Category: News

A Dream Final & some help in the Semis

Posted on

The State Cup Quarterfinals will be a two-legged tie as Maccabi Tel Aviv will meet Maccabi Petach Tikva who are also are battling with the Yellow & Blue at the top of the table in league play. Let’s take a look back at a couple of matches from the competition that led Maccabi to the coveted trophy

2001/02 Season, State Cup Final: Maccabi Tel Aviv 3:0 Maccabi Petach Tikva
Ramat Gan Stadium was packed with over 35K fans for the first of two Israel State Cups in a row that Maccabi would win. But well before Avi Nimni and Tal Banin hoisted the hardware, Nir Levin’s squad had to get the work done on the pitch. Rodrigo Goldberg headed in the first goal in the 56th minute and a quarter hour before the end of the contest Eli Bitton added an insurance marker. However, if the fans thought that would be the end of the Yellow & Blue scoring, they were mistaken. Avi Nimni put the cherry on top of the victory with a 90th minute strike that sealed the deal and gave Maccabi their 20th Cup in franchise history.

2000/01, גמר גביע: מכבי ת”א – מכבי פ”ת 0:3


2004/05 Season, Semi-Final: Maccabi Tel Aviv 2:1 Maccabi Petach Tikva
The season may have ended with the Cup in hand but it was definitely a difficult road to get their as Maccabi defeated Maccabi Herzliya on penalties in the final. The semi-final match versus Petach Tikva was also challenging, as the Yellow & Blue needed extra time to advance to the grand finale. Pesach Tikva featured a young Gal Alberman who was substituted out due to injury in the 39th minute but 9 minutes earlier, Maccabi took the lead via Eduardo Marques. However, Petach Tikva equalized in the 64th minute thanks to a screamer of a goal by Ismael Amar which sent the contest into extratime. Both teams looked like they were preparing for penalties, but Petach Tikva central defender Shalshi Banai had other plans as he headed in an own goal as the ball went over keeper Ohad Cohen giving Maccabi the valuable victory.

New Points Allocation System for Away Matches

Posted on

Get to know the new points allocation system for Maccabi Tel Aviv away matches. This brand new system will allow those who accompany the club on the road from Kiryat Shemona to Beer Sheva priority to purchase tickets to away games that are in high demand.

The objective of the system will be to reward fans that travel to away games around the country and will replace the lottery system, giving priority to the fans that find themselves in places like Ashdod, Ashkelon and Teddy Stadium supporting the Yellow & Blue.

Season ticket holders will receive double the amount of points than non-season ticket holders who buys a ticket for an away contest.

The points system is broken up into three categories:

Category 1: Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Beer Sheva
Category 2: Bnei Yehuda, Maccabi Petach Tikva, Hapoel Kfar Saba, Hapoel Raanana
Category 3: Bnei Sakhnin, Hapoel Ashkelon, Kiryat Shemona, Hapoel Haifa, Ashdod

For example: If you purchase tickets to a match against Maccabi Petach Tikva and Hapoel Asheklon, you’ll earn 2 points for Maccabi Petach Tikva and 3 points for Ashkelon for a total of 5 points if you are a season ticket holder. If you are not a season ticket holder you will earn 2.5 points for these matches.

Please note:

If Maccabi is allocated 800 tickets for sale, then the top 800 fans on the points table will have the privilege to purchase them. Should there be a number of fans with the same amount of points, a lottery will be held in the presence of an accountant to determine who will be able to purchase a ticket. For example: If there are 1500 fans with the exact same amount of points, a draw will be held amongst the 1500 fans for the right to purchase one of the 800 tickets allocated to Maccabi.

IMPORTANT! You must use your season ticket when you make a ticket purchase via the website, telephone or ticket office. Should you not purchase the ticket through your season ticket there will be no way for us to know that you purchased the ticket and you won’t receive the maximum points.

Other questions:

I purchased more than one ticket, can I get more points?
No. The maximum amount of points you can receive is for one season ticket.

What if I purchase a ticket for my friends and my child, how does it work?
When you make the purchase, you must update the ticket representative with the season ticket numbers so the purchase will be allocated to their season ticket. If you don’t give in the season ticket number the ticket purchase will not be allocated to the season ticket holders account.

