Issam Khalidi
Arab Football
Football probably was introduced in Palestine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by missionary schools. In 1908, two football teams were formed, one by Rawdat al Ma’aref and one by St. George’s School in Jerusalem. There were several Arab clubs established in the 1920s (Dajani Sports Club, Arab Sports Club, Al-Rawda Club in Jerusalem, Salisi, Ittihad al-Carmel, al-Nijma al-Baida in Haifa, Sports Club in Gaza, and several Orthodox clubs). It is estimated that there were about twenty Arab clubs by the beginning of the 1930s.
The Arab Palestine Sports Federation
(APSF) was created in 1931 by ten clubs (four each from Haifa and Jerusalem and
two from Jaffa – Islamic Sports Club and the Orthodox Club). A
championship called the Armour of Youth Conference was organized by the
Palestine Sports Federation in coordination with the Youth Committee Office in
April 1933. It continued until 1938. It was Al-Rawda Club in
Jerusalem that won the 1934 championship by defeating the Haifa team by a score
of five to zero in the finals. [1]
The APSF first started an official
competition in November 1933 for a shield known as the “Armour of King Ghazi”
with seven clubs (Al-Arabi and Al-Rawda from Jerusalem, Islamic SC (later
temporarily called Al-Qawmi) and the Orthodox Club from Jaffa, and White Star,
Islamic SC and Christian Salesian School Old Boys - renamed Shabab Al-Arab in
1934) from Haifa.
Because of the
political conditions and the Arab Revolt of 1936 - 1938, only four teams
participated in the 1938 league season: Al-Arabi (Jerusalem), Al-Qawmi (Jaffa),
Islamic SC and the Scouts Club (both Haifa clubs). Al-Arabi (Jerusalem) defeated Al-Qawmi (Jaffa) in 1938. [2] APSF
activities were suspended in 1938. Few Arab clubs joined the PFA leagues in
1942 and 1943. The APSF was reestablished (as the PSF) in 1944 and consisted of
25 clubs for its inaugural season in 1944/45, although by 1947 its membership
had grown to 65 clubs.[3] APSF was set up in 1944/45 with Islamic
SC (Jaffa) winning the inaugural championship by 2 - 0 against the Orthodox
Club (Jerusalem). Islamic SC (Jaffa) was defeated by Shabab Al-Arab (Haifa) in
1945/46 and 1946/47 (5-1).
British and Jewish Football
After the British
imposed their mandate on Palestine, as early as 1920, the Jerusalem Sports Club
was established where football, tennis and cricket were played. Additionally,
British service teams such as the Police, Air Force, Army and others played
football.
The first league in Palestine was the
Government Department League. It was formed in 1920. It only operated in
Jerusalem. However, due to the reduction of staff at various departments,
especially British Personnel, the league has fallen into abeyance in 1925.
The Jerusalem Sports Club organized a league
that operated between 1924 and 1927. The Cup then having been won outright
by the Royal Air Force fell through. The season 1924 can be considered to be
the turning point of the game as in this year, the Jerusalem Zahra Flower
Cup that included (YMCA, Arab Sports Club in Jerusalem, Rawdat Al-Ma’aref, Shell
Company, Nordia, Ofir, and HaNoar HaOved) and the Municipal Cup Competitions
came into existence.[4]
According
to this writing by the Zionist Maccabi leader, Joseph Yekutieli, who was
distinguished by the skill he displayed in manipulating and deceiving in order
to achieve urgent Zionist targets to further the interests of the Zionist movement:
The Palestine
Cup Competition was
organized in 1927 and has been the great football force in the country ever
since. The Maccabee Cup competition and the Jaffa District League have
also done a great deal to forward the movement. [5]
In 1929 a report submitted to
FIFA described 3 soccer divisions in Palestine: 10 teams in the first, 20 in
the second (5 of them Arab), and 39 in the third (6 of them Arab) (this was deliberate misinformation - not to say a pack of
lies - by PFA founder Yosef Yekutieli - né Zusmanovitz), as was the
claim in the report that the PFA had been formed in 1927 apparently in order to
take credit for organising the cup tournament that year);[6] however, apparently no
official league championship was played until the 1932 edition. There were cup
competitions 1928 – 1930, and FIFA sources crediting Maccabi Hashmonai
Jerusalem with a 1928 championship title just upgraded their win in the
controversial cup competition of that year.[7] The same applied for the
supposed championships of Maccabi Tel-Aviv in 1929 and 1930: the latter was
actually won by reserve side. [8]
The Following article (Football in Palestine World's Football), which first appeared in the official Bulletin of the FIFA on the 28th of January 1931, was written by Joseph Yekutieli (The President of the Maccabi Sport Federation) and Percy C. Speed:
The most notable advance has been made by the
Jewish Clubs who now have upwards of forty Clubs affiliated to the [Palestine]
Football Association and the proof that they have been sustained by the fact
that the Palestine Cup has been won by one of their Clubs every year since its
organization. The Palestine Football Association now in its third year may
claim to really control Football in Palestine and every known Club is
affiliated to this body. Clubs are realizing that an Association is necessary
and are giving their hearty co-operation towards its aims and endeavors.
