Place of birth United States 2000–2001 Hapoel Petah Tikva 1998–2000 Maccabi Tel Aviv Height 1.80 m | Years Team Role Footballer 1997–1998 Maccabi Tel Aviv Name Ronnie Gafney | |
Date of birth (1980-03-11) March 11, 1980 (age 35) | ||
Ronnie Gafney (Hebrew: רוני גפני; born March 11, 1980) is an American-Israeli footballer .
Though born in the United States, his family moved back to Israel in 1988 where he started to play organized football. His developmental years were spent at Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he made his professional debut during the 1998–99 season in a match against Hapoel Tzafririm Holon. Though he could not break the first team on a regular basis as Dedi Ben Dayan was just coming into his own, so Gafni headed to Hapoel Petah Tikva where he languished on the bench. His move to Bnei Yehuda gave him playing time, and he even scored a game-winning goal in the 2002–03 season against his future club Beitar Jerusalem. Eventually he was recognized as being one of the best left backs in all of Israel at that time. He was rewarded with an appearance at the end of the Avraham Grant send off game versus Denmark.