Eitan Shalom in Hapoel Rishon LeZion in the 1980s/courtesy of the photographer
"The team was in a training camp. Eli Meduel, our legendary star, called me and informed me that Shlomo Sharaf and the Maccabi Haifa people came to talk to me about moving to Kiryat Eliezer. I met with them, their offer was good along with the promise that I would be a player in the team. They offered a respectable purchase amount and sent me to talk to the leaders of the group and the members of the Hapoalim Council who determined everything. Meduel made it clear to me that I should not miss the transition, it would change my career and my life."
then what?
"The management sent me to Miyhos Levy from the city council, he made it clear to me that only the members of the council can release me. They refused my move. The same was the case with offers from Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Haifa."
are you sorry today
"I was naive, I wasn't a warrior then, I didn't fight enough. Everything comes from the Creator."
Not a man of wars.
Eitan Shalom today/courtesy of the photographer
Eitan Shalom, one of Hapoel Rishon Lezion's greatest footballers, was born in Israel on December 15, 1963. "Mother Mazl and father Yaft immigrated to Israel from Yemen, they had six children, four sons and two daughters. One of the brothers, Karniel Shalom, reached the rank of colonel in the army.
We lived in the Shikon Ha-Mizrah, near the Zirifin base.
I studied in elementary school at the 'Aharon Kron' school and in high school at the 'Amit Amal' school that still exists today."
He grew up in a religious home. "In addition to the normal studies, I was sent to Hidar, to the teacher, so as not to separate the Torah studies.
I went to the synagogue, I was committed to the world of the Torah."
Soccer became a favorite bug. "In those days we did not know about summer camps during the holidays, when leaving the house there was a large soccer field that was the center of the children's life in the neighborhood.
During the big holidays I was there with my friends from six in the morning until dark, on normal days right after school.
I was very talented, had excellent ball control, dribbling and a good pass that gave me confidence later on."
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Yafet Shalom, on the left, with his little son Eitan
He started playing for Hapoel Rishon LeZion.
"First in the children's team with coach David Fahima, a former player in Ness Ziona who shaped me and showed me the way to progress and succeed. Later I was coached by Bnei Shalom, father's brother who was also a former player in the club and accompanied her. I skipped the boys, at the age of 14 and a half Avraham Solarsky Z brought me up "To, for the youth, where we won the Jerusalem Cup, a prestigious tournament at the time."
Here is the place to say that Shalom continued in father Yaft's footsteps. "Father played in the fifties and early sixties, a well-known and beloved player in the city.
I didn't get to see him play, but over the years, many have mentioned his name as one of the best of their era.
It continues to this day with the veterans in the city."
Yaft did not share the moments of success of his son Eitan. "Father passed away 20 years ago, he worked at Assaf Harofeh, and the house had a religious character.
Except for one time, when I went up to Hapoel Rishon LeZion's seniors, he didn't see me play.
Was interested, but didn't really come.
The one who came is my mother Mazal, who passed away three years ago."
In the beautiful days in Rishon Lezion/Maariv, Adi Avishi
Nino Bergig arrived at Rishon Lezion.
"He was a well-known former footballer and a great coach. Nino promoted me and a number of other youth players to seniors, he assigned me to the positions of midfielder and striker on the right side, we went up to the top league in the 1979/80 season together with Hapoel Ramat Gan and Hapoel Jerusalem."
When past players are asked who was the player they admired, they name names from big teams in Israel and around the world.
For peace there is only one like this.
"I loved the Rishon LeZion players like crazy, especially the great goalkeeper Ephraim Weiman, who died.
I would arrive by bus to the central station in the city and from there walk to our nostalgic bin field, stand behind the Weiman goal and bring the balls that were kicked out with love and admiration, as my father would tell about Yaakov Khodorov."
The youth team was invited by Moshe Meiri along with big names like Eli Ohana , Roni Rosenthal, Eyal Baglevter, Yigal Menachem, Yehuda Amar and others. Later, the team went on a trip to San Juan, Costa Rica, with Shmuel Perlman, in the qualifiers for the World Championship, "a tournament in which we missed the qualification with a 0:0 draw against Costa Rica.
Avraham Banduri said at the time that he had never seen control of the ball like mine."
In the top league, Rishon Lezion played on the tin field. "The city was small then and had not yet broken out towards Holon and Bat Yam.
The players were residents of the city, known and loved, the road to the field was closed to cars due to the fans walking on foot, the residents of the city were waiting for the results, it was a great pride to be a footballer in this club."
His first game was at home against Maccabi Tel Aviv. "A field full of fans, we drew 0: 0.
My most memorable game was against Samson Tel Aviv.
We won in a huge display 0:3 with one of my goals.
We finished the season in sixth place, our record in the Premier League, conceding only 18 goals.
