Ironi Tiberias (
Hebrew: עירוני טבריה) is a
football club from
Tiberias,
Israel. The club is not connected to
Hapoel Tiberias, a former club which spent several seasons in the top division of Israeli football in the 1960s and the 1980s, making its last appearance in the top flight in 1989.
The best known club from Tiberias was
Hapoel Tiberias, which played in the top division of the Israeli football in the 1960s, from
1961–62 to
1964–65, and again in
1988–89.
A third club operating in Tiberias during these years was Beitar Tiberias, although it mainly played in the lower levels of the
Israeli league, its best performance being reaching
Liga Bet, the third tier in the late 1960s and the 1970s.
By the late 1990s both Maccabi and Hapoel has folded, and the only active club was Beitar Tiberias. In 2001 the club was merged with
Hapoel Mo'atza Ezorit Galil Tahton to form Hapoel Galil Tahton/Tiberias.[3] in 2007 the club changed its name to Ironi Tiberias.
In
2006–07 the club finished 2nd in
Liga Bet North B and was promoted through play-offs. After several season in
Liga Alef North, the club qualified to the promotion play-off at the end of the
2010–11 season, falling in first round to
Hapoel Asi Gilboa. The
following season the club finished 2nd in
Liga Alef, but didn't take part in the promotion play-offs, which involved only the league winner,
Hapoel Asi Gilboa.
The club finished 2nd once again in
2013–14 and qualified to the promotion play-offs, and after beating
Maccabi Daliyat al-Karmel,
Hapoel Migdal HaEmek and
Hapoel Azor, faced
Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem in the decisive promotion/relegation play-offs. Tiberias won 5–1 on aggregate (3–0, 2–1), and promoted to
Liga Leumit. However, the club's spell in Liga Leumit lasted only one season, as they finished second bottom in the
2014–15 season and relegated back to Liga Alef.
