Hapoel Ashdod F.C. () is an Israeli football club based in Ashdod. In 1999, it merged with local rivals Ironi Ashdod to create F.C. Ashdod.
In 2015, the club was resurrected by its fans.
The club was founded in 1957 and reached the second tier after winning Liga Bet South B Division in the 1970âÂÂ71 season. After several lower-table finishes, the club was relegated to Liga Alef at the end of the 1978âÂÂ79 season, in which they finished bottom. They returned to the second division at the end of the 1989âÂÂ90 season, in which they won the southern division of Liga Alef, beating local rivals Maccabi Ironi Ashdod to the title by a single point. They narrowly avoiding relegation in 1993âÂÂ94, when they finished one place above the relegation zone, but after several more lower-table finishes, in 1997âÂÂ98 the club finished third, one place below promotion to the top division, but the following season finished tenth, and were due to be relegated two divisions due to financial problems. However, the club merged with Maccabi Ironi Ashdod, to form F.C. Ashdod.
In 2001 a new club, Hapoel Namal Ashdod was established, playing in Liga Gimel. Although the club was initially successful, winning its division and gaining promotion to Liga Bet, at the end of the 2003âÂÂ04 season, in which it finished fourth, it was disbanded.
In March 2015, fans of Hapoel Ashdod gathered and re-established the club, with the purpose of joining Liga Gimel in the 2015âÂÂ16 season.
Later on that month, F.C. Ashdod's chairman, Jacky Ben-Zaken, decided to rename F.C. Ashdod to Hapoel Ashdod and to play in red shirts, following a dispute with fans of the previous club, Maccabi Ironi Ashdod. Despite warnings from the Israel Football Association, which informed the club that such changes during season are illegal, F.C. Ashdod did show up for their Bottom playoff match against Hapoel Ra'anana in red shirts, with the caption "F.C. Hapoel Ashdod", and was eventually disciplined. However, Hapoel Ashdod fans have decided that the club will be registered in Liga Gimel, rather than joining forces with Ben-Zaken's F.C. Ashdod.
At the same time, another group of Hapoel Ashdod fans, headed by lawyer Ya'akov Shitrit, formed a second club, due to play in 2015âÂÂ16 Liga Gimel. As Shitrit's group was affiliated with the Hapoel organization, this club was registered in the IFA under the name Hapoel Bnei Ashdod (Hebrew:ÃÂäÃÂâàÃÂààÃÂéÃÂÃÂÃÂ), while the fans' club was forced to drop the name Hapoel from their club and registered under the name of Agudat Sport Ashdod (Hebrew: ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂê áäÃÂèàÃÂéÃÂÃÂÃÂ), (or in short Hebrew: ÃÂ.á. ÃÂéÃÂÃÂÃÂ, Aleph Samekh Ashdod, lit. A.S. Ashdod).
On 18 September 2015 the club played it first official match, beating F.C. Tzeirei al-Hoshla 6âÂÂ0 in the first round of the State Cup. The club's first manager, former Hapoel Tel Aviv player Moris Zano led the club through its first matches, but was fired in October 2015. In December 2015, the club signed Pini Balili as its new manager.