Bunker in the lineup. Noah Einstein/courtesy of the photographer
"During the Yom Kippur War, I served in the Suez Canal in Major General Aden's 500th Brigade. The league games resumed after a break, and Hapoel Kfar Saba played against Maccabi Haifa on the field in Kfar Bloom. I called Shlomo Sharaf from the canal, asking if I should go to the game. Sharaf told me to go to Kibbutz Goshurim, where the team was staying I left on top of a truck, a journey of over 13 hours to Gosher, and I started the team. The field in Kfar Blum was full of soldiers, we beat Maccabi Haifa 2:3 when I scored two goals for Israel Fogel. Maccabi Haifa was relegated to the second league that season. For the team games I would arrive after the Kippur War in planes from Bir Tameda, we evacuated damaged tanks from China. The training was in the squadron with the guys."
Noah Einstein was born in Israel on November 24, 1952. "Mother Judith and father Shmuel were born in Warsaw. During World War II they fled from Poland to Russia, where they were arrested. In Russia, their little son died of malaria. They were released and moved to Uzbekistan, at the end of the war they moved to Vienna. They had tickets to sail to America, but mother pressed and father agreed that instead of America we should sail to the State of Israel. I have an older brother than me, Aharon."
Soul player. From Noah Einstein's private album/courtesy of the photographs
He attended elementary school in Brenner and high school in Ort Kfar Saba majoring in electrical engineering. The game of football attracted him. "My brother Aharon was a soccer player in Hapoel Kfar Saba, he excelled in the youth team and made it all the way to the seniors, where he was stopped by the army. I followed him and my love for soccer has been limitless since I can remember. We lived right next to the wall of our first old soccer field. I hardly missed a game Or coaching the youth and senior teams.
"In the early 1960s, Lunia Devorin coached Kfar Saba. He saw my love for the team and already at the age of 10 I would come to training sessions, bring the balls from behind the goal and also help the keeper with all the keeper's work."
Who were your childhood idols?
"Names that every child in Kfar Saba knew and admired like the giant midfielder Michael Vidra who was ahead of his time, Israel Birnbaum , goalkeeper Yair Nosovsky and a wonderful midfielder named Retz."
His first coach in the children's team was Shia Glazer. "The great Shia came after Maccabi Tel Aviv to play for Hapoel Kfar Saba and at the same time coached the children's team. He was a legend and we adored him. Just to see him, fans came to the children's training, where he first taught us to kick accurately to the wall behind the goal. From time to time he was replaced by Shlomo Sharaf."
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Everyone adored him. Yair Nosovsky/Alan Shiver and courtesy of the photographer
In his youth he played as a midfielder. "The senior team had a practice match against Hapoel Yehud, to which several players did not show up. Coach Rehavia Rosenbaum called several players from the youth, I was assigned as a left back and after the game he promoted me to the senior team, to this position."
In 1968/9, Kfar Saba returned to the top league after many years in the national league. "We played against Ramat Gan at home. Miss Cohen, the regular defender, was moved to the right defender position, I to the left defender and that's where it was fixed. I didn't leave the team for more than 500 games."
In the military service he was stationed in Gush Etzion at the vehicle engineering base. "The person in charge of the vehicle was Yisrael Slutsky, a Kfar Saba fan, who arranged for me a vacation every week from Thursday to Sunday morning for football. I was later sent to a course in Tzirifin and became a tank electrician. I continued in the permanent army for another 8 years, but then the army decided to remove footballers from permanent service. They decided that if I wanted to To continue, I should not be involved in football. I was a senior sergeant, I left the place I loved, moved to work for income tax and today I am self-employed in an accounting firm."
A book about Boma Weinberg and his tank.
"During the Yom Kippur War, at the beginning of the battles in Sinai, the gatekeeper came to me Boma Weinberg with his tank for me to fix. The tank was repaired, Boma went to the battles in Sinai. I looked at him, I knew there was a chance he wouldn't come back. Weinberg was indeed injured in the war, recovered after a long time and returned to football."
He met his wife Aliza while serving in the army, and they have been together ever since: "We have a daughter, Mittal, and two sons, Nir and Dror, who went to soccer and were good players, but left due to being drafted into the IDF."
In 1974/5 he won the first title - the State Cup. "In the quarterfinals, Hapoel Jerusalem beat us 1:3 and could have scored five more goals as well. We came to the return match in Katamon, we had a cohesive team that played open. The Jerusalem players came from the Dead Sea, they were tanned. We won 0:2 when Beitar Jerusalem fans came at halftime to cheer us on. The game was decided by kicks from 11 meters, I kicked the last penalty to goalkeeper Haim Levin, a bomb to the left side. In the semi-finals we beat Hapoel Tel Aviv on penalties and in the final we met Beitar Jerusalem."