The coming
season bids to be a record year for football in Palestine, as this season will
see the initiation of the first national League, i.e., - the Palestine
Football League. The league will be run in two Divisions and subdivided
into sections geographically arranges.
Palestine Football League 1932-1947 [9]
1931/32 D British Police
1932/33 no championship1933/34 D Hapoel Tel-Aviv
1934/35 abandoned
1935/36 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
1936/37 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
1937/38 abandoned [10]
1938/39 no championship [11]
1939/40 Hapoel Tel-Aviv
1940/41 no championship [12] 1941/42 Maccabi Tel-Aviv
1942/43 not finished [13] 1943/44 Hapoel Tel-Aviv [14]
1944/45 no championship [15]
1945/46 no championship1946/47 D Maccabi Tel-Aviv
1947/48 not finished
Endnotes
[1] In
this championship, the Federation decided that the competition would not be
between clubs alone, but that a group of clubs could form a team to compete
among themselves, or they could form national teams to compete against
themselves. As such, these teams could also compete among themselves in order
to increase the status of sports in Palestine and to prepare a strong team of
the most skilled players to face strong teams visiting Palestine from sister
countries, especially Egypt.
[4] The
Zahra Flower Cup initially included a few Jewish
clubs became the first (and only) "integrated" league in the country
when it was joined by Rawdat al Ma'aref and Arab Sports Club in 1923.
[5] This is a quotation taken from an article written by Joseph Yekutieli (the President of the Maccabi Sport Federation) and Percy C. Speed, which was published in the official Bulletin of FIFA on 28th of January 1931, under the title of "Football in Palestine's World's Football".
[6] N. Blincoe, "More noble than war - A soccer history of
Israel-Palestine", (New York: Bold Type Books, 2019), p. 97.
[10] The league was abandoned long before the end of the season;
some sources credit Hapoel Tel-Aviv with the title but this is incorrect as
several other clubs could still overtake them in the table and the PFA did not
declare them champions.
[11] No national championship was held; the Tel-Aviv district
league was won by Maccabi Tel-Aviv, that of Jerusalem by Police Depot; the champions
of Haifa are not known.
[12] No national championship was held; there were separate
competitions for Hapoel clubs (won by Hapoel Tel-Aviv) and for Maccabi and
Beitar clubs (won by Maccabi Avshalom Petah-Tikva); in addition there were regional
leagues in Jerusalem and in the northern region.
[13] In 1942/43, three regional leagues were played, in Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv; the Haifa league was abandoned while the champions of Jerusalem (Homenetmen) and Tel-Aviv (Maccabi Tel-Aviv) were to play off for the championship; Homenetmen refused to enter and Maccabi were declared champions; however, this championship is not considered official by the IFA.
[14] The 1943/44 championship was abandoned with about two dozen matches left to play; leaders Hapoel Tel-Aviv were declared champions.
[15] There were two regional "test" leagues: the southern division was won by Beitar Tel-Aviv, the northern division by Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
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