Haim Megrelashvili

Haim Megrelashvili
חַיִּים מֶגְרֵלָשוִילִי‎
	Megrelashvili with Beitar Jerusalem in 2013
Personal information
Date of birth	July 4, 1982 (age 42)
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
2000–2004	Hapoel Haifa
2004–2007	Maccabi Haifa
2007–2009	Vitesse Arnhem
2009	→ Maccabi Tel Aviv (loan)
2010	Maccabi Petah Tikva
2010–2011	Alki Larnaca
2011–2012	Maccabi Haifa
2012	→ Beitar Jerusalem (loan)
2012–2013	Beitar Jerusalem
2013–2014	AEK Larnaca
2014–2018	Hapoel Haifa
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 June 2016

Haim Megrelashvili (Hebrew: חיים מגרלשוילי; born July 4, 1982, in Tirat Carmel) is a retired Israeli football defender. For the bulk of his career he 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.

Biography

Haim Megrelashvili is of Georgian Jewish ancestry and his surname literally means "son of Megrelia" in Georgian.

Career

He started his football career at Maccabi Haifa as a schoolboy before concentrating on athletics and gymnastics. His brother, Akiva, continued playing football and joined Hapoel Kiryat Shmona. During his first season at Maccabi Haifa, he started a total of twenty-six matches. His second season at Haifa was far from a success: He started just seven games. Ronny Levy gave Megrelashvili more opportunities in the 2006/07 season and he played an integral part of the squad's progression to the round of sixteen in the UEFA Cup.

His European performance as well as domestic performance created interest from Dutch club Vitesse.^[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 Twente, Megrelishvili was substituted after only six 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 for Maccabi Haifa on a two-year contract.

Honours

Maccabi Haifa

Israeli Premier League (2): 2004–05, 2005–06
Toto Cup Al (1):2005–06

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Toto Cup Al (1): 2008–09

Hapoel Haifa

Israel State Cup (1): 2017–18

References

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

External links

Official

(in Hebrew) Profile and biography of Haim Megrelashvili on Maccabi Haifa's official website Archived 2007-05-19 at the Wayback Machine

Unofficial

(in Hebrew) IFA Profile Archived 2011-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
(in Hebrew) Profile and statistics of Haim Megrelashvili on One.co.il
(in Hebrew) Profile and statistics of Haim Megrelashvili on Maccabi Haifa Online

[1] Doron Ben Dor. ארבייטמן: הגיע הזמן שאתפוצץ על המגרש (in Hebrew). One.co.il. Retrieved 2007-04-29.

[ontbinden_contract-2] Haim Megrelishvili en Vitesse ontbinden contract Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch)

[מגרלשווילי_חתם-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

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