Hapoel Speaks: The Story of Avi Azulay
- Joseph Press IV
- Feb 9
- 9 min read
In 1970s America the renowned sociologist and activist Harry Edwards once estimated that roughly 3,000,000 African-American youths planned to be professional athletes in adulthood. For some it was a dream, for others, a goal. Alas, regardless of the perceived seriousness of the desire to be a pro ball player, the journey for most ended in the exact same way - failure. Indeed, as one might imagine, the chances of some kid from Texas making it to the NFL are slim - so slim, in fact, that Edwards thought the odds were worse than 20,000 to 1.
Of course, the dream to be a professional athlete is not unique to African-American communities, nor is it confined within the United States of America. Indeed, around the world, young boys and girls aspire to be like the great heroes of sport they watch on TV. In Lithuania, for example, those heroes typically play basketball. In India and Pakistan, cricket is the likely sport of choice; in Israel, the national imagination is captivated by football.
Every day, thousands of children fill the streets of cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa, kicking footballs back and forth, honing their skills and plying their trade - dreaming of donning the shirt of their favorite club in the Israeli Premier League. Just like American youths hoping to make it in the NBA, the odds of making it as a professional in Ligat Ha’al are terribly low. Indeed, only the truly exceptional players are capable of rising above the morass of their peers to forge a career as a professional footballer. Fortunately, for the thousands of Hapoel Tel Aviv faithful in Israel and abroad, one such athlete was Avi Azulay.
Avi was born on January 3, 1974 in Bat Yam - a satellite city just south of Tel Aviv - to Michelle and Fanni Azulay, both of whom served in the Israeli Air Force for several decades. The Azulay family was tight-knit, with the parents providing the perfect balance of affection and discipline to Avi and his 3 siblings growing up. His mother Fanni gave them love and warmth, while Michelle, Avi’s father, instilled precision and perseverance in the children. In truth, Fanni and Michelle were both doting parents who made sure their kids never wanted for anything. “When I asked my mother for something,” said Avi, “...it was always ‘yes, yes, yes’; and when I asked my father it was ‘no, no, no…yes’.”
The support that Fanni and Michelle provided Avi and the confidence they instilled in him to follow his dreams, were crucial for his development as a footballer and as a person. Throughout both his youth and professional careers, he often leaned on the lessons taught to him by his parents to quiet self-doubt and to overcome pressure. And the altruistic spirit he inherited from them - the propensity to put others before himself - eventually made him a favorite among Hapoel supporters. Indeed, whenever the opportunity presented itself during his professional career to bring joy to the lives of fans off the pitch, he was always quick to oblige. If, for example, he was asked to surprise a young fan at their Bar Mitzvah or visit a sick fan in the hospital - the answer was always “yes”.
Despite being situated on the Mediterranean coast, home to several beaches, Bat Yam is a city of football. And so, like most of his peers, Avi was practically born with a football at his feet. His aptitude and talent for the game was always apparent - at the tender age of 7, he tried out for Hapoel Tel Aviv’s youth team on the suggestion of a family friend and made the cut. That was the beginning of his lifelong love affair with Hapoel, and his dream of becoming a professional footballer.
While joining the youth team of one of the biggest football clubs in Israel is certainly a noteworthy accomplishment, it does not guarantee a career in the sport. In fact, most youth players never make a single appearance in the Israeli Premier League, let alone with the club that they started their careers at. But Avi was different: “From a very young age, I was always the captain of the groups, I was always on the national team, and I saw where this was heading.” His leadership qualities made him an invaluable part of every team he played on throughout his youth career. Indeed, he seemed to always strike the right chord at the right moment - if his teammates needed to be fired up and spurred to greater heights, he could be a charismatic field general; and if they needed a calming presence on the pitch, he could lead by example with his exceptional composure under pressure. Bolstered by the immediate success he experienced as a competitive footballer, Avi recognized early on that his dream of playing the game he loved professionally could become reality. But that reality would not come without hard work, dedication, consistency, and perseverance - the same perseverance that his father instilled in him as a child.
When the time came for Avi to make his debut with Hapoel Tel Aviv’s first team, it was the culmination of a long and arduous journey that led to an opportunity he seized with both hands. “First of all, this (making the first team) is something that gets cooked - it does not happen overnight. You start by being able to practice and train with the adults. And the moment you are given that chance, it is up to you to grab on to it. It does not happen right away.” Avi’s “chance”, as it were, came in the form of a Tel Aviv Derby against one of Hapoel’s most hated rivals: Maccabi Tel Aviv. It was the result of his work ethic, resolve, and consistency - from his strong play with the Hapoel Tel Aviv youth teams, to his successful year on loan during the 1992/93 season at Hapoel Bat Yam.
