Quarter and built the stadium there. At first, the field was oriented north-south, but the club was forced to re-orient the stadium to south-north, as a building was built on the pitch's north edge.
In 1959, following Bnei Yehuda's promotion to the top division, the ground was renovated and the pitch was converted to a grass surface. A more massive renovation took place between 1965 and 1975, forcing the club to host matches in other venues while work was being done. Shortly before 2000, plastic seats were installed in the stadium's five main stands.

Current status

Bnei Yehuda moved to play at the bigger Bloomfield Stadium in 2004, but their offices remain at the stadium. Between 2006 and 2012, second division club Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla have played their home matches at the ground. Currently, the ground is home to Liga Alef clubs Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa and Hapoel Kfar Shalem.

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