Ben Haim, Tal

  • Home
  • /
  • Ben Haim, Tal

Tal Ben Haim

Tal Ben Haim

Clubs played for: Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, Manchester City, Sunderland (loan), Portsmouth, West Ham United (loan), QPR, Standard Liege, Charlton Athletic, Maccabi Tel Aviv (1998-2015)

Born: 1982

Birthplace: Rishon LeZion, Israel

Position: Centre-back/right-back

Biography: Rather bizarrely, one of two Israeli internationals of the same name who played at a similar time. This one is better known in the UK having been signed up by Sam Allardyce for Bolton in 2004 (whose son Craig just happened to be the player's agent!). It proved to be a shrewd purchase and started a 9 year stay which included permanent moves to Chelsea, Manchester City (who paid £5 million for his services) and Portsmouth. He became embroiled in a very messy dispute with Pompey when their finances collapsed. The club was keen to remove his reported £38,000 per week from their payroll but a proposed move to West Ham fell through and a court case for unpaid wages of over £1m was only averted at the last minute. He left in August 2012 and has been playing back in his homeland since 2015. Retired in September 2021 at the age of 39 and accepted an offer to move into coaching with the Israeli Football Association.




Back to previous page

Comments

Do you have any interesting, happy, or humorous memories of Tal?
If so, please let us know and we will be happy to share them with the world!




Add Your Comments