The game was at Bloomfield Stadium. "We won 1:3. From Jaffa we went to our field in Kfar Saba, where there was a dance celebration around the trophy. Mayor Geller invited us to a luxurious dinner in Shafiim."
In June 1980 he celebrated another trophy. "We defeated Maccabi Ramat Amidar 1:4 in the final in Ramat Gan. We were better, the brakeman Yitzhak Naaman scored first, Eli Yani and a pair of Fogel closed the deal. It was less exciting than the previous cup."
The hardest against him. Gideon Damati/Maariv, Reuven Castro
In 1981/2 came the historic championship, the only one in the history of the club. "Last season we miraculously stayed in the league, Dror Kashtan came to the position of coach, there was a cohesive and good team that fought against the wonderful Maccabi Netanya. Netanya defeated us 2:5, but before the end they stumbled with a draw, the decision moved to the last round, when one point was enough for us to celebrate the championship" .
Much has been said about the draw against Samson Tel Aviv in Makhtes. Einstein provides his version. "The referee in the game was Menachem Ashkenazi. Before the opening whistle he told the teams, 'There will be a celebration here at the end of the game, do whatever you want.'
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, a match managed by Moshe Ashkenazi, Menachem's brother. 0:0 at the end, we are champions and the match ball was collected by referee Ashkenazi as a souvenir."
. They treated us as if we were relegated, not with the proper professionalism. We dropped from the champion position, to the last place in the table. A season later, with Amnon Raz, we returned to the top league along with Hapoel Haifa and Hapoel Petah Tikva."
Promoted Maccabi Herzliya to a league. Einstein/Maariv, Moti Kimchi
Who was the striker against whom you had the hardest time?
"There is no doubt that against Gidi I looked like Shamshon - a huge, fast, cunning striker with tremendous dribbling ability. I was never passed on the line dribbling, I committed a maximum of fouls. I knew every player and prepared to play against him, I knew, for example, that Gili Landau plays with contact lenses. Except One removal from the field with a red card, I didn't give up any game, I had the strength to bear the pain. When I saw the lineup on the board and I'm on the starting list as usual, the pain disappeared."
He was in the team for five years. "I have 13 appearances. The game I remember most was under the English coach Jack Mansell, in December 1980 in the World Cup qualifiers in Lisbon against the Portugal team. 70 thousand spectators in the stands, it seemed to us players that the field was shaking. We lost 0:3, and I say in the wording of Once - the exiles that Yossi Mizrahi endured did not come from my side."
He played the day after his mother Yehudit passed away. "The late mother Judith was very ill. She was hospitalized. In all my visits to her she saw my pain. Mother demanded that I go play soccer, the same on the last visit. The funeral was planned for Sunday, on Saturday I played against Maccabi Netanya. We beat Netanya 1:2, everyone was happy and celebrated, I burst into tears, I knew she wanted me to play."
He was sent from the labor camp to Kfar Saba, and this wound had not yet healed. "Shimon Shanhar came to the position of coach, he was inexplicably afraid that I would row under him, no He had the courage to tell me. He turned to chairman Moishik Avivi. I explained to Avivi that they were making a mistake, but the management went with the coach and gave up on me. They knew me throughout the years. My plans were to retire from Hapoel Kfar Saba and continue coaching positions at the club. The pain was enormous."
He moved to Maccabi Herzliya. "We went up from League A, up to the top league, we received tremendous support from the late mayor Eli Landau, who promised that the new stadium would be filled with fans and the club would be in the first league during his time."
"I understand him, it's his money." Yitzhak Shum/Danny Maron
At the age of 41, Einstein retired. "I felt that my body was signaling me to stop playing active professional football. Later on, I coached for 20 years at Beit HaLohm in the Leket Leg circle. We won 12 championships in the league for workplaces."
He went on to a coaching career. "I started coaching graduates at Maccabi Herzliya, I was Eli Cohen Sherif's assistant, we moved up to the top league. After Herzliya, I coached the youth of Hapoel Kfar Saba, I had 6 players in the youth teams. Later, Hapoel Kfar Saba was relegated, I was together with Eli Yani in training and we went back up to the top league. Then the late Avi Cohen came to Hapoel Kfar Saba and together we coached the team."
Why did you quit?
"I don't see myself traveling to games across the country from Beer Sheva to Kiryat Shmona, I don't live from football. I trained for a large number of years in Beit HaLochem. Today I don't do anything related to football."
Financially, did football help?
"I mean - in today's Premier League, we would buy a nice house for a season and a half's salary. Today I am financially very well settled, I have a very nice house and everything is excellent."
You have a lot to say about the current Hapoel Kfar Saba.
"I have not been going to Hapoel Kfar Saba games for many years, a club that does not respect the veteran players. This is not my team and club that I knew - the legacy is gone. This is Yitzhak Shum's team today, I understand him, it's his money."
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