Beitar Jerusalem F.C.
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| Beitar Jerusalem F.C. מ.כ. בית"ר ירושלים |
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| Full name | Beitar Jerusalem Football Club מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים |
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| Nickname(s) | The Menorah | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1936 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Teddy Stadium Jerusalem, Israel (Capacity 21,600) |
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| Chairman |  Eli Arazi(for Arcadi Gaydamak) |
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| Manager | Itzhak Shum |
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| League | Ligat ha'Al (Premier League) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | 1st place (Champions) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Beitar Jerusalem F.C. (Hebrew: מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים; Mōadōn Kadūregel Beitár Yerushaláyim) is an Israeli football (soccer) club based in Jerusalem, Israel. It is the Israeli football club with one of the largest followings (if not the largest) in the country [1][2], and thought to be the wealthiest club in Israel thanks to the club's owner being Arcadi Gaydamak, a wealthy Russian-Israeli businessman. Club matches are played at the Teddy Stadium in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem. It has been dubbed Gehinom (English: Hell) by club supporters, for the hostile atmosphere they present to visiting teams and their fans.
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[edit] Club history
[edit] Early history
Two Jerusalemites, David Horn and Shmuel Kirschstein, decided in 1936 to form a local football team. David Horn was the local chief of Betar, the youth movement of the Revisionist (liberal nationalist) Party, a pre-statehood Zionist movement. To this day Beitar fans are generally identified with that movement's successor party, the Likud or other right-wing groups. The leaders of the youth federation saw this as a project to produce a football club with Beitar's self-defined qualities of Hadar (self-respect) and Hod (glory). The earliest squad was composed entirely of Beitar youth members, including a future government minister, Chaim Corfu. They played initially at the "banana field" close to Beitar youth group's "nest".[citation needed]
[edit] Political interference
Beitar's association with the Revisionist Party quickly brought them into conflict with the British authorities of that time, as well as the fans of Hapoel Jerusalem, a team connected with the Jewish socialist Israel Workers Party (Mapai) in the years 1939-48. Most Beitar players were also secretly members of the Revisionist-affiliated National Military Organization (Irgun Zva'i Leumi) or Freedom Fighters of Israel (Lehi), two groups in open rebellion against Britain's control over Palestine. In the 1940s the British arrested most of the group's players, exiling them to Eritrea and Kenya along with many Irgun and Lehi leaders. Part of their defiance (which also included legendary prison escapes) was the forming of the Beitar Eritrea side that included Micah Aharoni, Corfu, and the goalkeeper Moshe Baruch. In 1948 the British Mandate ended and the interned players were repatriated to the new State of Israel.
[edit] Nordia Jerusalem
During the internment era, David Horn refused to suspend management of the Jerusalem club, and renamed it Nordia Jerusalem so as to deny ties with the Irgun. Most of the Nordia players nevertheless came from Beitar Youth's ranks, including their legendary striker Simon Alfasi. He soon formed the backbone of an offensive group that included Yisrael Yekhezkel and Aharon "Iron Leg" Khason.
[edit] 1950s in the wilderness
Beitar started the 1950s in the Bet (B) League, then Israel's no. 2 level of competition after the Aleph (A) League. In 1953 they succeeded in rising to the A League, but the same year fell back. In 1958 they won the B League championship, but were denied a chance to qualify due to a realignment in league structures that left them in the no. 2 league, now called the A League.
[edit] 1960s
Beitar Jerusalem now had one goal in mind: To qualify to play in the top league, then known as the National League. Their roster then included Dr. Raul Geller, Yosef Aminof, Shaul Mizrahi, Itzhak Monsa, and Udi Rubowitch among others. The coach was Samuel Reznik. In the 1967-68 season that followed the June 1967 reunification of Jerusalem following the Six-Day War, Beitar clinched the A League regular season title against Ramat Amidar. They had accomplished their decades long dream.
