Reuven Tal () was an Israeli footballer and sportsperson. He is best known for his years at Hapoel Balfouria where he was the top scorer for the clubs during the club's two seasons in the top division.

Biography

Tal was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

as Rainer Grünthal to composer Josef Tal and his wife Rosie. At the age of three the family immigrated to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and settled in 1936 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. His parents divorced and Tal lived with his mother in Jerusalem, and later, between 1944 and 1948, in the UK, where his mother studied

Physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

.Reuven Tal
Kibbutz Megiddo Upon returning to Palestine, Tal joined Hapoel JerusalemTal, Reuven
Izkor while also competing with the club's

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

team, winning the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers ...

run in the 1949 national youth athletics championship. In 1950 Tal was conscripted to the army and joined the

Nahal Brigade The 933rd "Nahal" Brigade is one of the Israel Defense Forces' main infantry brigades. It has operated in all major wars and large-scale operations since its inception in 1982, playing key roles during the 1982 and the 2006 Lebanon Wars and t ...

. While at the army, Tal played and coached at Hapoel Afula, and in 1951, after joining

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Megiddo Megiddo may refer to: Places and sites in Israel * Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley * Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel * Megiddo church (Israel) * Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel * Megiddo Juncti ...

, and while working in the fields of the kibbutz, Tal maintained his involvement in sports, playing with the local volleyball club and playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

with Hapoel Balfouria. Tal played with the team as it was promoted the

Liga Alef Liga Alef () is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south. History League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Howe ...

, the top division at the time and was the top scorer for the club during its stint in the top division. Tal also studied

Physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

at the

Wingate Institute Wingate Institute (), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports (), is a sports training institute located south of Netanya, Israel. History Wingate Institute was established in 1957. It was named after Orde Wingate. ...

and worked as a sports teach at the regional school. Tal was killed during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, as an Iraqi

Tu-16 The Tupolev Tu-16 (USAF/DOD reporting name Type 39; NATO reporting name: Badger) is a twin-engined jet strategic heavy bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has been flown for almost 70 years. While many aircraft in Soviet service were retired af ...

plane crashed into the base where Tal was stationed, near

Afula Afula () is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of . Afula's ancient tell (settlement mound) suggests habit ...

.A Strike from the Heavens
Karni Am-Ad, 6 May 2003, HaKibbutz

Honours

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 ...

(second division) (1): ** 1951–52 (with Hapoel Balfouria)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tal, Reuven 1932 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Israeli Jews Israeli men's footballers Hapoel Balfouria F.C. players Israeli men's basketball players Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. players Israeli men's volleyball players Israeli male middle-distance runners Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah Israeli military personnel killed in action Kibbutzniks Men's association football forwards Israeli military casualties of the Six-Day War Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli sportsmen