The 1980’s saw a period of below par achievements for Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, earning the decade the nickname the “thin years”. While adding two State Cups to the trophy cabinet, the club remained without a league title throughout the decade. The first of the two consecutive State Cup triumphs, however, was won in dramatic fashion in a final against Maccabi Haifa in the 1986/87 season.

Shimon Shenar was the Head Coach who managed many clubs as well as the Micronesia National Team. Boni Ginzburg, Avi Cohen, Menashe Shimonov, Hay Krais, Alon Natan, Moshe Griani along with Eli Driks were the main cogs for the Yellow & Blue while veteran Benny Tabak was also part of the squad.

Maccabi had a decent regular season finishing in third place, but they didn’t threaten champions Beitar Jerusalem who won the league by 15 points over the second place side (Bnei Yehuda) and 19 points over the Yellow & Blue. Maccabi met Beitar in the State Cup semifinals as the capital city side fantasized about taking home the Double, however, Alon Natan had other plans. An outstanding individual effort helped Shenar’s team to a 2:0 win and as Driks also scored in the victory but this was just the start of something special for the striker.

Thousands of fans filled the Ramat Gan Stadium stands on June 9, 1987 to see Maccabi Tel Aviv face Maccabi Haifa in the State Cup Final. A number of years earlier the two sides played in one of the all-time great matches in the history of Israeli football as a game that ended 4:4 was won by the Yellow & Blue in penalties. This time the two clubs again played to an amazing classic tilt and perhaps one of the greatest of all-time.

After 120 minutes the score was 3:3. Griani and Driks scored for Maccabi as Haifa was able to comeback twice and even took a 3:2 lead in the extra time period thanks to Zahi Armeli. Scene minutes from time, Driks drew the Yellow & Blue even on a beauty of a bicycle kick goal to send the contest to a penalty shootout. Striker Benny Tabak’s final kick saw Maccabi Tel Aviv lift their first State Cup trophy in ten years, their 16th in their history. Watch the goals:

Among the many inspirational stories of those who survived the horrors of the Holocaust is the story of Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Nick Blackman’s family. Nick’s grandfather, from his mother’s side, Benjamin Rosenfeld was born (1929) in the city of Sosnowiec, Poland 10-years before the outbreak of World War II. Together with his older brother by one year Salek, the two went through agony, but were able to survive and thanks to their amazing resourcefulness.

More on the website about Maccabi and the Holocaust
“Saba” Dov: A story of survival and Maccabi
Holocaust Remembrance Day, The Maccabi Foundation and Manuel Neuer

On the eve of Yom HaShoa – Holocaust Remembrance Day, Nick Blackman dedicated his life in Israel to perpetuate the details of his family in the Yad Vashem Archives whose purpose is to provide historical documentation of Holocaust survivors and to better understand the fate of the Jews during the Holocaust.

Watch:

The Story of the Rosenfeld Brothers
As World War II broke out, brothers Benjamin and Salek fled as far as possible from the German border and left the town of Sosnowiec. Together they traveled by train but it moved too slowly, stopping and starting again and again. As they were about to be searched the train was bombed, forcing them to take refuge in a small town but a convoy of Germans searched anyone and everyone and if they were found to have weapons they would be shot. They decided there was no point running and went back to Sosnowiec, however, the Jews who remained there were accused of stealing Polish properties including jewelry and furs.

The boys packed up again and left for Przemysl, Poland by horse and buggy. Once they reached the San River on the Russian/German border, they crossed the freezing cold waters when the border guards weren’t watching and made their way to the Lodz Ghetto. They stayed in the Ghetto from 1940 until 1944 in very difficult conditions with extreme cold in the winter and insect infestation during the summer months.

In 1944 the boys were sent to Auchwitz and were separated during the selection process. Ben and Salek cried with all their might and out of nowheres a political prisoner, possibly a clerk asked them what the problem was and he told them not to move. He returned with a special card that allowed Benjamin to join the transport with Salek. However, there was one more selection before Benjamin would be able to join Salek and he told him to go around the barracks when the Nazi soldier took away the victims. Ben listened to his brother and rejoined Salek in the line where the prisoners would have their arms tattooed with an ID number. When Ben’s turn came, he felt no pain – he was elated that he was going to receive his passport to life.

From Aushwitz they moved onto the Birkenau and then Rybinsk camps. When Rybinsk closed down, they were moved yet again, this time to Austria and then to Mauthausen which was a “showroom camp”. The so called camp had normal toilets, washrooms and showers which the prisoners were not allowed to use – they were there just to show the International Red Cross that the inmates were kept clean. One day, the prisoners were forced to march out of Mautheausen as they walked for days to an unknown destination in a large forest to wells which had no walls, no floors, no sanitation and no water. Then suddenly on May 7, 1945 Ben and Salek crept out to find the German barracks empty. They were free as they cried and rejoiced in their salvation.

Over the course of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s history, the club had plenty of ups and downs and the 1960’s had not been a particularly successful decade. With the coming of the 1970’s, all that was about to change. Jerry Beit HaLevi’s “Babies” who came on board during the 60’s transformed into a formidable force at the start of the following decade as the club won 4 championships and two State Cups.

The very first year of the decade, 1969/70 was a stellar indication of that change as the team, under the able leadership of the late David Schweitzer, won an historic double. Some of the greats wore the Yellow & Blue shirt including Tzvika Rosen, Meir Nimni, Miki Belo, Moshe Asis, Nissim Bachar, Giora Speigel, Dror Bar Nir, Rahamim Talbi and David Karako.

