{"id":64720,"date":"2020-01-06T09:01:07","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T07:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/?p=64720"},"modified":"2025-03-10T16:12:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T14:12:49","slug":"hoi_football_majesty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blognli2026.moonsite.co.il\/en\/hoi_football_majesty\/","title":{"rendered":"Football Under the Auspices of His Majesty"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the years of the British Mandate in the Land of Israel (1917-1948), thousands of British citizens including government, police and military personnel found themselves stationed in the region, living alongside its Jewish and Arab residents. Although football, (or soccer, for American readers) was played here before the British conquest, the sport received a significant push under the nation considered to be the birthplace of the game, as all three major population groups participated, each with their own football clubs competing against each other in tournament play. British, Arab and Jewish teams from this period had names such as The Paymasters, Shabab al-\u2018Arab and Maccabi Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

In 1928, the Eretz Israel Football Association was founded (at the suggestion of Egypt), and one of the conditions for its acceptance into FIFA was the inclusion of all population groups in the country. League matches were held between Arab, Jewish and British teams, and, in principle, if not always in practice, players from the three populations were even selected for an all-star national team that played against teams from other countries.<\/p>\n