We had 32 points and the champion Hapoel Tel Aviv had 38 points."
Football school.
Spiegel/Ariel Shalom
He did his military service in Julis, he was an outstanding athlete without a car ("I woke up at five o'clock in the morning, went to the base on an Egged bus and at 12:00 I was released for football training").
"The team played in the national league, the coach was Uri Weinberg who asked me if I had a driver's license. I said no, it costs money that I don't have. Weinberg replied that if we win in the north, he will make sure I get an arrangement for studying for a license. We won 0:1, we returned to Rishon Lezion, and the association She arranged driving lessons for me with Yoram Junger, a player in the team. I passed the test with Eli Levy, another player who passed. I occasionally got my father's car."
And speaking of stories, there is also one with your future wife.
"I was very well known in the city, I received phone calls at home from a girl who refused to identify herself. She knew details about me and occasionally a friend of hers spoke on my behalf. I guessed who it was, and at an event for the songs of Eretz Yisrael, I met her. Limor Glazer, who served in the Paratroopers' Home in Ramat Gan."
On his 23rd birthday, December 15, 1986, they married.
"Limor gave birth to a daughter, later we had two sons and I have a cute granddaughter. The wedding was very modest, in a synagogue, without soccer players and the crowds of soccer fans, the truth is that the team didn't like it."
You walk around the streets, don't work and get called to talk to Limor's dad?
"Definitely. As is the custom of most footballers, I hung out in cafes, had a year of rest and football training. Limor's father asked me to look for a job to earn a living. Mine and Limor's parents raised the children with great love, but a permanent job was requested."
The road leads to Rishon LeZion Municipality?
"I went to the city hall, to the deputy mayor Yerah Jacobi, who was also the chairman of the club.
I made it clear to him that without a job I am not leaving his office.
I started as a cleaner of the municipality's emergency warehouses, and advanced to the position of personnel manager in the environmental department.
For the past 15 years, I have served as a member of the Rishon LeZion Municipality Council on a voluntary basis, where I derive great pleasure from helping the residents of the city and promoting it." In the upcoming elections, by the way, he will run in the Green Social Movement faction, alongside Yifat Meirovich Yaft: "I believe that I will be privileged to be on the council Another 5 years.
I support the election of the current mayor Raz Kinstlich for another term as mayor."
on the lines
Shalom/Maariv, Adi Avishi
Rishon Lezion, one of the big cities, without a team in the Premier League today.
"The team cannot be a factor in the Premier League without a permanent financial investment of orders of magnitude that the municipality cannot finance. It is possible to fight for promotion, but the decline will be rapid. Today they bring in mercenaries without calculation, the best quickly escape to the greatness, there are no players like Eli Meduel in Rishon Tsion, Nechat Mesobi, Weiman, Benzi Pankas, Eyal Eckstein, actors that every kid in the city wanted to be like."
It is not for nothing that he mentions Eckstein.
"He was, in my opinion, the greatest talent of Israeli football, the closest to the abilities of the great Ronnie Calderon. He had an early agreement with the team and he moved to Hapoel Tel Aviv, until an injury stopped his career as a footballer."
They almost didn't go towards him.
"They were amateurs, to say the least, they paid too little for several months and took my soul and others away. I received a good offer from Maccabi Shaariim. Rishon Lezion did not release me, but I went with Maccabi Shaariim to a training camp in Germany. When I returned, my club sent me away through the association to Shmona games. They ruined the season for themselves and me, we were relegated to League A in the 1984/5 season, an unforgettable wound."
After Hapoel Rishon LeZion he moved to Hapoel Shikon HaMizrah and teams from lower leagues.
"I retired from football at the age of 37. My sons are not involved in the profession.
Will the beautiful days of Rishon return?
Not at the moment/Hello Ariel
After retirement, he became Giora Spiegel's assistant in Rishon Lezion.
"I did a coaching course, and I got to be Spiegel's assistant. What I learned from him in six months, you can't learn during long years of playing. He is a school, Giura teaches football correctly."
Spiegel leaves, you become the coach of the team.
"During the season I coached, I realized that it is impossible to be a fan of the team and its coach. The fans, despite the bad results, did not curse me in any game or bad result. I told myself that it would be better if they brought in another coach in my place. The position of coach was later accepted by my good friend, Ziv Pelagi Z "L".
Your father passed away and before the funeral you were standing on the lines in a league game.
"I checked if I was allowed, father Yeft hasn't been buried yet, my mother and the family told me that father would have wanted me to coach.
I made a decision, I trained on the lines and the funeral was the day after.
I miss my father and mother very much.
For years since I was a child, many people I have met have mentioned and told me about my father as a footballer, but the older generation is dwindling, Rishon Lezion is also no longer the city it used to be, it has exploded and expanded enormously."
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Hapoel Rishon LeZion