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Aaron Black

Hapoel Hyde Park and the Rise of Jewish Football in Leeds

Updated: Oct 17, 2023


Playing football on a Jewish team is an important part of countless Jewish students’ identities, some have grown up playing for the only Jewish team in their Sunday league and many have even spent their childhood playing in an entirely Jewish football league. Playing football brings people together and is an exciting way of meeting new people after leaving home for university.


For Jewish students at the Leeds universities and colleges, Leeds’s Jewish Society (JSoc) Committee is responsible for catering to the broad demand for activities and events. It offers a variety of different weekly activities however none more popular than its social 5 aside football league and its 11 aside football team Hapoel Hyde Park.


Hapoel Hyde Park was established in 2019 and each year has grown from strength to strength. In the beginning there was a struggle to get together 11 Jewish players to play each week, however, year on year the club expanded its reach and has become a central part of Jewish life on campus. The club now holds very competitive trials to get into the squad, with high competition for places in the line-up.


The University of Leeds runs several intramural leagues of which the JSoc team now compete in the highest division. Hapoel are provided with excellent facilities at Weetwood Sports Park and Boddington playing fields, these venues host a range of grass and 3G pitches which are dedicated to facilitating student social sport. Recently, work started to improve these facilities after a sum of £4.2 million was granted from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation to increase the number of 3G pitches. These works began in November last year and are set to be complete in time of the new university year, this September.


Hapoel has faced off against the likes of the Business school, the faculty of Biology and Mechanical Engineering so far this year, all very highly subscribed disciplines of study. Coming up against teams which have the selection choice of hundreds of students makes Hapoel an underdog since the Jewish population of university students does not compare to these vast numbers. However, despite this Hapoel have been recruiting the top footballing talent the Leeds JSoc has to offer and results this season have shown that the Jewish students are able to compete at this high level.




Before the end of this semester, Hapoel have scheduled a match against the Birmingham JSoc team, Maccabi Selly Oak. It has been a goal of Hapoel since it was first founded to play against other Jewish student teams from different universities. This is the first time it has been made possible, thanks to the efforts made to raise sponsorship using social media and contributions made to the team this season from Oasis Properties, Robeslee Concrete Co Ltd and Kedem Europe. It is hoped that these types of opportunities to connect with Jewish students across universities will become facilitated more regularly with the support of the newly elected Union of Jewish Students president, Joel Rosen. In Joel’s winning manifesto, it was stated that he would work to help enable “inter university sports contests”. This is a very exciting prospect as this will help promote the creation of more JSoc sports teams across the universities. It may also help to establishment a football tournament involving multiple Jewish student teams. This is a future goal of Hapoel Hyde Park, it is hoped that next year in collaboration with UJS, the club can host a tournament inviting JSoc teams from around the country.


There are also further opportunities for students to play 11 aside football for a Jewish team outside of university, thanks to nearby clubs within the Leeds and Manchester communities. There are several teams recruiting students to participate in the Manchester Jewish Soccer League (MJSL), this past year many Hapoel players and JSoc members have been playing for local club Leeds Maccabi, as well as Manchester team Jewventus. The MJSL provides an opportunity for students to use football to make Jewish connections outside of the university bubble, it provides league games and hosts several prestigious cup competitions. These all take place on Sundays allowing students to play in Hapoel’s midweek fixtures and then for an MJSL team at the weekend.


The Leeds Jewish society is also home to the long-lasting tradition of the JSoc 5 A-side league. This is a friendly social league where students are invited to join or form teams to compete weekly against other Jewish students. This tradition has lasted over a decade and has been a great way for freshers to meet the existing students, this year the league has managed to attract over 50 players to play each week.


Off the pitch, the Hapoel Hyde Park Board, who are responsible for organising all the above mentioned JSoc football, have been working incredibly hard to facilitate these weekly events to create an inclusive and expansive footballing experience for all Jewish students. The Board is made up of Manager Jack Isaacs, Captain Noah Meszarich, 5-Aside League Coordinator Sam Clarfield and myself. My role has been promoting the club through social media in order to attract students as well as reaching out and securing new sponsorship for the team. Overtime, the collective effort to organise events as well as the creation and posting of graphics weekly has connected the team with new supporters all over, growing to become amongst the largest Jewish football social media pages in the country.

Hapoel Hyde Park are already looking to secure sponsorship for the 2022/23 season. All sponsorships are welcome and help to subsidise the costs for students and allow the Board to organise exciting footballing opportunities. If your business would like to help provide equipment, sponsor our kits and jackets or just feature on a sponsored social media post then please get in touch via our email. All contributions will help support the team battle its way through the top division, travel the country playing other Jewish university teams and subsidise playing socially in Leeds. Follow @HapoelHydePark on Instagram to keep up with our story.





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