Tomer Eliyahu ( he, תומר אליהו; born 25 February 1975) is a retired

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. Known as a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

, Eliyahu played more than 350 matches in thirteen seasons in Israel's Ligat ha'Al filling in as both a defender and a midfielder.

Biography

Early life

Eliyahu started playing football at age 7 with Hapoel Tel Aviv. He was brought up to Hapoel's first team by then manager,

Moshe Sinai Moshe Sinai ( he, משה סיני; born 22 February 1961) is a former professional footballer who works as the director of football for Hapoel Tel Aviv. Honours Hapoel Tel Aviv *Liga Leumit: 1980–81, 1985–86, 1987–88 *Israel State Cup: ...

Professional career

After the 2001/02 season, Eliyahu signed a two-year contract worth

US $ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

110,000 per season.

Bnei Sakhnin

After Ironi Rishon LeZion was relegated to the

Liga Leumit Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

, Eliyahu signed a contract with

Bnei Sakhnin Bnei Sakhnin F.C. ( ar, اتحاد أبناء سخنين, he, איחוד בני סכנין, ''Ihud Bnei Sakhnin''; ''Ittihad Abna Sakhnin'', ) is an Israeli football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful clu ...

. During the 2004/05 season, a small fight broke out after a 2-0 loss to Hapoel Tel Aviv. In the ensuing violence, the referee, Assaf Keinan was attacked and a police officer was stabbed. In an interview after the incident, Eliyahu became extremely vocal about an underlying anti-semitism toward Bnei Sakhnin by referees as the team was an Arab team. Eliyahu said that he had not experienced such disdain from match officials at any of his previous clubs. After two seasons with Bnei Sakhnin, Eliyahu attracted interest from

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jerus ...

but opted to sign with Hapoel Acre of the Liga Leumit.

Hakoah Amidar/Ramat Gan

After one full season in Ramat Gan, Eliyahu was forced to retire due to back problems.

Honours

With Bnei Sakhnin

State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in Israel, Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first he ...

: 2003/04

With Hapoel Acre

* Toto Cup (Leumit): 2005/06

With Hakoah Maccabi Amidar/Ramat Gan

: 2007/08

Statistics

References

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eliyahu, Tomer 1975 births Living people Israeli Jews Israeli footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C. players Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. players Bnei Sakhnin F.C. players Hapoel Acre F.C. players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Hakoah Maccabi Amidar Ramat Gan F.C. players Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Footballers from Bat Yam