Haim Megrelashvili

Haim Megrelashvili (Hebrew: חיים מגרלשוילי‎; born July 4, 1982 in Tirat Carmel) is a retired Israeli football defender who most of his career played for Hapoel Haifa. He joined Maccabi Haifa in 2003 from cross-town rival Hapoel Haifa, and within a short time became Israel's rookie of the year. Haim is also known for his attacking skills, often joining attacks from the wings.

Haim Megrelashvili
חַיִּים מֶגְרֵלָשוִילִי‎
Megrelashvili with Beitar Jerusalem in 2013
Personal information
Date of birth (1982-07-04) July 4, 1982
Place of birth Tirat Carmel, Israel
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Left Defender
Youth career
Hapoel Haifa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2004 Hapoel Haifa 87 (3)
2004–2007 Maccabi Haifa 66 (0)
2007–2009 Vitesse Arnhem 24 (1)
2009 → Maccabi Tel Aviv (loan) 16 (2)
2010 Maccabi Petah Tikva 12 (0)
2010–2011 Alki Larnaca 25 (1)
2011–2012 Maccabi Haifa 2 (0)
2012 → Beitar Jerusalem (loan) 14 (0)
2012–2013 Beitar Jerusalem 30 (1)
2013–2014 AEK Larnaca 29 (1)
2014–2018 Hapoel Haifa 85 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 June 2016

He is of Georgian Jewish ancestry and his surname literally means "son of Megrelia" in Georgian. Due to its complexity, his surname is almost always misspelled as "Magrashvili" instead.

Career

Haim started his footballing career at Maccabi Haifa, as a schoolboy before giving up football altogether and concentrating on athletics and gymnastics. His brother, Akiva, continued playing football and joined Hapoel Kiryat Shmona. During Haim's first season at Maccabi Haifa he managed to start a total of twenty-six matches. His second season at Haifa was far from a progression as he managed to start a mere seven games. Ronny Levy would give Megrelashvili more opportunities in the 2006/07 season and Haim played an integral part of the squads progression to the round of sixteen in the UEFA Cup. His European performance as well as domestic performance caused him to garner interest from Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem.[1] He joined the Eredivisie side for the 2007–08 season, signing a deal until 2010. His contract was terminated by the club in August 2009.[2] Megrelashvili was without a club until January 2010 when he signed for Maccabi Petah Tikva.[3]

On March 15, 2008, in the match against FC Twente, Megrelishvili was substituted after only 6 minutes into the game, after a number of defensive errors.[4] Two weeks later, in the match against AZ, Megrelishvili was replaced after 16 minutes. On June 6, 2011, Megrelishvili signed In Maccabi Haifa For Two Years.

Honours
Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Hapoel Haifa

References
  1. Doron Ben Dor. ארבייטמן: הגיע הזמן שאתפוצץ על המגרש (in Hebrew). One.co.il. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
  2. Haim Megrelishvili en Vitesse ontbinden contract Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch)
  3. חיים מגרלשווילי חתם במכבי פתח תקווה Archived 2010-01-10 at the Wayback Machine (in Hebrew)
  4. The earliest ever tactical substitutions Guardian.co.uk
Official
Unofficial
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