But heavy in Israeli football. After a long battle with the disease, this morning (Friday) Shalom Avitan, a Hapoel BS legend, died at the age of 73 as a result of a system collapse. The funeral will take place today at 14:00 at the old cemetery in the Besh, his family will sit for seven at his home at 1 Sinai Street. Central from the second championship win in its history in the 1975/76 season.
Avitan has 251 appearances in the Hapoel BS uniform (the fifth in the club’s history) and has scored over 100 goals in all competitions. He began his career as a footballer in the late 1960s with Beitar B.S., in the 1972/73 season he crossed the road to Hapoel B.S. but after one season he was released and joined Beitar Jerusalem. He played in the capital for two seasons and in the summer of 1975 he returned to the Reds from the south.
With the exception of one season in Hapoel Jerusalem, Avitan played in Hapoel BS until 1984/85. He finished his career in the Premier League with Hapoel Tel Aviv, with which he won the championship in 1986 and scored in the derby against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He retired after a period in Hapoel Ashdod, with two appearances in coach Emmanuel Shafer’s Israeli national team and two goals in a 0:2 victory over the Olympic team of the Netherlands.
Hapoel BS Sepada: “The king of the team’s goals of all time, Shalom Avitan, has passed away. Shalom played for the first time in the team in the 1972/1973 season. He returned for a second term in the 1975/1976 season and contributed to winning the second championship in the club’s history. Until the end of his career, Shalom made 251 appearances in the club’s uniform (fifth place in the club’s history) and scored over 100 goals in all competitions, which places him at the top of the team’s all-time top scorer table. At this time we are supporting Sharon Avitan, his son and former player of the club and the former professional manager of the youth department, and the entire Avitan family. May you know no more sorrow. Of blessed memory”.
Also the mayor of BS, Rubik Danilovich, obituary: “Sad day! Shalom Avitan, one of the great strikers of Hapoel BS and the State of Israel, passed away this morning. He and his friends from Po’el BS, brought great honor and pride to the city, when they won the state championships in the mid-seventies. Shalom was a special, colorful character and he will be greatly missed by the landscape of Beer Shevai and Israeli football. Our deepest condolences to his devoted wife Gila, his children and grandchildren who surrounded him with love until his last moments. The city of BS bows its head. Of blessed memory!”.
Beitar Jerusalem, in Media where he played between 1973 and 1974, paid tribute: “Shalom Avitan, who played for the club in the 1973-1975 seasons, passed away tonight. Appeared 50 times in Beitar uniform and scored 11 goals. We share in the grief of the family and the worker in “S”, in which he became a symbol.
Hapoel Tel Aviv also paid tribute to the former player: “The Hapoel Tel Aviv football club bows its head for the untimely passing of the former striker Shalom Avitan, who won the championship with the team in 85/86. We hug the Avitan family in their difficult time. Of blessed memory.”
