About

Beitar Jerusalem Football Club (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים‎; Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem, or simply as Beitar, is an Israeli professional football club based in the city of Jerusalem, that plays in the Israeli Premier League, the top tier in Israeli football. The club was founded in 1936 by Shmuel Kirschstein and David Horn, who chaired the similarly named Betar branch in Jerusalem. Several team members were also part of the outlawed Irgun and Lehi militias closely associated with the right-wing Revisionist Zionism movement. The club has traditionally worn with kit colours in yellow and black. The team has played its home matches in the 31,733-capacity Teddy Stadium in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem since 1991. Beitar's fans have become a highly controversial political symbol in Israeli football culture, unofficially aligned with the Zionist movement and to the right-wing Likud party. The club remain the only one in the Israel Premier League to have never signed an Arab player and the fans became infamous for their racist 'Death to Arabs' chant" However, in January 2019 the club celebrated its first year without any cases of organised racist chanting reported from the stands. Domestically, Beitar has won the 1986–87, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98 and 2006–07, 2007–08 Israeli Premier League titles, 7 Israeli Cup (1976, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1989, 2008, 2009), and 2 Israeli Supercup (1976, 1986).