The crowd in Bloomfield Stadium on the fateful day of Avi’s debut was raucous, and the energy was palpable. In Israel, there are few sporting events with the atmosphere of games between Hapoel and Maccabi - the intensity created by the fans in the stands and the players on the pitch is immense, and the pressure on the athletes is otherworldly. Indeed, the weight of the expectation to perform and the desire to win is enough to affect the most seasoned of veterans, let alone an 18 year old making his first professional start with his childhood club. And so, when Avi got the call to play in the quarterfinals of the Toto Cup Leumit - the third most prestigious football competition in Israel - he was fully aware of the magnitude of the occasion. “On derby day, before the game, both our head coach and lead assistant called me to the dressing room and they told me ‘you’re going to be in the starting 11 today’. This is something that had never happened before! And I’ll never forget that, for at least 30 seconds afterwards, my legs literally shook and my knees knocked!”
At that moment, Avi’s coaches might have been forgiven for thinking he would struggle to perform under the circumstances. But, as was the case throughout his entire football career, there was no occasion too big for Avi Azulay. Once he stepped foot on the pitch and made his first tackle, he composed himself quickly and played an excellent game. In fact his performance was so exceptional that, even in defeat, he was named man of the match for being the most outstanding player on the day. It was an almost perfect start to what was to be a storied career with Hapoel.
While Avi’s composure and poise allowed him to hit the ground running with Hapoel’s first team, the transition from the youth program to the pros was not without challenges. In the 90s, it was custom for young players in their debut season with the first team to dress outside of the locker room - isolated from the veterans. Oftentimes, players in the first team could be quite cold towards newly promoted youth players - seeing them not as teammates, but as competition trying to take their spot in the squad, and thus, their livelihood. But Hapoel was different. While youth players at other clubs were shunned by their older peers, the veterans at Hapoel were eager to serve as mentors to the teenagers trying to find their place on the first team. And so, when Avi was encountering the challenges that come with the territory of being an 18 year old in a man’s league, he was supported by players like Eli Cohen and Moshe Sinai - Hapoel legends who are among the greatest Israeli footballers of all time.
Moshe was especially influential on young Avi’s game. They played together for a couple of seasons at the end of Moshe's career, at which point he transitioned to the role of head coach. Many talented footballers struggle as coaches because they cannot teach the nuances of the game that come naturally to them. Fortunately for Avi this was not the case with Moshe, who was, by all accounts, a phenomenal teacher. And, under Moshe’s tutelage, Avi developed into a formidable midfielder for Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Avi’s strengths as a player were his physicality, work rate, football IQ, and composure. He was not particularly big, standing only 173 cm tall, nor was he the fastest - but his fighting spirit, intensity, and sense of the game made him a constant fixture in Hapoel’s starting 11 during his 7 years of service for the club. His style was not flashy, and he often eschewed the spectacular play for a simple pass. But, as the late great Dutch footballer and coach Johan Cruyff once said: “Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.” Avi Azulay was a master of “simple football.” - and his simple but incredibly effective approach to the game was integral to dozens of Hapoel victories during the 1990s.
While every pro athlete’s career is marked by highs and lows, peaks and valleys, Avi’s years at Hapoel were among the best of his entire life. He loved the camaraderie of his teammates, his relationship with the fans, and the competition on the pitch. He relished the biggest moments on the biggest stages - the rivalries against Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv, the UEFA cup qualification games against Europe’s finest, and the latter stages of the Israeli State Cup. Indeed, for Avi, the higher the stakes, the better he seemed to play. And he saved his best games for the days on which his team needed him most - like the 1991/92 Israeli Cup Round of 16 against Bnei Yehuda when he scored the only goal of the tie, punching Hapoel’s ticket into the quarterfinals of one of Israel’s oldest and most prestigious football competitions.
The margins between starting for a professional club and being stuck on the bench are quite thin. Players, regardless of past success, are always being replaced by a new transfer or a recent call-up from the youth team. Avi’s 143 appearances with the club across 7 years are a testament to the remarkable perseverance that he inherited from his father. Indeed, despite the early success Avi experienced at Hapoel, he remained grounded, humble, hard-working, and composed through it all - never allowing his level to drop or the edge that he played with to dull.
Unfortunately, the flame of football eventually dies for all players. Every journey, no matter how great, has its end. And, for Avi, the end came after the 1998/99 season when he was told by Hapoel’s management that they were going to move on from him. It was a tough message to take - that the only club he had known for his entire life, since the age of 7, no longer needed him. And, while his professional football career continued for a couple of years after Hapoel, it was not easy to come to terms with the end of his time at his childhood club: “After I left Hapoel, it was very, very difficult for me to go and watch games - it was painful to know that I’m not a part of it. But, you know, life goes on. There is nothing to do about this.” Thankfully, as the old saying goes, time heals all wounds: “Three years ago, I made my way back to Hapoel - I started supporting the club again. I haven’t missed a game since.”
In retirement, Avi runs a private investigation firm in Rishon Lezion. He is happily married to Odelia, his loving wife of 24 years. Together they have 5 wonderful children: Moriah, Roni, Shai, Ran, and Yan. Today, his love for Hapoel is as it was when he joined the club as a toddler over 40 years ago: “I arrived at Hapoel Tel Aviv when I was just 7 years old - ever since then I go to sleep with Hapoel and I wake up with Hapoel. Hapoel is in my blood, it is a part of me, it is who I am.”
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