Egon Pollak

Egon Pollak was born in 1898 in Vienna

Pollak was born in 1898 in Vienna to a Jewish family. He played from a young age for Hakoah Vienna, a Jewish club, as a midfielder.

With Hakoah he won the Austrian championship in 1925 and visited Mandatory Palestine twice. He later played in the United States for the New York Giants and retired as a player in 1932.

In 1934 he became coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv and brought in youth players. In 1938 he also coached the Mandatory Palestine team, and resigned after losses to Greece in World Cup qualifying. He joined Maccabi Tel Aviv's 1939 tour of Australia, stayed there longer, and later coached the club again until 1947.

After Israel's independence he coached the national team in its first match, a 3-1 loss to the United States, and was then replaced. He went on to coach Hapoel Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi Ramat Gan and Beitar Tel Aviv, and worked as a sports commentator.

He published an autobiography in 1976. In the 1970s he moved to Germany, where he died in 1981.