club Wimbledon. Captain and club stalwart Abbas Suan (he had been at the club since its formation, having been part of the Hapoel Sakhnin team since 1994) won particular acclaim, gaining a call-up to the Israel squad, and winning his first cap in February 2004. The cup win meant that the club became the first Arab team to play in Europe, entering the UEFA Cup. After beating Partizani Tirana 6–1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round, the club faced Newcastle United in the first round. However, Sakhnin were beaten 7–1 on aggregate, including a 5–1 home defeat in a match played at the Ramat Gan Stadium in Ramat Gan due to security concerns. During the 2004–05 season, with its stadium still under development the club played many of its home matches at Hapoel Nazareth Illit's Municipal Stadium. During their spell in the top flight, several Sakhnin games were plagued by hooliganism. Despite chairman Ghnaim's stated mission to create a "cultural rainbow" from his football club, games against Beitar Jerusalem were particularly violent, at least partially due to the presence of notoriously anti-Arab supporters of Beitar; when Sakhnin won the State Cup, Beitar fans paid for an obituary to be printed in Israel's leading daily Yediot Aharonot, claiming that Israeli football was dead. On 29 January 2005 Sakhnin fans rioted during a home match (played at Kiryat Eliezer) against Hapoel Tel Aviv after a violent incident on the field between a team official and a referee, who had earlier had sent off two Sakhnin players. As a punishment, the IFA ordered the club to play two games behind closed doors. Despite a large cash injection made by Israeli businessman Arcadi Gaydamak ($400,000) in the hope of promoting peace and harmony among the citizens of Israel, and a return to their rebuilt home stadium (largely financed by the Emir of Qatar, hence the renaming to Doha Stadium), Sakhnin were relegated at the end of 2005–06 season, finishing nine points from safety. However, with one of the largest budgets in the division (around five and a half million shekels), the club were amongst the favourites to return quickly to the Premier League, and did so by finishing as runners-up to Kiryat Shmona. In their first season back in the Premier League, they finished fourth, their highest ever league position, qualifying for the Intertoto Cup. Problems due to political unrest in the region