Within our conflicted Israeli football, Ruby Shapira was a rare consensus in terms of his special character. Generous, like a child who grew up with nothing and became a millionaire, as innocent as the child who was a fan of Hapoel Haifa who was, dreamed of making history and also fulfilled. No one will take the championship in 1999 for him and the club, even if in 2001, after an economic entanglement, his pride was also damaged and brought him to an end to his life, in Nigeria.
“He came and said ‘I want to take a championship, I want first place.’ He said it modestly, but he knew he wanted to get there,” recalled the club’s past legend, Tal Benin, “He was available to everyone, it was something extraordinary. I do not think there is … it is difficult to find a team owner who is available, at the level of fatherhood, at the level of caring, at the level of friendship. To make a championship is just that …. Maradona to Naples “It’s Ruby Shapira for Hapoel Haifa.”
However, when we came to mark the twentieth anniversary of, we did not expect to be part of a scene that did not add respect to anyone. Even a visit to Kiryat Haim with who is considered the greatest player who grew up in the club continued a pattern of action of diminishing the memory of the man who brought the only championship of Hapoel Haifa. Ruby Shapira’s shadow is present in every conversation about Hapoel Haifa. Yoav Katz, who bought the club in 2004, has since behaved like someone who married a widow but refuses to leave a souvenir photo of the deceased.
Ohad Hapoel Haifa, Eyal Ziv, Tells: “Some fans of the team came, and wanted to finance the decoration of the walls in the compound in the locker room. Contacted the club, what they were told: ‘No problem, we’ll be happy’, but on one condition. “The championship season and Ruby Shapira, in the history of a club, because Ruby makes the grave a shadow over Yoav and Yoav can not handle it?”. Former group physiotherapist, Bear Stone: “I have known Yoav Katz since childhood, he is just glamorous and jealous.”
Ziv continues: “In my opinion, this is a deeper matter. Katz feels threatened by Ruby. First of all, in the social ethos and in the media and in the echo he creates. Hapoel Haifa does not approve of bringing pictures of Ruby into the stadium. There were celebrations after winning the trophy and they brought the singer Chaya Arad, who sang the championship song. “Ruby) will not sing because the name Ruby is mentioned in this house? So she took her things and did not sing at all.”
The current management’s conflict with the fans led in 2014 to the formation of the “Hapoel Ruby Shapira Haifa” team – a beautiful project that received a heavy blow on the wing, when Hapoel Haifa won the cup in 2018, but even in that moment of happiness Ruby’s shadow was constantly present. Twenty years later, and only a small square that does not appear in Wise commemorates this generous and noble man, when in the future a street will also be named after him in Haifa. But those who were closest to him know – his legacy Ruby Shapira no one will be able to hide.
Stein: “We must in any way not commemorate his name, in any form. We must commemorate and remember.” Ziv: “Thanks to Hapoel Ruby Shapira, my children are fans of Hapoel Haifa. Ruby, who in his life added a lot of fans to Hapoel Haifa, in his death he added my children to Hapoel Haifa.” Benin concludes: “Ruby is a brand. Thousands of people who grew up into, parents who grew up into, who raised the children into Hapoel Haifa. He made them happy, he touched them.”
Hapoel Haifa In response to the article: “We are sorry that the sports channel ignores the facts and chooses to rely on misleading and misleading information from interested parties who conduct or have conducted legal battles at Hapoel Haifa. Of Hapoel Haifa. Yoav Katz is the one who decided to commemorate Ruby’s name and called the club’s youth group after him and also participated in the inauguration ceremony of reading Ruby’s square several years ago. Also, the club led by Yoav Katz marks the anniversary of the death of the late Ruby Shapira before the home games for 18 years. These acts and more speak for themselves. “
“Regarding the issue of removing the photos, this is another lie. Not only did we not download photos from the championship season from the club’s offices, but we also added photos and additional documentation of the club’s glorious history, including many achievements in recent years. And Ruby Shapira. Regarding the photography at the Kiryat Haim Stadium. Upgrading the activities of the youth department led by the club’s vice president and the director of the youth department with me only, and the facility was not prepared to hold a media article photo. “Yoav Katz cherishes the glorious history of the club, and on the other hand there are a handful of fans who have tried and tried to harm him physically and verbally for years and media people who have joined the incitement against him.”
.