If I purchase a ticket through the home team or at the stadium on Matchday will I receive points?
No. On Matchday the ticket windows are operated by the host club and there is no way for Maccabi to take the information. There is also no way of knowing if the ticket purchase was made through the home team and not through Maccabi’s ticket allocation (via the Leaan Ticket Agency) and therefore Maccabi can’t allocate any points.

I was at every away match this season, can I get points allocated?
The point allocation will only begin at the Maccabi Petach Tikva away match on February 13, 2017.

I’m not a season ticket holder, can I also have points allocated when I purchase a ticket?
Fans that are not season ticket holders will receive half the amount of points when purchasing an away ticket. For example: If you purchase a ticket via your user account at Leaan you will receive one point and not two like the season ticket holders. It’s important that you have your user information available when you make a ticket purchase.

Please note:

  • Maccabi Tel Aviv reserves the right to cancel and end the points system at any moment
  • The points allocated per match may change at the discretion of the Club
  • Points will be tabulated until the end of the season and only then will it be determined if the points will continue into next season or if they will begin again from 0
  • When away match details will be published the points that may be earned will be published as well
  • Maccabi Tel Aviv will determine which matches the points system will be in effect for
  • The amount of tickets that will be allocated to the fans will be determined by the Club
  • Maccabi Tel Aviv reserves the right to change the point system including how points are earned
  • Points will be allocated for advance sales only via the Leaan Ticket Agency for tickets allocated to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans
  • Season ticket holders will be notified by the Club as to how long they have to purchase tickets and how they may be purchased

The Legends Club: Life & Times of Jerry Beit HaLevi

Posted on

Who is the player that you’d describe as the biggest “Maccabist”? Who was Maccabi’s greatest coach? And who was the best President in the Club’s history? Some of you will say it’s Eran Zahavi, Paulo Sousa and Mitch Goldhar, others may answer Avi Nimni, Avram Grant and Loni Hershkowitz and the veterans might name some others including Moti Ivanir, Giora Spiegel, Sheya Glazer and others.

However, there was one who filled all three roles to perfection and who helped make Maccabi the great Club it is today. It’s been twenty years since he passed away as we look back at the first “Maccabist” Moshe (Jerry) Beit Halevi.

Football family

Moshe Beit Halevi or better known as Jerry was the second of five brothers that were part of a football family that made Aliyah to Israel in 1920. His oldest brother Nachum was a referee, while a younger brother Avraham was a defender who played for Hapoel Tel Aviv and his youngest brother Alexander held various different roles at Maccabi Tel Aviv. Jerry began training at the Yellow & Blue Youth Department along with his brother because Maccabi was known to be the most organized and professional team at the time. Once Beit Halevi made it to the senior side, it was very difficult for him to earn a place in the Starting XI so he played at Maccabi Rechovot and Maccabi Hadera for three seasons. When he returned, the Maccabi Tel Aviv coach was Egon Pollack who had once played for Hakoah Vienna. The two connected almost immediately and Beit Halevi found his way into the starting lineup.

Beit Halevi’s playing career with Maccabi Tel Aviv spanned from the beginning of the 1930’s until 1945 where he spent the majority of the time as the Club’s captain while winning three league championships and two State Cups. One of the most interesting matches that took place during this time was in the middle of the 1930’s in a little Derby against Hakoah Tel Aviv, the smallest team in the city. The contest featured 2 players being ejected from Hakoah and one from Maccabi who was none other than Jerry. The referee who tossed him? His big brother, Nachum.

Over the next few seasons, Beit Halevi along with Maccabi Tel Aviv went to the United States and Australia as they did a tremendous amount of Hasbara, representation of the Holy Land to Jews around the world. His youngest brother Avraham stayed in Australia along with Menachem Merimovitch and volunteered in the Australian army during the Second World War but lost their lives in battle. Menachem’s brother Yosele, as one of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s stars during the period was the person who initiated the change in colors from blue and white to yellow and blue, yellow being used as a sign of solidarity with the Jews who were suffering the consequences of the Holocaust and forced to wear the Yellow Star.

