Dear Brothers and Sisters in Yellow, for those of you who don't know me let me introduce myself. My name is Harel Slutsky, wearing the blue jersey with the number 9 in the television programme " Goalstar" (a curly Puyol doppelganger), and the guy from Israel's morning programme " Slutsky and Domingo", broadcast on 102 FM and four other stations in Haifa, in the South and "Kol Rega" in the North.
But above all I am a dyed-in-the-wool fan of my beloved Yellows from Tel Aviv!!!! Things could have been very different though, me coming from a "red" kibbutz in the Bet She'an valley "Maoz Haim". Even my mum was "red" . . . (not to worry, I brought her over to the yellow side and now she's a passionate home fan). As a kid and a teenager I was always rowing against the stream and I fell in love with the attractive and total football of Viki Peretz, Beni Tabak and Giora Shpigel. The great and late skipper Avi Cohen became an idol and a model for me and it was just my luck to have witnessed one of his great moments when he blasted into Hapoel's Arye Bejerano's net and got himself an absolutely amazing contract with the English champions and then one of Europe's greatest clubs, Liverpool! And because of him I also became a passionate Liverpool fan, which unfortunately has given me a lot of sleepless nights in recent years.
Down the years my love for Yellow has only got stronger, even through the lean years. I had some great times with later national coaches Avraham Grant and Dror Kashtan's with his amazing double. And of course it was my luck to see striker Avi Nimni, one of the great symbols and great winners that grew up at the club. In the last three years I've moved from the radio in the north to broadcasting the morning Israel programme from Radio Tel Aviv with my partner Domingo and I have a feeling I've brought with me all the luck and energy that have been missing in recent years. I'm no mystic but I'm a firm believer in the saying "Faith will lead the way". And in the last two years the club has been operating so professionally, undergoing a managerial and organisational revolution, and is now reaping the benefits that are leading us to new and glorious vistas here at home and (keep your fingers crossed) in Europe too.
I've never hidden my love for this club, not in my radio programme, where thank goodness it's given me something good to talk about in recent months. Not even when the scouts chose me and Domingo for the programme "Goalstar" on Hot television. Remember that unforgettable episode when I kicked Hapoel Tel Aviv's veteran defender Walid Badir in the shin (in fun of course), or when I gave the corner flag at Hapoel Tel Aviv's Wolfson training camp a "special" watering? Draw your own conclusions. Unfortunately, because of my early morning programme I don't get to every match as I'd like to. But in the last three games I did attend, the goal difference has been 12-2 to the Yellows! Just like the comedians Gavri Banai, Shaika Levi and Israel Poliakov used to say, "A Bloomfield Concerto".
One more thing my Yellow Brothers and Sisters. The attendance this year at Bloomfield has proven beyond any possible doubt that we not only have the best organization and management but also that the fans are returning in droves. And the latest campaign about giving racists the boot, that is simply the most impressive thing they've done in years! Love you all and see you in the stands.
Harel Slutsky is a radio broadcaster at Radio Tel Aviv and a star in the television programme "Goalstar" broadcast on HOT. To go to Harel Slutsky's Instagram page click here.
