The long wait for a resumption of football is nearing its end after almost three full months of lockdown and Maccabi Tel Aviv will enter an empty Bloomfield Stadium on Saturday night at 20:00 to face Hapoel Haifa in the first of the ten-match final phase of the season as the TASE Premier League leaders look to consolidate their position and retain the title.
Fans are not allowed into the 29,150-seat Bloomfield arena and it will be strange playing in silence, but the club has found ways to keep the fans close to its heart.
To start off, the players will wear shirts with the words of fans’ chants embroidered on them, ensuring that the supporters, who are so important and dearly missed, will be kept close to our hearts at all times.
The club has also called for fans to send pictures of themselves and of the artefacts they usually bring with them to support the players and from the next home game these will be displayed on the large screens and on the pitchside hoardings during the entire match.
With all 26 matches in the first two phases of the league completed, Maccabi lead the TASE Premier League table with 64 points, six ahead of second-placed Maccabi Haifa, who appear to be their only realistic challengers for the title. Beitar Jerusalem are third in the standings on 49 points.