[edit] Surviving the 1970s
The team manager in the early 1970s was Imannuel Sheffer, a practice coach for the national squad. He discovered Uri Malmilian, a 16-year-old who Sheffer promoted to the adult squad and who helped them evolve from virtually a pick-up squad to a more practiced, strategic squad. Beitar soon made headlines the wrong way for the first time during a 1974 match against Hapoel Petah Tikva, one of the best teams historically, when their fans charged the field and attacked Hapoel Petah Tikva players and fans. This caused the first of many "radius" penalties in club history, and they were forced to play several home games in another city without an audience. Also that year the club was supposed to descend one league, but instead was saved by the intervention of Members of Knesset Ehud Olmert (Likud, also ex-Beitar Youth) and Yossi Sarid (Civil Rights group; today a leading critic of Beitar fans).They suspended the descension of Beitar and called for an investigation of Israeli Football Association corruption.
This salvation proved to be a burst of stimulant in Beitar. In 1976, under coach Nissim Bechar, and with the trio of Malmilian, Danni Noiman and Victor Levi, they won their first State Cup title, defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv, which had 8 Cup titles to its name, 2:1 in the final. They also came in second in the more important championship (points) play to Hapoel Be'er Sheva. In 1979 they once again downed Maccabi Tel Aviv by the same score in the Cup final under manager Shimon Shenhar.
[edit] The best of times
In 1980 Beitar Jerusalem's potentially historic season cascaded in the face of a season-ending injury to striker Uri Malmilian. The team finished the season at the bottom of the National League, and fell to the A League. The following season a new striker, Eli Ohana, joined the team, and became the face of the modern club. Ohana was well known for being a competitive player, and by 1983-84 Beitar was on the verge of becoming the champions' of Israeli football. The last game of that season was between Beitar and Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem needed a win or a tie to clinch their first title. But Hapoel's legendary Moshe Sinai foiled it in a tight game that gave the title to 2nd place Maccabi Haifa. The bitter defeat created a deep-seated hatred between Beitar and Hapoel fans that has not cooled with the times and only seems to get more violent.
In 1985 Beitar moved on by defeating Maccabi Haifa 1:0 in the State Cup Final for their third title, and in 1986 they once again took the final against Beitar Tel Aviv, then a growing power in Israeli football, in the premier season of manager Dror Kashtan. Kashtan did not fluke on his early success, and in 1987, Beitar played a full season in Tel Aviv's Bloomfield Stadium and became champions. That year's roster included Malmilian, Eli Ohana, Yossi Mizrahi (the "suicidal goalkeeper"), Hanan Azulai, Shlomo Shirazi, Avi Cohen, Sammy Malkha, Yakov Schwartz, Udi Ashash, Meir Kadosh, Gary Wandermolen, and Avi Golder. In the postseason Ohana signed with KV Mechelen of the Belgian league and was one of their leaders on the way to their first and only European Supercup title. In 1989 Beitar once again took the State Cup final, this time winning on penalty kicks against Maccabi Haifa.
[edit] Rollercoaster 1990s
Beitar disintegrated in 1990-91, and was relegated to the second league, then called "Liga Artzit" (country wide league). Ohana returned the next season, and the squad returned to the first ("National") League under Lufa Kadosh's unpopular but effective conservative tactics. Kadosh was then sacked, and replaced by the popular former manager Dror Kashtan. Kashtan lived up to the expectations and more, winning the national title for 1992-93. Afterward (1995) came manager Eli Cohen, who built one of Israel's all time greatest teams. This squad won the 1996-97 championship and repeated the achievement in the following season, this time under Dror Kashtan who thus won his third cap with Beitar. Kashtan went on to train the team in the dreary 98-99 season, which ended in a loss on penalty shootout versus Hapoel Tel Aviv in the cup final. After this traumatic game, the helm was passed to Kashtan's disciple, Eli Ohana. Ohana's first year as a manager (1999/2000) was less than mediocre, despite the fortunate draw that allowed the team to cruise all the way to the cup final, where it lost to Hapoel Tel Aviv 2:4 on penalty kicks (2:2 in regulation).
However, the end of the 90's marked more than the end of good football in Jerusalem. Due to the scandalous financial management of Moshe Dadash, the legendary chairman, Beitar found itself bankrupt and devoid of assets. Dadash sold the team's training grounds, pocketed 6 million shekels from the purchase money and sold the team to a business group led by businessman Kobi Ben Gur.
