Danny Amos (Footballer)

Born in 1987, Amos immigrated to Israel as a child with his parents and older brother Natan, settling at Kibbutz Kfar Blum.[1][5] His younger brother Micha was born in Israel after the family's arrival.[5] Amos is the middle of three brothers: Natan went on to become a rugby player and teacher, while Micha became a professional dancer.[1]

Amos began in Ironi Kiryat Shmona's youth system and progressed to the senior team, winning the Toto Cup final and helping the club reach the Israeli Premier League.[1] His transition to goalkeeping came by chance: when the regular goalkeeper missed a training session, Amos was asked to fill in and immediately fell in love with the position.[5]

Before the 2011–12 season, Amos had lost his starting place to Guy Haimov and sought a move to Israel's second-tier National League in order to guarantee playing time.[3] Instead, he regained his position and became central to the most successful campaign in the club's history.

By December 2011, with Kiryat Shmona leading the Israeli Premier League, Amos had conceded only eight goals across the club's first 14 league rounds.[7] After a 2–1 away victory at Acre, he said the team was “living in a dream,” looking good and enjoying itself together.[7] His form continued, and in the 32nd round of the season he was between the posts when Kiryat Shmona drew 0–0 with Hapoel Tel Aviv—the result that secured the club its first Israeli league championship, with five rounds still to play.[8] During that match he made a key save, tipping a close-range effort from Mirko Oremush over the bar for a corner.[8] He finished the season having conceded only 15 league goals, the fewest of any goalkeeper that term, and received a call-up to the Israel national team.[3] Manager Ran Ben Shimon called him an inspirational story and said he had great respect for him.[9]

At the opening ceremony of the 2012–13 season, Amos was named the outstanding player of the previous campaign, while Ben Shimon received the coach-of-the-season award.[4] Kiryat Shmona also reached the Europa League in the following season, with Amos part of the squad.[6] His contract with the club ended after 2012, and he subsequently moved among several clubs, including a period at Hapoel Tel Aviv.[1][5]

By May 2017, Amos was a Maccabi Petah Tikva player and was listed among the national-team goalkeepers called up for matches against Moldova and Albania, alongside Dudu Goresh of Hapoel Beersheba and Omri Glazer of Maccabi Haifa.[10] He later joined Maccabi Netanya, where he spent five seasons.[11] A Jerusalem Post season preview in August 2021 described him as a veteran continuing with Maccabi Netanya for the coming Premier League campaign.[12]

In June 2022, his five-year spell as Maccabi Netanya's goalkeeper ended when he signed with Maccabi Petah Tikva, with Itamar Nitzan announced as his replacement at Netanya.[11] In a farewell message, Amos said that Netanya had been a significant period in his life, that he had rejected offers and substantial money in the hope of remaining, and that the club had returned to its appropriate place in the upper part of the league during his time there.[11]

By early 2024, Amos had left Sekzia Ness Ziona of the National League midway through the season and become a free agent after the transfer window closed.[2] He stated that he was not retiring, continued to train and maintain his fitness, and wanted to play for as long as possible.[2] Throughout his career he suffered at least ten concussions and usually continued playing despite a perforated eardrum.[5]

Alongside his playing career, Amos has been among the most visible figures in Israeli football to publicly oppose homophobia. He has a gay brother, publicly supports LGBTQ rights, and has spoken repeatedly about the harm that discriminatory chanting causes to fans and children at stadiums.[5][6]

During a match involving Maccabi Netanya and Maccabi Tel Aviv, he stopped play, approached his own team's supporters, and asked them to stop homophobic chants.[6] He wore football boots decorated with Pride flags and the words “We're all equal,” an act that helped bring the issue of homophobic abuse in Israeli football grounds into wider public discussion.[6] Following that incident, Knesset member Yorai Lahav-Hartzenu proposed amending the Sports Violence Law so that verbal abuse targeting the LGBTQ community would be prohibited and treated as a criminal offense.[6]

In January 2022, during a Premier League match between Maccabi Netanya and Maccabi Tel Aviv, supporters repeatedly chanted “Danny Amos is gay.” Amos complained to the referee, and Maccabi Tel Aviv subsequently faced a disciplinary hearing over the chants.[13] In 2021 he received a Fairness Award at a tournament organized by HeHalutz—Education Through Sport, recognizing both his performances and his social activism.[14] At the ceremony, he said that Israeli football was not yet sufficiently accepting for players to come out during their careers and that he knew of players who lived double lives.[14]

Amos has argued that discriminatory verbal abuse at football grounds should be treated in the same manner as racist chanting and that stadiums should be places for everyone.[6]

Sources disagree on Amos's birthplace: a 2020 profile identified South Africa, while a 2017 profile stated that he and his brother Natan were born in Zimbabwe and that the family immigrated to Israel in 1987.[5][1] The available profiles do not resolve the discrepancy.

In 2014, while playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv, Amos used a homophobic insult toward two fitness coaches.[5] He subsequently issued an emotional public apology and later said the incident made him understand the consequences of words used without thought—a turning point he credited with shaping his later advocacy.[5] Separately, he alleged that an opposing player, Ismail Ryan, called him a homophobic slur during a match; Ryan denied using the insult and stated that he respected every person.[5]