Rami Gershon

Gershon grew up in Rishon Letzion and began his senior career at local club Hapoel Rishon LeZion.[6] In his first season with the senior side, the team earned promotion from the Artzit League to the National League.[6] Despite reported interest from Hapoel Tel Aviv, Gershon chose to pursue opportunities abroad and joined Standard Liège in Belgium on loan.[6]

Standard Liège subsequently bought him outright after that first season.[6] He was then loaned to Kortrijk, where he played for a season and a half and rarely missed a match, before returning to Liège.[6] By January 2013, he had accumulated 13 appearances for the Israeli national team, including a goal in a 2–0 win over Malta during the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.[6]

In January 2013, Gershon joined Celtic on loan from Standard Liège through the end of the season, with the Scottish club holding an option to buy him for £750,000.[6] Celtic had tracked him during his time at Kortrijk and regarded him as a centre-back capable of filling in at left-back.[6] By May 2013, he was reported to be playing for the Scottish Premier League champions.[1]

The defining moment of his international career came on 22 March 2013, when Israel hosted Portugal in a World Cup qualifying match at Ramat Gan. Gershon headed in from a corner in the 70th minute to put Israel 3–1 ahead.[4] Portugal fought back to equalize in the 93rd minute, and the match ended 3–3.[4] Gershon later described the goal as one of the most memorable moments of his career, saying: "Until my eldest son was born, the goal against Portugal was the best moment of my life."[5] He also won the Scottish league and cup with Celtic during the 2012/13 season.[3]

Gershon joined Gent in 2014 and remained there until his 2017 return to Israel.[7] By the time of his transfer to Maccabi Haifa, he had made 101 appearances and scored once for Gent.[7] He was part of the team that won the Belgian league title in 2014/15 and the Belgian Super Cup.[7][3] Israel manager Eli Guttman named him in the squad for friendlies against Honduras and Mexico in May 2014, with those matches intended to help the two nations prepare for the World Cup while Israel looked ahead to Euro 2016 qualifying.[8]

Gershon continued to be selected for the national team throughout his time at Gent. He was included in Israel's 25-man squad for a Euro 2016 qualifier in Bosnia in June 2015, a campaign in which Israel had already beaten Bosnia 3–0 at home but suffered defeats to Wales and Belgium.[9] Ahead of an October 2016 World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein, he was expected to replace the suspended Eitan Tibi in the center of defense.[10] In March 2017, he was named as one of four expected starters for Israel's qualifier against Spain in Gijón, by which point the team had taken nine points from its first four group matches.[11]

Gershon returned to Israel in 2017 and signed a five-year contract with Maccabi Haifa in a move reported to be worth approximately €500,000.[7] The transfer marked his Israeli Premier League debut.[12] During the 2019/20 pre-season, he was listed among Haifa's defenders as the club sought to challenge for the league title.[13]

His years at Haifa proved to be the most trophy-laden of his career. He was still at the club when it drew 1–1 with Kairat Almaty in the first leg of a 2021 Champions League qualifying tie, and told reporters that his side had played better and remained optimistic heading into the return leg.[14] Across his tenure, Maccabi Haifa won three consecutive Israeli league titles in 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2022/23.[3] The club also reached the group stages of the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League, while Gershon won the Toto Cup and two Super Cup titles — known in Israel as the Champion of Champions — with Haifa.[2]

In June 2023, after six seasons at Haifa, Gershon had made 118 appearances in all competitions for the club and signed on for the 2023/24 season, saying the club had become a home to him.[12]

Gershon's final appearance came against Maccabi Tel Aviv, when a serious injury cut short what he hoped would be a renewed run in the side.[5][2] He later explained that he decided to retire after realizing he was not recovering and had reached a blockage in rehabilitation.[5] Looking back, Gershon identified three career peaks: Maccabi Haifa's first league title of his tenure, Gent's 2014/15 championship, and his goal against Portugal.[5]

Gershon formally announced his retirement in December 2025, at which point he had made 133 appearances for Maccabi Haifa in all competitions.[2] His international record stood at 26 official appearances and two goals for Israel.[2] On retiring, he said: "Football is what I breathed and dreamed of from the age of zero, and I am grateful for every single moment."[2] He remained at Maccabi Haifa in a scouting role within the club's player-identification department.[2]

During Israel's 2013 visit to New York, Gershon offered a glimpse of his attachment to the national team's broader meaning, shouting "Kol Yisrael Achim" — "All Jews are brothers" — when speaking about the team's supporters, and noting that in his experience playing abroad, "People are supportive and helpful."[1]