Sar-Tov Stadium

Sar-Tov Stadium
איצטדיון שר-טוב

The Box הקופסא
Location	Netanya, Israel
Owner	City of Netanya
Operator	City of Netanya
Capacity	7,500
Surface	Grass
Opened	1945
Closed	2014
Tenants
Maccabi Netanya (1943-2012)

Sar-Tov Stadium (Hebrew: איצטדיון שר-טוב, Itztadion Sar-Tov), commonly known as HaKufsa (הקופסה, lit. The Box) was a football stadium in Netanya, Israel. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of Maccabi Netanya. In 2012 Maccabi Netanya moved to the newly built Netanya Stadium^[1]

The official name was the "Sar-Tov Stadium", named in honor of Joseph Sar-Tov, who was one of the founders of Maccabi Netanya and served as the first chairman of the club. Over the years the stadium was dubbed as "HaKufsa" ("The Box"), the nickname comes from the relatively small size of the ground and being surrounded by stands in the manner reminiscent of a box.^[2]

An article which details the history of the stadium at the webpage of Maccabi Netanya says that the first game was on January 1, 1945, with the name of the opponent unclear, with suggestions being tghe Yugoslav, Greek, or British army team, the latter option being the prevalent opinion. Before the game the stadium was officially inaugurated in the presence of city officials including its mayor Oved Ben-Ami. A former player Yitzhak Caspi mentioned that an that time the stadium was noting but a plot of land. He was responsible for club's youth division. He ogranized children and teenagers to plant grass on the field. Later it was simply surrounded by ropes and later a small fence was built.^[3]

In 2014 the Box was demolished.^[2]

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