This decade is considered Maccabi Tel Aviv’s “Golden Age”, in which they won five championships and four State Cups. The “Golden Age” actually began with the establishment of the State of Israel, with Maccabi Tel Aviv winning the league title in the 1949/50 season. The deciding match of the season was the second Tel Aviv derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv, which Maccabi won 1-0 thanks to a goal from striker Yossef (Yossele) Merimovich that sealed Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first post-independence championship title.

Watch Yosef Goldshtein discuss the 1950’s:

Merimovich was just one member of a squad of outstanding players that left Maccabi Tel Aviv unchallenged in their domination of the Israeli Premier League during the 1950s. That squad included the likes of defenders Itzik Shnior and Eli Fuchs, goalkeeper Avraham Bendori, Yosef Goldshtein, striker Tzvika Stodinski and of course the club’s legendary centre forward Yehoshua (Shaya) Glazer.

The 1951/52 season was Maccabi’s second league title after the establishment of the State, which they won by eight points ahead of Maccabi Petah Tikva, though they lost the State Cup final. That loss only inspired them to win an historic first double in the 1953/54 season, once again winning the league ahead of Maccabi Petah Tikva. That year’s Cup final provided them with the opportunity to put in one of their most devastating performances, crushing their opponents Maccabi Netanya 4-0 with a brace from Glazer and individual goals from Stodinski and midfielder Israel Halivner.

The league was composed of 22 Matchdays with each win earning the club 2 points instead of today where 3 points awarded for a victory. Of the 44 points available Maccabi collected 38 with a record of 16 wins and 6 draws as Jerry Beit HaLevi’s squad went undefeated. The Yellow & Blue game is only 11 goals (the least in the league) and scored 59 goals (the most in the league) while Maccabi Petah Tikva came in 2nd place with 32 points.

At the end of the season, Maccabi played Italian side Lazio in a pair of friendlies in Israel as they fell 3:1 in the first contest and 1:0 in the second. The following campaign Maccabi played a friendly against Lazio in Rome where the match ended in a goalless draw.