Itzhak Shum

Shum was born on September 1, 1948.[1] Sources differ on his precise birthplace: Ynet reports that he was born in Kishinev, while a 2026 Sport1 interview says he began playing football in his birthplace of Czernowitz, now in Ukraine.[2][3] His family immigrated to Israel when he was around ten years old, initially settling in Kiryat Shmona before relocating to Kfar Saba so his father could find work.[4][3]

Shum recalled that his family had requested to be settled near Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv but was directed to Kiryat Shmona instead.[5] When his father told him there was football in Israel, the young Shum reportedly declared, "Then I'll be captain of Israel."[5] He began training with Hapoel Kfar Saba's youth team at the age of 11[6] and was promoted to the senior side at around sixteen and a half.[3] His first coach in the youth setup was Emanuel Scheffer, whom Shum would later call "a second father," crediting him with shaping both his development as a player and his outlook as a coach.[6]

Shum made his senior debut for Hapoel Kfar Saba in the 1964/65 season and remained with the club for his entire eighteen-year playing career, never moving to another side.[7][4] He accumulated 273 top-division appearances and scored 29 goals in the top flight, adding 49 goals in the second division for 78 league goals in total.[4] Sources describe him as a technical player who combined physicality, leadership, and goalscoring.[4]

One of the defining moments of his playing days came on May 14, 1975, when he scored Kfar Saba's third goal in a 3–1 State Cup final victory over Beitar Jerusalem — the first major trophy in the club's history.[8] The goal arrived in the 87th minute: Shum received the ball from goalkeeper Yair Nosovsky, dribbled past five or six Beitar players, and fired past goalkeeper Yoji Surinov. He later recalled: "Before the ball even entered, I raised my hands."[8] He also captained the Kfar Saba side that won the club's only league championship, in 1981/82, under coach Dror Kashtan.[9] Reflecting on that title, Shum noted that the club's budget was roughly ten percent of those of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa, and Beitar Jerusalem: "We won the championship — so money does not play on the field."[9]

After Israel's appearance at the 1970 World Cup, Shum received offers from Italian clubs Torino and Atalanta, but declined because his future wife did not wish to leave her parents.[5] He later described the decision as a mistake he still regretted.[5] He also remembered marking Giacinto Facchetti on the right wing in a match against Italy and said Facchetti told him afterward that he had never experienced such a match before.[5]

Shum earned 78 caps for the Israel national team and scored 10 goals, placing him ninth on the all-time appearances list at the time of a 2017 report.[7][3] He is the only Israeli footballer to have represented the national team in three major tournaments: the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, and the 1976 Montreal Olympics.[3] For the Montreal Games, coach David Schweizer appointed him national-team captain.[3]

Shum's relationship with the national team extended beyond his playing days. Coach Emanuel Scheffer, who had first worked with him at Kfar Saba's youth level, later brought him into the senior national team setup.[6] Scheffer was renowned for his demanding methods; Shum recalled a training camp in Switzerland where Scheffer announced three sessions a day — players initially assumed he meant three times a week, only to find the schedule ran at 7 a.m., 10 a.m., and 5 p.m.[6]

Shum moved directly into management after retiring as a player. In his first season as a coach, 1983/84, he guided Hapoel Kfar Saba to promotion to the old First Division.[7] He then spent nine years as an assistant coach with Israel's national team — seven under Shlomo Scharf, during which he also coached the youth national team, and two under Danish coach Richard Møller Nielsen.[7][5] He and Scharf had previously been midfield teammates at Kfar Saba, with Scharf later becoming Shum's coach before the roles reversed.[8]

Returning to club management, Shum led Kfar Saba to promotion to the Premier League in 2001.[7] He then took charge of Maccabi Haifa in summer 2002 and achieved what remains one of Israeli football's landmark results: in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League, Haifa became the first Israeli club to reach the group stage.[10] The team qualified by eliminating Belshina Bobruisk 5–0 on aggregate and Sturm Graz 5–3 on aggregate.[11] Group-stage matches were played in Cyprus due to the security situation in Israel; Haifa finished third in a group containing Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen, and Olympiacos, earning seven points — including a celebrated 3–0 home win over Manchester United at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia — and advanced to the UEFA Cup.[11]

His Haifa success brought an approach from Panathinaikos, a Greek club that had gone seven years without a league title.[10] Shum delivered immediately: in 2003/04 he led Panathinaikos to the Greek league championship and the Greek Cup, completing a double and becoming the first Israeli coach to win a league title with a European club.[10][12] Panathinaikos also competed in that season's Champions League, defeating Rangers 3–1 at Ibrox en route to a third-place group finish.[12] Shum was dismissed early in the 2004/05 Champions League group stage under circumstances Sport5 characterised as non-professional, without specifying further.[12]

Shorter stints at Litex Lovech in Bulgaria, Alania Vladikavkaz in Russia, and Alki Larnaca in Cyprus followed.[10] In 2006, coaching Hapoel Tel Aviv, Shum took the club to the UEFA Cup group stage after a 4–1 aggregate victory over Chornomorets Odessa of Ukraine — the second time he had guided an Israeli side to a European group stage. He called it "one of my greatest moments."[13]

Shum became Beitar Jerusalem coach in summer 2007 and, working alongside professional director Giora Spiegel, delivered the club's first-ever league-and-State Cup double in 2007/08.[2] The State Cup final against Hapoel Tel Aviv ended 0–0 after extra time; Beitar won 5–4 on penalties.[14] Shum said winning a double at Beitar had been "the dream of every coach," noting he had already achieved one in his first season at Panathinaikos.[14] The following campaign ended in a heavy European exit — a 5–0 second-leg loss to Wisła Kraków after winning the home leg 2–1 — and Shum was dismissed in September 2008.[2] He returned to Beitar in 2009/10 but did not see out a full season.[7]

In summer 2017, Shum took over Hapoel Kfar Saba from Stav Shacham after the club had been relegated and was close to administration.[7] He had initially hoped a wealthier buyer would emerge, but when efforts to find one failed he stepped in himself, saying: "We looked, and tried and hoped people would buy the club, but no one wanted it. What was I supposed to do, let the club die?"[7]

In a 2026 interview, Shum said he had originally expected to hold the ownership only temporarily, until a wealthier buyer emerged.[3] Day-to-day management of the club is handled by his son Idan, while his daughter Sharon serves on the club's board.[3] Before purchasing, Shum had briefly returned to Israeli football as sports director at Bnei Yehuda during 2016/17, a role that lasted less than six months and ended after a dispute with club owner Barak Avramov.[15]

Shum's legacy spans several distinct roles in Israeli football. As a player, he remains the only Israeli footballer reported to have represented the national team at the 1968 Olympics, the 1970 World Cup, and the 1976 Olympics; as a coach, he led Maccabi Haifa to the first UEFA Champions League group stage reached by an Israeli club.[3][10] His 2003/04 double with Panathinaikos made him the first Israeli coach to win a league title with a European club.[10][12]

At Hapoel Kfar Saba, Shum has been a player, captain, coach, and owner. He scored in the club's first trophy victory in 1975, captained its only league championship team in 1981/82, and bought the club in 2017 when it faced dissolution.[8][3]

In January 2018, Shum dismissed Hapoel Kfar Saba coach Messay Dego after the club had reached the State Cup quarterfinals. Dego claimed publicly that his reluctance to play Shum's grandson, Tom Shelach, was the principal reason for the dismissal; this was reported as Dego's allegation and was not independently verified.[15]