When David slew Goliath, his task was arguably easier than the one facing Maccabi Tel Aviv. David had only to contend with a giant of a man, a cold-blooded killer, better equipped than himself and experienced at chewing up and spitting out small fry like himself.
Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club (click here for our exclusive interview with head coach Slaviša Jokanović and veteran Tal Ben-Haim) has a much bigger task at hand. They qualified for the UEFA Champions League but have been placed in a group alongside Chelsea FC, last year’s winners of England’s premier league, the biggest – and arguably the most important – domestic soccer league in the world. With guys like Oscar, Falcao and Eden Hazard in the lineup, they make Goliath look like a 98-pound weakling. Bookmakers had Chelsea at 2/9 odds to defeat Maccabi, versus Maccabi’s 12/1 odds of prevailing against the London side in the group’s opening game. The group also includes two other top sides, Portugal’s Porto and Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv.
Still, Mitchell Goldhar is hopeful, if not particularly optimistic. As owner of Maccabi Tel Aviv, he says it’s great to be playing in the group stage in the first place, where only the best of the best compete.
“We’re going to have to pinch ourselves that we’re on the same pitch as Chelsea,” he said, prior to the first game kickoff. “We’re going to have to be over-achievers. That’s not unusual for Israel.”
The game at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on Sept. 16 didn’t turn out so well for the Israelis. They lost 4-0, but as Goldhar sees it, the journey is as important as the destination. As long as Maccabi Tel Aviv plays hard, stays disciplined and gives it their best shot, they’ll be living up to the standards he is trying to set for Maccabi.
Those are the qualities, the ethos and the culture that he has worked to instill in the team since he acquired it five years ago from fellow Torontonian, businessman Alex Shnaider, and his group of Israeli investors. Goldhar’s fortune was made in real estate development. Forbes ranked him 847th among the world’s billionaires.
When he acquired the team, it was already a storied franchise – Israel’s premier league’s dominant team. Established in 1906, it had a certain cachet, both domestically and internationally. Think of the Montreal Canadiens or the Toronto Maple Leafs in their respective heydays. For Israelis, soccer is by far the number one sport and Maccabi Tel Aviv the number one team, he explained.
But the team was losing money. And the team’s culture left something to be desired. Looking at the franchise from top to bottom, Goldhar believed it needed an overhaul. He cleaned house, changing the management and bringing in Jordi Cruyff, son of famed Dutch international Johan, and a top player with Barcelona and Manchester United.
“My plan was a long-term plan,” Goldhar said. “I expected to lose money for many years until I got the culture of Maccabi Tel Aviv established. I thought the way we do things was important, and the results would follow.
“I wanted to establish a culture that had a respect for the team, that no one player is bigger than the team, [that included] a proper work ethic, a high standard of training and commitment to the lifestyle of the professional soccer player.
“It was a culture that needed more discipline…and not cutting corners with regard to training, nutrition and fitness,” he said.
“It’s a long-term process,” he continued. “Not everybody involved in soccer in Israel has the patience for tolerating such a process. For a number of years in the early stages of [my] ownership, there were lots of people who would’ve liked Maccabi to have better results.
“I was prepared to live with all the criticism, knowing that once it’s finished, it will be built for heavy weather and be good for the long term.”
He paid off all the team’s debts, upgraded facilities and brought in new staff in the medical, physiotherapy, sports psychology and nutrition fields.
His approach paid off. Maccabi went on to win three consecutive Israeli Premier League titles.
With its on-field success, came financial rewards. The team earned nearly 18 million euros (around $27 million) by making it to the Champions League group stage – a significant sum for a relatively small team. And that doesn’t include the money that will be earned through the sale of team merchandise or through social media and exporting the brand, Goldhar said.
For Goldhar, there are other benefits to owning the team. A long-standing supporter of Israel, he was happy to find a means of expressing his Zionism in a way that touched Israelis where they lived – through their support for the country’s premier soccer team.
And then there’s the even broader implications of Maccabi’s success. Not only would it give Israelis, especially young people, something to be proud about, but its impact could be felt far beyond Israel’s borders.
“I thought it would be good for European soccer fans to take note of this Israeli team, comprised primarily of Jews. Millions of European soccer fans would see an impressive team from Israel, which says something positive about Israel at a time when we don’t always get a positive press,” he said.