Avi Cohen

Avi Cohen was born in 1956 in Cairo

Cohen was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1956. His father, Moshe, coached the Maccabi Cairo basketball team. The family moved to Israel and in 1962 settled in Ramat HaShikma in Ramat Gan.

He joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv children's team in 1965 and first played for the senior side in the 1973/1974 season. He won league titles with the club in 1976/1977 and 1978/1979. In 1979 Liverpool bought him, and he played 36 matches there before returning to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 1981/1982 season.

In 1984 he helped found the Israel Professional Footballers Association and served as its first chairman. In 1987 he joined Rangers in Scotland under Graeme Souness and won the League Cup. He later played again for Maccabi Tel Aviv and ended his career with Maccabi Netanya, where he was also assistant coach.

In the 1990s and 2000s he coached clubs such as Maccabi Netanya, Ironi Ashdod and Hapoel Kfar Saba, and worked as a television commentator. In April 2005 he was elected chairman of the footballers association again and held the post until his death. In 2008 he took part in Dancing with the Stars.

On 20 December 2010 he was critically injured when a vehicle hit his scooter in Ramat Gan. He died at Ichilov Hospital in late December 2010. He was married to Dorit and had 3 children, including the footballer Tamir Cohen.