Ellis Spikner

Striker - Hapoel Acre
7 Jan 2027
Thursday
Process

Marked for Ellis Spikner

22 Edition

The Hapoel Acre Gazette

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Hapoel Acre's wait for a win

16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hapoel Acre has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Hapoel Acre sink to position 14

4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Ofek Antman keeps Hapoel Acre in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Amit David breaks a bone — 47 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

Ellis Spikner says Hapoel Acre went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

A bad afternoon for Hapoel Acre against Maccabi Haifa

1‑3 to Maccabi Haifa, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

A row about effort at Hapoel Acre

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roei Shukrani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Roei Shukrani

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roei Shukrani, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Hapoel Acre

Ya'acov Abeba and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

Back issues
19 Edition

The Hapoel Acre Gazette

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Hapoel Acre

13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

The dugout

Diaa Lababedy keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hapoel Acre may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Hapoel Acre

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Words at Hapoel Acre training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roei Shukrani is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Hapoel Raanana take the points off Hapoel Acre

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Looking ahead

A six-pointer for Hapoel Acre

Hapoel Kfar Saba next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.

The dugout

Uri Dabbur faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Uri Dabbur after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Squad

Tempers go at Hapoel Acre

Saar Schwartz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Ange Messi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

In brief

16 Edition

The Hapoel Acre Gazette

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Hapoel Acre

10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Hapoel Acre

0‑3 against Hapoel Tel Aviv, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Ofek Antman keeps Hapoel Acre in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Hapoel Acre are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Squad

A row about effort at Hapoel Acre

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roei Shukrani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Hapoel Acre

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Squad

Ya'acov Abeba in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Acre this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Uri Dabbur: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ellis Spikner

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

10 Edition

The Hapoel Acre Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

9 saves: Ofek Antman was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ange Messi

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

The wait goes on for Hapoel Acre

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Yoni El Malem is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Hapoel Acre

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

A row about effort at Hapoel Acre

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roei Shukrani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Hapoel Haifa take the points off Hapoel Acre

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

Nitai Greis gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Ange Messi is the month’s best young player

At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Hapoel Acre will try not to make too much of it.

In brief

8 Edition

The Hapoel Acre Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A falling-out at Hapoel Acre

Roei Shukrani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Hapoel Acre rebuffed over Richardson Rivas

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fortaleza CEIF have kept their man, and Hapoel Acre go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Hapoel Acre come up short against Maccabi Petach Tikva

Maccabi Petach Tikva left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ofek Antman

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ofek Antman, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Uri Dabbur answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Yadin Lugasi

7.65, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Hapoel Acre had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

Squad

Ange Messi, 20, is the weekend’s best young player

Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Hapoel Acre would like this to lead.

Looking ahead

Nitai Greis faces his old club

Maccabi Haifa next, and one man in the Hapoel Acre dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

Squad

A first team debut at 14 for Sagiv Benayoun

Off the academy pitches and into a senior shirt, at 14. The parents in the stand will keep the programme, and so will he.

In brief

7 Edition

The Hapoel Acre Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Hapoel Acre tear Hapoel Kfar Saba apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Hapoel Kfar Saba, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Ange Messi, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.30

A mark of 8.30 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Santiago Gauna

Hapoel Acre asked and Almirante Brown said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Roei Shukrani falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Ange Messi

At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

Emmanuel Solomon beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Hapoel Acre promote Almog Cohen from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Almog Cohen has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Osama Khalaila

Marked 8.38 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Raz Twizer in the eights

A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

6 Edition

The Hapoel Acre Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Hapoel Acre close the window on a squad of their own making

14 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Transfer targets

San Martín tell Hapoel Acre: Tiago Peñalba is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

A row about effort at Hapoel Acre

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roei Shukrani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Osama Khalaila

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Osama Khalaila, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Emmanuel Solomon was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

A step back for Nitai Greis at Hapoel Acre

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Uri Dabbur was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Hapoel Acre dressing room was either.

Match

Point won or two lost for Hapoel Acre?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Hapoel Raanana? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

Looking ahead

A reunion for Louai Taha

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Hapoel Kfar Saba in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

In brief