Bnei Herzliya

Herzliya's handball line runs back through the city's multi-sport association, set up in 1985 at the initiative of mayor Eli Landau, basketball figure Tal Brody and council member Mordechai Hot. Handball in the city predates that, though: in the early 1970s a Hapoel Herzliya side took the men's league title in 1971-72 and the national cup a year later, a spell the current club does not descend from directly but treats as the city's own handball ground zero.

What Bnei Herzliya actually built its name on is the women's team. Goalkeeper Hagit Abramovitch carried that side through much of it. The men's team, by contrast, plays in the Ligat Winner without troubling the honours list in the modern era.

There's no derby to speak of - Maccabi Herzliya, the other club carrying the city's name, plays football, not handball - so the rivalries run outward, mainly against Rishon LeZion's two clubs. Games are played at the Rishonim High School Gymnasium on HaRav Kook Street, a school hall rather than a purpose-built arena, separate from the basketball section's home at Arena Herzliya.

Nine league titles for the women in ten seasons is the number that sits at the centre of the club's history.