History in Short

Amir Shelach was born in 1970 and went through the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Department, however his first steps as a professional footballer were with Maccabi Herzliya in the 1989-90 season. The following summer at the age of 20, he returned to the Yellow & Blue and earned a starting central defender position where he proved himself worthy and kept his spot throughout the campaign.

His big breakthrough came in the championship season of 1991/92 when he missed only one out of 43 matches in all competitions. Shelach firmly implanted himself as a strong and quick central defender with an excellent defensive game.

Along with Gadi Brumer, the pair became known as the best central defenders in Israeli football and also appeared for the Israel National Team. In 1993/94 Shelach won his first State Cup and the following season he picked up his second league championship under the tutelage of Avram Grant. The 1995/96 campaign was Shelach’s best ever as he helped coach Dror Kashtan the squad capture the coveted double while only dropping one match all season long.

Shelach departed Maccabi Tel Aviv at the end of the 1997/98 season and returned for a second stint with the club in 2000/01 when he picked up another State Cup, this time with coach Nir Levin. All in all, Shelach made 349 appearances in the Yellow & Blue of Maccabi Tel Aviv across all competitions, scored five goals, won three State Cups and two league titles.

Top Moment

After turning into one of the top defenders during the Yellow & Blue’s golden era of the 1990’s, he was not only a defensive rock but also scored a fantastic goal during the 1995/96 campaign. The strike came against Maccabi Petach Tikva in a 3:0 win during a period when many key players were missing due to the events that occurred in the game against Hapoel Haifa on Matchday Four when Alon Brumer was injured. Watch the goal

League Championships: 1991/92, 1994/95, 1995/96

State Cups: 1993/94, 1995/96, 2001/02