Last week, 34-year-old Dan Murray decided to hang up his shoes and retire from football.
One of the best defenders who grew up in Israel in the last generation, who is identified above all with Bnei Yehuda, and also played for Beitar Jerusalem, and the Dutch Witsa Arnhem, decided that around the year 2023 he wants to embark on a new path in his life and start building himself outside of the grass he has played on as long as he can remember Himself.
Unlike players who reach this difficult moment as part of a gradual and exciting process, the last year Murray played was perhaps the hardest of his career.
Bnei Yehuda did not find itself in Laomit, and when he finished his contract last summer, his youth team did not hesitate to keep him.
The coach that arrived, Uri Gutman, (who had already left) showed him the way out, and the new owner Moshe Demayo didn't fight to keep him either, after helping him get two salaries that he demanded from Barak Abramov.
How much did the last year you played affect the decision to retire?
"It had a lot of influence. It got to the point where I came to training and said to myself, 'This is not the football I remember, this is not how training should look, this is not how professionalism should look, and it is not the club I grew up in,' so yes it contributed to the decision. You put the scales and see how much it is worth To continue playing and a little less and I came to the decision to hang up the shoes."
Are you angry about the way Barak Abramov abandoned Bnei Yehuda and moved to Beitar? Are you worried about the club's future?
"I'm not angry. I think that another owner who has more passion and more desire to restore the club will be more effective for Bnei Yehuda, especially after all the upheavals that Barak went through with the crowd. And of course I'm very worried. You can't detach yourself from the eyes and what you see. Second, I have hope that Moshe Damaio will bring the team back to the front of the stage."
Murray
"You can't detach what you see", photo: Alan Shiver
It seems that no one cares about Bnei Yehuda anymore. The fans have already given up.
"A situation has arisen in which the word that really reflects the situation is apathy. If once Bnei Yehuda was relegated and people would hold their heads for a week, or it would go up a league and people would say 'thank you,' today there really is apathy. Bnei Yehuda needs to go back to its roots because a lot of mistakes were made. There are Four players - Assi Beldot, Itzik Azuz, Ehud Ben Tovim and myself, who finished in a bad way and that's the responsibility of the club. He who has no past has no future and Bnei Yehuda needs to understand who she is, what kind of football she should play and as soon as they return to the base - everything will flow."
Didn't you have any suggestions to keep you going?
"There were unattractive offers and you are already at the end of your career. I realized that these offers will not advance me and I will not get rich and I will not get experiences from football that I have not seen, and you already prefer to retire at the age of 34 when you have strength. I did not want to stay to say that I am a football player."
Celebrating with Bnei Yehuda winning the cup in 2019, photo: Alan Shiver
"I could also play in England"
Murray often seemed to be particularly harsh and angry during games, not only to his opponents, but also to his teammates.
He shouted, raged and never hid his feelings and was not ready to compromise even in front of young players who saw him as a role model.
If in other cases players wait to make closure at the end of their careers, Murray has already done the math in real time and now he explains the difference between the character on the field and off it.
"The pulse of the game is different and things take over you. In the game I was all in the game. If things didn't go well it would affect me and if things did go I behaved accordingly. I am very much a winner and want to win and for me there were games even at 0:4 I wanted to continue to be focused In life I'm calmer, quiet sounds much more intelligent. On the court I was a beast of prey. I made mistakes and if I hurt someone I always knew to come and apologize. I have my character for better or for worse. Sometimes when we have a hard time, that's what brings us back to the ground. People knew how to get along with character Mine. I didn't try to whitewash. If someone comes and says 'you hurt me' I won't act surprised, but I always saw the good of the team and my friends."
Do you feel missed? Could you go further?
"I really think we are lucky that we could play football as a profession and if you ask players everyone knows that it takes a bit of luck to go from youth to adults and for someone to believe in you. In a certain constellation I could have been in low resolutions in the second division and I would have stepped away, and I also could have been in the English league if things were Things are going better in Vitsa. I'm happy about the things I've achieved. I'm not one of those who beat on sin, but I'm happy about what happened and lived the reality, not in 'I think' and 'if', so in general I'm very happy and proud of my career. I also see the It's now in retirement in the responses I received that they don't see me as another player."
Murray
Saying thanks for what there is, photo: Marko
How did the time in Holland affect you as an actor and as a person?
"She contributed a lot to me. You actually learn football there. First of all, before victories and results, they teach you the basics. I saw what it's like to play there compared to here. You talk to professionals and what they think and there is a process that takes years and they are very patient. The man I traveled with is not the same One who came back. I grew up, got an education, went through a lot of things alone, without a family, without a partner, and I understood firsthand what it is to deal with."
Do you have plans for the future?
"I want to enter the capital market. This is what I studied in my first degree and now I am studying a master's degree in information systems. Of course I would like to stay in the world of football - whether it is commentary, professional management or CEO.
I don't think I'm suitable for training and I believe that in the coming years I will find a way to stay in the sport.
I have something to give in this world."
Murray
He got to play with Wilfred Boni, photo: Marco
Quick questionnaire:
Best player you played with?
Wilfred Bonney
The striker that was the hardest for you to stop?
Itay Schechter at his peak.
Happiest career moment?
The trophy and the signing abroad
The hard moment?
retirement
The coach who influenced you the most?
Asaf Schwartz in second grade boys
Bnei Yehuda for me is:
home
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