There are many, many things that can be said about Tel Aviv, for better or for worse, but even if we as people who live in Israel don't always know how to appreciate it, the very fact that quite a few tourists land here every summer lets us understand how special it is in the world landscape.
If the parties, the bars, the weather, the beach strip and the restaurants are not enough, Tel Aviv sports are also an important layer.
Although Maccabi, Hapoel and Bnei Yehuda make enough noise, this summer the first Hebrew city will be honored with a new football team - MS Dizengoff Tel Aviv.
Dizengoff football club in opening practice,
Unlike quite a few teams that started their journey in League C, dreamed big and faded over time, it seems that the initiative that came up a few months ago is going to draw quite a bit of attention to it.
The first tweet in which she declared the beginning of her career reached 150,000 exposures on Twitter, children in the city have already started forming a fan organization, and the Dizengoff Center shopping mall jumped at the opportunity and joined her as a sponsor.
In terms of base and infrastructure, Dizengoff is going to be very unusual in the landscape of the lower leagues and will set standards that do not fall short of teams in the Premier League.
Cooperation with the Pixellot company, which works with clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and quite a few teams in the US college league, will lead to all the training and games of the team being filmed, and analysts will analyze the data for the professional team which should lead to improvement too week.
Dizengoff football club in opening practice.
Aiming high high, photo: Liron Moldovan
In order to receive public money, an association must obtain a proper management permit that can only be obtained after two years of activity, so the team will currently host its games and practice at the Khodorov complex of Hapoel Tel Aviv, in addition to the "Golball" field at the Tel Aviv University complex.
Dizengoff football club in opening practice, photo: Liron Moldovan
"A group founded by love"
The team's roster was built from a skeleton of players who were in the Premier League in the past, and alongside them you can find players who excelled in the lower leagues and other amateurs, the kind who played with each of us in the neighborhood and left us with the thought in our minds: "Why doesn't he do something with himself?".
Among others, you can find Nir Mansour in the squad, who played in the youth department of Real Madrid and the Israel national team until the age of 19 and belonged to Beitar and Maccabi Haifa during his career. The one appointed as coach is Yossi Canaan, who coached in recent years in the youth departments of Hapoel Petah Tikva and Bnei Yehuda .
Tonight (Tuesday) at the official opening training, it was difficult to hide the excitement of everyone involved in the project.
In terms of group marketing, extensive work was also done.
Ofer Barkan.
The owner and owner of a media company, photo: Liron Moldovan
The club's owner, Ofer Barkan (36), owner of a media company, and the seven board members who cooperate with him, set up a page for the group on every possible social network - Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, LinkedIn, etc.
They released merchandise, engaged the fans on the networks in choosing the team's logo, are working on a docu-series that will accompany the season, and among other things are working on projects to contribute to the community, help disadvantaged populations and integrate boys into the team's activities.
"This is an exciting group," Barkan tells Israel Hayom, "everyone who hears about us says it's an overwhelming idea, we are attentive and receive feedback from the field. Players who were tested by us said they receive better offers elsewhere, but they want to be part of something big." .
And there are also fans, photo: Liron Moldovan
The city has two large clubs and another medium one. How can you attract fans?
"We have a very clear vision. This is a team founded purely out of love for football and love for Tel Aviv, and will give a platform to people who want to see more authentic football.
Obviously we have a long way to go, but we are also enjoying the early years.
Dizengoff football club in opening practice, photo: Liron Moldovan
"TA is a big enough city that we can drag people after us.
Like Bnei Yehuda, which represents the Hatikva neighborhood, we will represent the neighborhoods in the city center.
This will give space to people who are not identified with Maccabi and Hapoel and are interested in watching football.
To say that we will compete head-to-head with Maccabi or Hapoel is presumptuous, but to be a team the size of Bnei Yehuda is a beautiful enough ambition."
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