We’ll get to the dramatic top of the table shortly, but during that same season the club had one of their finest performances. January 24, 1970 Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated their city rivals Hapoel 5:0 which was the biggest Derby win up until recently. Despite the poor rainy weather conditions, over 21,000 fans packed into Bloomfield for an unforgettable match by Giora Speigel in which he scored a hat trick. Later that same year, he would play in the World Cup in Mexico representing Israel. In the 7’ Speigel scored his first, and 20 minutes later he doubled the lead via a free kick. Speigel assisted on the third goal by Rahamim Talbi’s (47’) as well as the 4th by Nissim Bachar (54’). Finally the maestro scored his third of the contest thanks to an assist by Talbi in the 61’ for a 5:0 historic Derby win that would be matched 46 years later on September 9, 2016 with yet another 5:0 victory over the Reds.

But despite that defeat, Hapoel stayed neck-and-neck with Maccabi until the very last week. At the beginning of the season it was decided that should there be a tie for first place on points, goal differential would be used to determine the champion and not average goals as had been done in the past. After 30 Matchdays (2 points were awarded for a win, unlike today) the two club’s each had 39 points, but Maccabi had a better goal differential with 6. In essence, the 5:0 Derby determined the title handing the championship to Schweitzer‘s side.

In order to close out the dream season, on October 7, 1970 Maccabi completed the Double and lifted the 14th State Cup in club history. The Final (under Coach Israel Halivner who had replaced Schweitzer) saw the Yellow & Blue take on Motele Speigler’s Maccabi Netanya who took the lead in the 31’. In the book entitled “The First 102 Years” by Danny Dvorin and Asher Goldberg, it’s told that Nissim Bachar screamed at his teammates during halftime that “We’ll score within 5 minutes.” In fact, Bachar erred. It took only two minutes for Ezra Ozeri to find the equalizer and in the 77’ the comeback was complete. Moshe Asis took a David Karako pass and scored the decisive winner. A 70’s performance – Maccabi Tel Aviv style.
Moshe Sliman one of the Maccabi’s stars of the 70’s

Maccabi Tel Aviv visits Teddy Stadium for an away contest against Beitar Jerusalem on Monday April 16th. Tickets are on sale and you’re invited to come and cheer on the Yellow & Blue.

Please Note: This match is part of the Points Allocation System and season ticket holders will receive 1 point for this contest while non-season ticket holders will receive .5 of a point. Make sure that when tickets are purchased via the Leaan Website, telephone or Leaan Ticket Office the season ticket number is used in order to receive full points. Should the purchase not be done by using the season ticket number points will not be allocated.

Should a ticket be purchased and the fan doesn’t attend the match, there will be no refunds and no points will be allocated.

Tickets are on sale via the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street Tel Aviv, telephone *8780 and the Leaan Website.

Ticket prices
(Maccabi Tel Aviv fans will be seated in the South Sections 1,2,3.)
Home Printing is available

Leaan Ticket Office:
Adult: 99 NIS
Youth/Soldier: 49.50 NIS
VIP: 440 NIS

Telephone/Website:
Adult: 104 NIS
Youth/Soldier: 54.50 NIS
VIP: 445 NIS

Ticket Collection
Tickets may be collected at the Leaan Ticket Office located at 101 Dizengoff Street between Sunday-Thursday 09:00-19:00, Friday 09:00-13:30.
Tickets may be collected on Matchday at the Stadium ticket windows beginning 3 hours prior to the match.

Tal Ben Haim, the Maccabi Tel Aviv veteran central defender featured for the Yellow & Blue in the 1:0 loss to Hapoel Beer Sheva. Number 26 spoke to the media following the contest:

“I suffered on the bench over the last few matches just like the fans. My heart was broken so I know exactly how the fans are feeling. I know what they are going through as someone who has grown up through the ranks of the club. As for the result, we failed and we have to pick ourselves up quickly. We played well and had a number of chances but we gave up on a half chance by Beer Sheva and I’m disappointed just like the rest of the players.”

Showing a fighting spirit for the upcoming match with Beitar:
“There’s no question that our hearts are broken and if it’s not you shouldn’t be in this business. When we saw Beer Sheva celebrating last year, it was something that stayed with us all summer long. We began the season well, but when you lose a few matches in money time everything changes. Just a few weeks ago we had the same points as they did. We have an important match against Beitar coming up and if we go into that game the same way as we did in this one, with the same character and fighting spirit and we take advantage of our situations the results will be better.”

Being motivated for every match:
“I don’t think that there’s one player that didn’t come into this the correct way if someone does then they will find themselves on the outside looking in. That’s unacceptable at Maccabi. We will go into every match motivated and show that we are prepared to play at this level.”

European spot in jeopardy:
“Right now we don’t have to look at the table but at ourselves and make sure that we come into every match ready to play quality football, take advantage of the situations and get the results.”

Looking ahead:
“My heart is broken. Not just the fans at the stadium, but the ones at home watching on TV. Whether it’s phone calls or messages that we have gotten over the past few weeks we came into this match in better shape and now we have to put the talking aside and we have to make sure we go into the next match and look better and score when we have the chances to score.”

Being a part of Maccabi now and in the future:
“Unfortunately we lost some of that and my goal is to help bring this back to the club. I began at Maccabi from the age of 6 and I’m a fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv. I don’t have anything to add now but we will wait until the summer and see.”