Giora Spiegel, one of both Israel's and Maccabi Tel Aviv's most outstanding players, made his first appearance for Maccabi Tel Aviv aged sixteen in the 1963/64 season. And what an appearance that was, as Spiegel found the net five times in a 10-1 thrashing of Beitar Machane Yehuda in the second round of the Israel Football Association (IFA) Cup. Spiegel continued his impressive form in his first league season with five goals in all competitions and at age 17 was already regarded as a future star of the club.

In his second season the young star's statistics continued to rise, with Spiegel scoring 21 goals in all competitions. He even managed to outdo his five goal appearance from the previous season, scoring six times in an IFA Cup match against Hapoel Tel Mond.  And so it was throughout his Maccabi Tel Aviv career that this highly gifted midfielder would continue to deliver stellar performances and score goals in double digits in every full season he played for the club. In all, 97 league goals and another 26 in IFA Cup competition, placing him fifth in the list of all-time Maccabi Tel Aviv goal scorers. Perhaps the most memorable of all his performances came in the 1969/70 season when he scored a hat-trick in Maccabi's 5-0 derby triumph over arch rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Spiegel was not only impressive in his play and in his personal statistics but also in the number of titles he accumulated during the ten seasons he played for Maccabi Tel Aviv. In all he won four championships, four IFA Cups (including a double in 1969/70) and figured in the two history making Asian Cup victories to the club's credit. In the first of those two (1968/69), Spiegel played a central role, scoring six goals in six matches, including a hat-trick in the 6-0 semi-final victory over Indian side Misora.  In the second (1970/71) Spiegel scored two goals on the way to the final in which Maccabi were awarded a technical victory against Police Club Bagdad. In both campaigns Spiegel served as the team's captain.

During the 1972/73 season Spiegel turned his eyes to Europe, playing in France at RC Strasbourg from 1973 to 1976 and at Olympique Lyon from 1976 to 1978. After a successful career in France he returned for one more season at Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 1978/79 season, crowning his career with the club with the league championship.  Spiegel was also capped 44 times for the Israel national team, scoring 18 goals and serving as the lynchpin in the national side that qualified for the World Cup finals in Mexico in 1970.

picture courtesy of the Israel Football Association archives