Moshe Litvak (Hebrew: משה ליטבק) was an Israeli footballer and manager. He is best known for his years at Maccabi Rehovot where he started his managerial career. He also played 6 official matches for the national team between 1949 and 1954.[1]

Moshe Litvak
Personal information
Full name Moshe Mosi Litvak
Date of birth 8 March 1926
Place of birth Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Date of death March 7, 2012(2012-03-07) (aged 85)
Position(s) Forward, Defender
Youth career
1939–40 Maccabi Rehovot
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1940–1942 Fire Brigade Rehovot
1942–1944 Maccabi Rehovot
1944–1945 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1945–1958 Maccabi Rehovot
International career
1949–1954 Israel 6 (0)
Managerial career
1955–1958 Maccabi Rehovot
1958–1960 Hapoel Rehovot
1960–1961 Shimshon Tel Aviv
1961–1962 Hakoah Tel Aviv
1962–1963 Hakoah Maccabi Ramat Gan
1963–1964 Hapoel Ramla
1964–1965 Hapoel Hadera
1965–1966 Hapoel Ramat Gan
1966–1968 Hapoel Kiryat Ono
1968–1969 Hapoel Lod
1969 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
1969–1970 Hapoel Jerusalem
1970–1972 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
1972–1973 Hapoel Marmorek
1973–1974 Maccabi Petah Tikva
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Litvak was born in Rehovot and started playing football with Maccabi Rehovot as a youth. After appearing with Fire Brigade Rehovot in Liga Bet at the age of 14,[2] Litvak returned to Maccabi Rehovot, with whom he played, with an exception of one season, until 1958. In 1955, Litvak took over coaching the team and served as player-manager for the next three years, quitting active play in summer 1958.[3] Between 1949 and 1954, Litvak played in 6 official matches for the football team, mostly playing as defender.[2] Litvak played in the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns and took part in the national team's tour of South Africa, during which the national team played one official match against the host and 10 further matches in South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Mozambique.[4]

Coaching career

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Litvak started coaching in 1955, serving as a player-manager Maccabi Rehovot. The club dropped to Liga Alef at the end of the 1955–56 season, and Litvak led the team to a second-place finish at the end of the season, which would have been enough to see the club bounce back to the top division. However, due to suspicions of match-fixing during the season, an IFA committee decided to hold a promotion play-off between the top five clubs at the end of the season.[5] Maccabi Rehovot finished fifth in the play-off and remained in Liga Alef.

After leaving Maccabi Rehovot in summer 1958, Litvak coached a string of teams in Liga Leumit, Liga Alef and Liga Bet, winning Liga Alef with Hakoah Tel Aviv in 1961–62[6] and Hapoel Be'er Sheva in 1970–71.[7] Litvak's last post as head coach was in Maccabi Petah Tikva, from which he resigned in mid-season.[8]

Personal life

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Litvak worked in Bank Leumi, progressing to management position before retiring due to old age.[9] Litvak's son, Muli Litvak, is the owner of Coolvision, which operates several websites, among them ImLive.com.[10]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ Litvak Moshe Archived 2016-04-02 at the Wayback Machine IFA (in Hebrew)
  2. ^ a b "Instead of Honeymoon – Two Goals" (PDF). Hadshot HaSport. 1 (42): 6. 27 February 1955. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  3. ^ Litvak: The Coach Is Always to Blame[permanent dead link] Ma'ariv, 10 August 1958, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  4. ^ Photographic Memory Asher Goldberg, HaAretz, 14 July 2002 (in Hebrew)
  5. ^ The Ball Had Been Returned to the Footballers[permanent dead link] Uri Dan, Ma'ariv, 9 July 1957, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  6. ^ Hakoah T.A.'s Exodus[permanent dead link] Ma'ariv, 22 April 1962, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  7. ^ In the Negev They Are Sure: The 'Black' Days of Hapoel Be'er Sheva Will Not Return[permanent dead link] Momi (Weisel) HaNegbi, 20 June 1971, Davar, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  8. ^ Ze'ev Seltzer Is Between the Candidates to Coach Maccabi P.T., Replacing the Resigning Litvak[permanent dead link] Ma'ariv, 15 January 1974, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  9. ^ The Gay Pensioners – Litvak Moshe (Mosi) 23 December 2009, Walla! (in Hebrew)
  10. ^ Israeli Art Patron Operates Major Porn Chat Site, TV News Show Reports Jasmin Gueta, 16 January 2014, HaAretz