Lajos Alois Hess (; 1903–1956) was an Austrian-born Israeli

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 for

Hakoah Vienna SC Hakoah Vienna (; ' means "the strength" in Hebrew) is a Jewish sports club in Vienna, Austria. Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish association football team with players ...

and

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

Career

Hess started playing for

in 1919Nordia Good-Will Tour to U.S.A. Fall 1948
Zvi Levin, pp. 37-38 was part of the squad that beat

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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, scoring the third goal of the match, as well as being part of the team that toured North America in 1927 and 1929. Hess emigrated to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

in 1934, joining

,The manager of Beitar Tel Aviv Dies
Davar, 4 July 1956, Historical Jewish Press as well as serving as the team's manager. In 1937 Hess was appointed as manager of the newly formed Beitar Tel Aviv, a position he held until 1947. In 1949, Hess was appointed as manager of the Israel national team ahead of the national team's

1950 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 34 teams entered the qualification rounds of the 1950 FIFA World Cup, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Brazil, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots ope ...

campaign. In his first match as manager of the national team, against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, Israel recorded its first victory as independent country (having previously beaten

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

), beating its rivals 3–1.Israel's First Victory
Asher Goldberg, 20 March 2014, IFA The national team was beaten in both qualification matches by

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, and Hess left the position.The Tragedy of Lajos Hess RIP
Herut, 5 August 1956, Historical Jewish Press Hess returned to Beitar Tel Aviv in 1954, as the team was at risk of relegation to

Liga Bet Liga Bet () is the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into four regional divisions. History League football started in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. However, the financial ...

He died in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

on 3 July 1956 during a practice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Alois 1903 births 1956 deaths Jews from Austria-Hungary Austrian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jewish Austrian sportspeople Austrian men's footballers Hakoah Vienna footballers Beitar Tel Aviv F.C. players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Austrian football managers Beitar Tel Aviv F.C. managers Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. managers Israel national football team managers Men's association football players not categorized by position 20th-century Austrian sportsmen