FOOTY FAIR

Weekend Recap - Tel Aviv Derby Gets Wild, Referee Abandons Match

2014-11-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

The Tel Aviv Derby is always a heated affair and creates for both a tense and exciting day in the calendar of the Israeli Premier League. This season's first league meeting between the two on Monday eve at Bloomfield Stadium created a few more sparks than usual, the conclusion of which was the abandonment of the match before the teams even managed to play a full half.

Eran Zahavi (left) was attacked by an Hapoel Tel Aviv supporter

At around the 32nd minute of the first half an Hapoel Tel Aviv supporter ran onto the pitch and attacked Maccabi footballer Eran Zahavi. Zahavi who had previously played for the red outfit of this bitter rivalry scored from the spots moments earlier to draw the match level at 1-1 and seemed to taunt the Hapoel supporters in celebration of his goal. One shirtless fan was not too pleased and decided to show his displeasure by attacking Zahavi, which seemed to be too easy to do as the security did not take him away before he had enough time to attempt two kicks at the Maccabi player.

Hapoel Tel Aviv was Zahavi's first professional club

To the surprise of many, Zahavi was sent off for trying to protect himself and that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back, as Maccabi Tel Aviv Director of Sports and former Manchester United and Barcelona player Jordi Cruyff seemed to encourage his club to leave the field of play in protest. When Hapoel Manager and former West Ham, Celtic, Manchester City as well as Maccabi Tel Aviv footballer Eyal Berkovic was trying to convince Cruyff to keep his squad on the pitch all hell broke loose.

Supporters from both ends of the rivalry spilled onto the pitch, attacking players and police officers. One officer seemed to have been assaulted by a fan as he fell to the ground. Both teams left the pitch and the match was officially abandoned.

Eran Zahavi spent two seasons with Palermo in Italy before joining Maccabi Tel Aviv to the dismay of Hapoel supporters

Eyal Berkovic was later quoted saying "This was not a game of football, it was war... I'm stunned and ashamed to be involved in football on a day like today. Both clubs and both sets of supporters must be severely punished for what happened here".

It is not yet clear whether either of the clubs will be punished and what will be the faith of this particular match.

5 Matches to Watch This Weekend

2014-10-31T16:00:00.000-04:00

Really fascinating matches are scheduled for this coming weekend around Europe. This week, we suggest action from England, Russia, Italy, Israel and Germany, with three of the five matches being local derbies.

Hapoel Tel Aviv vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv (Monday, Nov 3)

A month shy of its 83rd anniversary, the Tel Aviv derby kicks-off this Monday at Bloomfield Stadium. Whether you follow the Israeli league or not, this fixture is always a colorful and heated affair. Maccabi are the defending champions in Israel and are currently sitting in 2nd place in the table. The Israeli 'Red Devils' Hapoel have struggled to begin the season but still sit in 5th with the derby being a good opportunity to catch up to their arch rivals. Officially Hapoel are the home team for this match-up, although the two share a stadium.

CSKA Moscow vs. Zenit St. Petersburg (Saturday, Nov 1)

It doesn't matter which league the match is from, any time first place meets second the fixture promises to be electric. Such is the case in this Russian Premier League meeting between capital city hosts CSKA Moscow who sit in second place, four points behind their visitors Zenit from St. Petersburg. André Villas-Boas' side Zenit bring with them the two league scoring leaders to Moscow, those in the form of 25 year old Venezuelan striker José Salomón Rondón and the Brazilian big man Hulk, both having scored 7 goals so far this year. But CSKA have their own weapons up front with newly aquired Israeli international midfielder Bibras Natkho also having scored 7, although 5 were from the spot.

Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund (Saturday, Nov 1)

Perhaps this year a meeting between Bayern and Borussia will not entice the viewership it usually does due to the fact that the yellow and blacks from Dortmund are in bad shape and find themselves just 1 point clear of the relegation zone in 15th place after 9 matches. Bayern on the other hand is doing as well as always and are 4 points clear of second place Borussia Monchengladbach at the summit of the Bundesliga. Nonetheless, the meetings between these two are always entertaining, and if Jürgen Klopp's side were to find their feet at any point this season this would be a perfect fixture to do so.

Besiktas vs. Fenerbahce (Sunday, Nov 2)

It has been 90 years since these two clubs from Istanbul met each other on the pitch for the very first time, and the two will renew an ongoing bitter rivalry this weekend once more. With over 300 meetings between the two, the derby between Besiktas and Fenerbahce rarely disappoints and this year may be that much more entertaining. The Black Eagles of Besiktas are sitting atop the league table in Turkey, with The Canaries in 4th but just one point back. Besiktas' home, the Atatürk Olympic Stadium will be buzzing this weekend, with fan clashes and some good quality hard-fought football bound to be on display.

Manchester City vs. Manchester United (Sunday, Nov 2)

A match-up United supporters may have anticipated eagerly in the past two decades may not be so exciting to see for The Red Devils on the schedule any longer, as United struggles for a second straight season to find themselves in a top 6 position in the league. Manchester City has had a rough week or so themselves however, with league losses to the high-flying West Ham United and a league cup embarrassment at the hands of Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium. With United doing a bit better in recent weeks, most notably the draw against Chelsea in which United have showed some very good football, Van Gaal's men will surely look at the 133 year old Manchester derby as a great opportunity to turn their fortunes around, while City will also look to bounce back after two straight losses.

Tel Aviv Derby - Football Rivalries - Hapoel vs Maccabi

2014-07-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

It may seem "small-time" to football enthusiasts outside of Israel, but the Tel-Aviv derby between Hapoel and Maccabi is a very heated one, and one I have attended in the past.

Maccabi Tel Aviv is the most successful domestic side in Israel with 20 league titles won in the club's history, while Hapoel is not too far behind with 13 of their own. The rivalry between the two sides dates back to the 1930's when the two sides met for the first time in league play in 1931.

Maccabi, a name associated more with the middle-class status compared to "Hapoel", a worker class distinction for the Israeli population with the word "hapoel" meaning "worker", having more of a blue-collar supporter base.

Overall Maccabi has enjoyed a bit more success both in league titles and meetings between the two associations. And while the rivalry stretches further than just football, in basketball Maccabi has been in the elite of Israel's league and European competition, Hapoel is known best for its football program and its incredible European run in the 2001-01 UEFA Cup season in which they managed to defeat Lokomotiv Moscow, Chelsea and Parma, before losing in the quarter-finals to AC Milan in a close margin 2-1 on aggregate.

Supporter clashes between the two clubs are not uncommon. Fans of the two sides often engage in disputes inside and outside of the stadium both on match-days and otherwise.

Hapoel Tel-Aviv's home ground is the 14,000+ Bloomfield Stadium, which the "Red Devils" of Israel have occupied as their home since 1962. And while Maccabi has played their home matches in that same field earlier in their club's history, they had a ground of their own for a few decades. But in 2000 it was decided that Maccabi Tel-Aviv would return to Bloomfield stadium and have it as their home-field venue; a decision that likely sparked an even higher degree of hate between the two rival clubs.

When the derby takes place in Bloomfield, sections 4 and 5 are occupied by the Hapoel Ultras, while on the opposite side sections 10 and 11 are reserved for the Maccabi fans.

Some notable figures in the derby include: Ghanaian footballer John Paintsil who has played for both clubs and waved an Israeli flag after scoring a goal during the 2006 World Cup, Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama who has also played for both clubs but spent 4 years with Hapoel, compared to the one loan season with their rivals, Welsh international striker who had spent time with Maccabi and of course former Chelsea FC manager Avram Grant who had coached Maccabi on two occasions. The son of Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, Jordi, is currently the sporting director at Maccabi Tel-Aviv.