Kobi Refua

Refua was a striker who spent nearly 15 years associated with Maccabi Petah Tikva as a player, staff member, and coach.[1] He joined the club in the 2001/02 season and quickly established himself as a leading presence, finishing that campaign as the Israeli Premier League's top scorer with 18 goals.[1] He also played four seasons for Bnei Yehuda, scoring approximately 50 goals for that club, before retiring from active play in 2005.[1][2]

After retiring, Refua spent roughly a year and a half searching for a professional direction before Shino Zuaertz and Avi Luzon encouraged him to pursue coaching qualifications.[1] He returned to Maccabi Petah Tikva as a scout in the youth department, where he played a role in identifying and bringing in striker Tal Ben Haim.[1] He then progressed to coaching the club's youth teams and eventually became head of its youth department, laying the foundation for a management career.[1]

During his early coaching years, Refua made nine professional-development visits to European clubs over a five-year period, typically spending about a week at each.[3] The clubs he studied included Tottenham, Ajax, Hoffenheim, Watford, and Real Madrid, with the Real Madrid visit taking place while José Mourinho was in charge.[3] He was described as highly committed to understanding coaching methods and closely engaged with training, player fitness, medical information, and the day-to-day workings of a club.[3]

Refua's early senior coaching work included a spell with Maccabi Petah Tikva, followed by youth-team work at Ironi Kiryat Shmona and a position with Maccabi Sha'arayim, which he guided to promotion to the National League.[1] He later returned to Maccabi Petah Tikva and led the club to fourth place in the Premier League during the 2016/17 season, while overseeing player development and significant sales including Dor Alon and Guy Melamed.[1] He promoted Manor Solomon directly from the under-17 team to the senior squad despite internal doubts and worked intensively with the young forward on improving his scoring output.[4] After three consecutive defeats, including a 3–1 loss to Ironi Kiryat Shmona, he resigned in September 2017.[5][1]

Refua next became head coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv, which he guided from the National League to the Premier League by the end of the 2017/18 season.[6] He was dismissed in November 2018 following a poor start in the top flight, only to return in January 2019 after his successor, Ofir Haim, was let go after seven matches.[7][6] Refua departed again at the end of that season following disagreements with the club's management.[6]

In October 2019, Refua became manager of Ironi Kiryat Shmona, stabilising the club and keeping it in the Premier League.[6] His contract was extended, and by December 2019 he was praising his side's defensive discipline after a 3–0 victory over Hapoel Kfar Saba, while emphasising the need to accumulate points and avoid the relegation zone.[8] The following season brought more ambition: in March 2021 Kiryat Shmona secured a place in the Championship Playoffs with a 1–0 win over the same opponents, with Refua crediting his players for handling a demanding schedule shaped by the coronavirus pandemic.[9] In May 2021, after a 2–1 defeat to Maccabi Petah Tikva, he acknowledged a slim remaining chance of European qualification but conceded that the team's slow start had made it remote.[10]

Refua returned to Hapoel Tel Aviv for a third time in December 2021.[6] In the 2021/22 season he guided the club through its regular-season run, including a narrow 1–0 win over Hapoel Jerusalem in March 2022 that he framed as a crucial result in keeping the club's destiny in its own hands.[11] The following August he praised his side's attacking intent after a 2–1 victory over Beitar Jerusalem, though he noted that the goal conceded had been unnecessary.[12] He was dismissed in September 2022 after an unsuccessful start to the new campaign.[6]

In November 2022, Refua took charge of Bnei Sakhnin, departing at the end of that season.[6] He returned to Bnei Yehuda as manager in January 2025, a move that carried personal significance given his four seasons as a player and approximately 50 goals for the club.[2] Bnei Yehuda finished the regular season in fifth place with 44 points, but after three defeats in five matches, Refua and the club agreed to part ways on 28 March 2025.[6]

In 2026, Refua became professional manager of Maccabi Bnei Eilat in Liga Bet South B.[13] He left the active role after a short period for personal and logistical reasons, explaining that travelling to Eilat three or four times a week had kept him from seeing his family for three months.[13] The club confirmed that he would remain involved as a professional adviser.[13]

Throughout his career Refua was noted for his hands-on involvement in all aspects of club life, from training sessions and physical preparation to medical information and broader daily operations.[3] His talent-identification instincts were evident from his scouting work: he described spotting a Maccabi Petah Tikva youth prospect named Lugasi when the boy was eight or nine years old, stopping a training session to tell him he would become a real footballer and instructing the professional manager to give him freedom on the field.[4] His approach to developing Manor Solomon was similarly demanding. Refua said he sometimes sent the young forward home from training while pressing him to improve his scoring output.[4]

Refua has been described by Israeli football media as one of the country's more experienced coaches of recent years, having led Maccabi Petah Tikva, Ironi Kiryat Shmona, and Hapoel Tel Aviv to the Premier League's upper playoff across separate stints at each club.[14]

Hebrew-language sources spell his name קובי רפואה.[1] The Jerusalem Post has rendered his surname as “Refuah,” while this article uses the alternative English transliteration “Refua.”[9]

Refua's long association with Maccabi Petah Tikva was followed by a public rupture with Avi Luzon. A 2020 account linked the dispute to disagreements over player sales, Refua's resignation, and later matches against his former club.[1] In June 2023, Refua described the relationship as an estrangement with no current contact.[4] By December 2023, however, he said that the two had spoken at a condolence visit, shaken hands, and discussed football without revisiting their earlier disagreements.[14]