[edit] Increasing decay
Ohana was fired after the 1999-2000 season when Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Beitar in the second straight Cup final 2:4 on penalty kicks (2:2 regulation). He was replaced by Eli Guttman, who was helped by the signing of Croatian star midfielder Giovanni Rosso. But Gutman's conservative "bunker" style strategy made him a fan target for derision, and he was soon fired as well, a move that ended the directorship of Gad Ze'evi and moved it into the hands of the group that previously bought the team's training grounds - Meir Fenijel, Meir & Shaul Levi and Sasson Shem Tov. The next few seasons showed a Beitar club barely surviving. Rosso signed with Maccabi Haifa and led them to two championships while Beitar struggled to make budgets.
[edit] The "Fenigel" era
In recent years Beitar has made several coups in the way of personnel, including reeling in superstar forward Avi Nimni from Maccabi Tel Aviv (November 2003), Brazilian Indio Ferreira as defender, Tal Banin at midfielder, and retaining Itzik Kornfine, a holdover from the '90s, as goalkeeper. But still, Fenigel and Levi knew that the club was in financial straits and urged players to take smaller salaries than their contracts stated. Another important move was an attempt to revive Eli Ohana as manager.
In the summer of 2005, Beitar experienced a worrying trend of financial woes and player desertions. The first was the long-expected return of Nimni to Maccabi Tel Aviv. At the same time, Beitar signed the Congolese forwards Jeff Tutuana and Mazuwa Nsumbu from Hapoel Haifa to compensate. Then midfielder Tal Banin left the team for Maccabi Netanya.
Then, in August, a bombshell was laid on Israeli football when Russian-born billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak bought the club from cash-strapped owners Meir Fenijel and Meir Levi. Gaydamak promised to revitalize the club but has rapidly been wrapped in a wave of controversy. He angered some Beitar fans when he donated US$400,000 to Bnei Sakhnin in a diplomatic gesture, and when he remarked that Eli Ohana was unfit to be a manager and that his days were numbered. Ohana quit the team on August 10, 2005. Gaydamak earlier announced he would sign an Arab player, a promise he rapidly revoked because of fan opposition.
[edit] "New" Beitar
Under tycoon Gaydamak, the club soon established itself as having the largest budget in the Israeli league. New players were signed such as Jérôme Leroy, Fabrice Fernandes, David Aganzo and the club eventually signed manager Luis Fernández. Beitar finished 3rd in the league and qualified for the UEFA Cup at the end of the 2005-2006 season.
For the 2006-2007 season Beitar signed a new manager Ossie Ardiles and several big-name players as well such as Ghanaian Derek Boateng, Israeli Michael Zandberg from Maccabi Haifa and Shimon Gershon from bitter rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv. Beitar was hoping to finally battle it for the Championship again and revive its "glory days" and indeed, in 2007, the team did win the Championship.
After a few months Ossie Ardiles was fired mainly because of failure in the Uefa cup - a loss to FC Dinamo Bucureşti on aggregate, and disappointing scores in the league. The new manager is Yossi Mizrahi former Beitar goalkeeper and manager. Mizrahi is compensated $270,000 USD per season. Mizrahi led the team to the championship.
[edit] Crest
Since their foundation, the menorah has become a theme that has run throughout the club. The new crest has kept the menorah.
 Mid-1990s crest |
 Late-1980s crest |
[edit] Honours
- Old Liga Leumit/Ligat ha'Al[3] titles: 6
- 1986/87, 1992/93, 1996/97, 1997/98, 2006/07, 2007/08
- State Cup 6
- 1976, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1989, 2008
- Toto Cup 1
- 1997/98
- Israel Champion of Champions Cup 2
- 1976, 1986
- Lilian Cup 1
- 1985
- Mini Football Championship 1
- 1988
- Peace Cup 1
- 2000
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Out on loan
[edit] Foreigners 2008/2009
[edit] In
Dario Fernandez - signed from 
panionios
[edit] Out
- Gal Alberman - signed to
Borussia Mönchengladbach
[edit] Notable former players
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[edit] References
- ^ Griver, Simon (1997-10-1). Betar Jerusalem- A Local Sports Legend Exports Talent to Europe's Top Leagues. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved on 2007-07-05.
- ^ Schmidt, Tal. "אלפי אוהדים באימון הפתיחה של בית"ר", One.co.il, 2006-06-21. Retrieved on 2007-07-05. (Hebrew)
- ^ Up until 1999, the top division of Israeli football was the Liga Leumit; since then, it has been Ligat ha'Al.
[edit] External links
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