Yaniv Katan (; born 27 January 1981) is a retired Israeli international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played professionally for

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

, as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

and winger. He earned 31 caps for

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, scoring five goals.

Personal life

Katan was born in

Kiryat Ata Kiryat Ata () also spelled Qiryat Ata, is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In it had a population of , 92% of whom were Jewish citizens. History The Early Bronze Age site at Kiryat Ata has been extensively excavated since 1990, reveal ...

, Israel, and is Jewish.

Club career

In December 2005, Katan signed a four-year contract with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, where he joined up with Israeli international teammate

Yossi Benayoun Yossi Shai Benayoun (; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Israel and England and captained the Israel national team. Born in Dimona, he is sometimes nicknamed ...

. The transfer, which was officially completed during the January 2006

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, involved a cut-price fee of £100,000, as Katan had only six months left on his Maccabi contract. He made eight appearances, including six from the bench, for West Ham. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Katan moved back to Maccabi Haifa in a loan deal, with a view to a permanent move, after

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup ...

reportedly told him he was no longer in his plans. He returned to Israel and made his loan deal permanent by signing a new four-year deal with Haifa. After 25 years in

, on 19 June 2014, Katan decided to retire from active playing. On 5 April 2015, a farewell ceremony for Katan was held at the

Sammy Ofer Stadium Sammy Ofer Stadium (), also known as Haifa Municipal Stadium (), is a 30,942 seats multi-purpose stadium in Haifa, Israel. Construction began in late 2009 and was completed in 2014. The stadium was developed and built by the Haifa Economic Co ...

on which both

's chairman Ya'akov Shahar and Katan led a speech and the fans held a giant flag with Katan's pictures.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;

* Israeli Championships **Winner (6): 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

**''Runner-up (5)'': 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2009–10,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat ha'Al, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

**Winner (3): 2002–03, 2005–06, 2007–08 * State Cup **''Runner-up (4)'': 2002,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

;

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

**''Runner-up (1):''

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

*
Yaniv Katan profile and stats on FootballDatabase.com

Yaniv Katan profile and club history on Maccabi Haifa Official Website

Yaniv Katan Profile and Statistics on One.co.il

After 25 years in

, On 19 June 2014, Katan decided to retire from active playing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Katan, Yaniv 1981 births Jewish Israeli sportspeople Living people Men's association football forwards Israeli men's footballers Maccabi Haifa F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Israel men's international footballers Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Premier League players Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Israeli expatriate sportspeople in England Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Footballers from Kiryat Ata Association football players with retired numbers 21st-century Israeli sportsmen