An unexperienced pro

Jerry began his coaching career two years after his retirement following Egon Pollock’s decision to retire himself following 12-seasons as Head Coach. As Maccabi’s boss, Jerry won 4 league titles along with 5 State Cups and was considered a defensive coach, but one who helped mold the future of Maccabi Tel Aviv in becoming the biggest and best club in the country. One of the initiatives he did as coach was to institute a rigorous training regimen that included increasing the amount of training sessions from two to three times a week. Jerry was also able to convince management to pay the players for that third session, something that was out of the ordinary during those times. What Maccabi understood when Oscar Garcia was named coach in 2012, was already happening in the 1940’s under Beit Halevi when he was being updated as to the latest football methods that were being used across Europe. During a trip to Yugoslavia, he decided to start a young defender by the name of Sheya Glazer as a striker up front. The move which Jerry said he “Pulled out of his sleeve” helped Glazer become the club’s all-time goal scoring leader until Avi Nimni arrived on the scene.

Bloomfield

עם נבחרת ניגריה (אתר ההתאחדות) ()


In the second half of the 1960’s, Maccabi went through a financial crisis that almost forced the club to suspend activities when the players refused to play if they wouldn’t be paid. The club asked Jerry to manage the football operations and the first move he made in his new capacity was to leave the Maccabiah Stadium and move to Hapoel’s Bloomfield Stadium. At the time, many fans attended matches for free due to various connections that they had. Jerry was able to reduce the free tickets that were being given away and he was able to sell 14k tickets to Maccabi’s first match at Bloomfield. By the end of the season the deficit was reduced thanks to the successful stadium move.

Jerry was also a member of the Israel Football Association board and helped found the Toto in Israel.

First published on the Hazavit Website by Roni Alperon

Take a number: Interesting stats and facts about the Beer Sheva match

Posted on

No stopping the Iceman
Vidar Kjartansson scored his 11th league goal and drew even with Tony Nwakaeme for the Ligat Ha’Al league. This was the Icelandic striker’s 15th goal across all competitions and occurred after he switched his number from 24 to 9 and scored in, you guessed it, the 9th minute.

In addition, the Icelander has scored in 6 out of his last 7 matches while finding the back of the goal a total of 8 times.

Teaming Up
Eli Dasa picked up his second assist in as many games on goals by Kjartansson for the right back’s third assist overall this campaign.

Black Jack
This was the 4th time that Maccabi hosted Beer Sheva on Matchday 21 and the Yellow & Blue won each match. The victory was Maccabi’s first in the last 4 matches against the southern side.

In good company
Aaron Schoenfeld and Marcelo both made their debuts becoming one of 15 players who made their first appearance against Hapoel Beer Sheva.

Maccabi defense
Hapoel Beer Sheva maintained possession for 70% of the second half (Maccabi held a slight 52:48 advantage in the first half). But the southern Reds only had one attempt on goal in those 45 minutes which actually occurred during injury time. Another interesting fact is that the average distance of Beer Sheva’s shots occurred from 24 meters out (8 shots, 1 in the box). Maccabi’s average distance was 16 meters with 7 out of 9 coming from inside the area.

Beer Sheva tried to attack 39 times down the left side of the pitch where Tony Nwakaeme plays compared to 28 through the middle and 23 times from the right side. Nwakeme, however, lost the ball 21 times over the course of the match as Ben Sahar lost the ball 11 times.

Aerial defense
Central defender Tal Ben Haim won 7 of 8 battles in the air, winning more than any other player on the pitch.

Yellow & Blue Saturday – Match Results February 4, 2017

Posted on

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv 1:4 Maccabi Herzliya
The young Yellow & Blue were eliminated from the Israel State Cup in the Round of 32. Fadi Najar scored for Maccabi. CLICK HERE for the full match report.

Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv 1:0 Hapoel “Tzachi Ben Porat” (extratime)
Eliezer Ben Aharon’s Club advanced to the quarterfinals of the Under-17 Israel State Cup competition after defeating Hapoel Tel Aviv in a dramatic derby. Following 80 minutes of goalless action, the contest headed onto extratime as Omer Berami scored in the 84th minute.

Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv 4:0 Beitar Tel Aviv/Ramle
The Under-16 team of Alon Brumer is unstoppable as they continue on to the Round of 16. Dan Lugassi, Koren Gadge and Gil Ben Shalosh all scored between the 41st and 49th minutes. Hadar Mor finished the match off with a 73rd minute strike for Maccabi’s 4th goal.

Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv 1:2 Maccabi “Hadar” Herzliya (extratime)
Amir Sofer’s squad suffered a tough loss and were bounced from State Cup play in extra time. Eli Belhasan scored in the 25th minute to give the Under-15 side the lead, but the visitors drew even in the 47th minute thanks to Yehonatan Sungaker and went ahead in the 82nd minute via Roie Koren.