# Reuven Atar

Reuven Atar (Hebrew: ראובן עטר; born 3 January 1969) is an Israeli football manager and former player. As a player, he played as a midfielder, most notably with Maccabi Haifa. As a manager, he's mostly known for having five spells with Maccabi Netanya.

## Early life

Atar was born in Tirat Carmel, Israel, to Sephardic Jewish immigrant parents from Iraq. During his adolescence, he played football for the Maccabi Haifa youth club. For many, he is one of the greatest players to ever wear the Haifa colors.

## Playing career

After playing eight seasons for Maccabi Haifa and winning three titles for the club (the Toto Cup, and the Israel State Cup twice – one of which as both a Cup and a championship title at the same year), he joined the local rival team – Hapoel Haifa for four seasons, before being signed off to Beitar Jerusalem. At Beitar he played only one match before being injured, which rendered him unable to play during the rest of the season.
In the next season, Atar moved to Hapoel Petah Tikva for a single season, before moving back to Hapoel Haifa and a few months later back to Beitar Jerusalem, where he became one of the most popular players. In 2000, he returned to Maccabi Haifa, winning two championships. Atar left Haifa for Maccabi Netanya before the 2002–03 season, the last team in his professional career as a player.

## Coaching career

During the season at Maccabi Netanya, Atar was injured and decided to retire from his career as a player. He quickly signed as assistant coach at Maccabi Netanya, first alongside Gili Landau and later on Eli Cohen. At the end of the 2003–04 season, Cohen left the club, and Atar was chosen as the club's head-coach. Even though Netanya was relegated at the end of that season to the second league in Israel, Liga Leumit, Atar remained in his position and helped the club return to the Premier League after one season. In 2006, Atar was sent home by Netanya's new manager, Eyal Berkovich, and proceeded to move and coach Maccabi Herzliya, from which he was fired after eight league games before returning to Netanya, later guiding the club to the second place in the Israeli Premier League, and the UEFA Cup Qualifying rounds.
Atar was later dismissed from Netanya, after team's owner Daniel Jammer signed Lothar Matthäus.
In September 2008, he signed for Beitar Jerusalem replacing Itzhak Shum. Later that year he won the Israeli Cup, but was dismissed and replaced by Shum.
On 29 September 2009, Atar returned once again to Maccabi Netanya, making it his third stint as the manager of the club. On 7 May 2011, he broke Netanya's undefeated streak from 1971 as he managed the team for 16 straight games without losing a match.
On 23 April 2012, he signed a two-year contract for his home club of Maccabi Haifa. In 13 November he was sacked from Haifa.
On 19 March 2013, he returned to Maccabi Netanya for his fourth stint as the manager of the club.
In the start of the 2014–15 season he worked as the manager of Hapoel Haifa. He was fired after four months on the job.
On 6 November 2015, Atar returned to Maccabi Netanya for his fifth stint as the manager of the club.

## Career statistics
### Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition: :
| Club | Season | League | League | Israel State Cup | Israel State Cup | Toto Cup | Toto Cup | Europe | Europe | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1986–87 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | | | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1987–88 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | | | | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1988–89 | 27 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | | | | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1989–90 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | | | | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1990–91 | 30 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1991–92 | 28 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | | | | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1992–93 | 31 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | | | | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1993–94 | 37 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | | |
| Hapoel Haifa | 1994–95 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | | | | |
| Hapoel Haifa | 1995–96 | 27 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | | | | |
| Hapoel Haifa | 1996–97 | 6 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1996–97 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | | | | | |
| Hapoel Haifa | 1997–98 | 11 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| Beitar Jerusalem | 1997–98 | 1 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| Hapoel Petach Tikva | 1998–99 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | | | | |
| Hapoel Haifa | 1999–2000 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | 1999–2000 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 1999–2000 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 2000–01 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 39 | 5 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 2001–02 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Maccabi Netanya | 2002–03 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 11 |
| Career total | Career total | 423 | 113 | | | | | | | | |

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Israel | 1989 | 2 | 0 |
| Israel | 1990 | 3 | 0 |
| Israel | 1991 | 0 | 0 |
| Israel | 1992 | 1 | 0 |
| Israel | 1993 | 12 | 1 |
| Israel | 1994 | 6 | 0 |
| Israel | 1995 | 3 | 1 |
| Israel | 1996 | 5 | 1 |
| Israel | 1997 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 33 | 3 |
    Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Atar goal.
List of international goals scored by Reuven Atar :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 13 October 1993 | Parc des Princes, Paris, France | France | 3–2 | 1994 FIFA World Cup 2004 qualifying |
| 2 | 20 September 1995 | Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem, Israel | Uruguay | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 21 February 1996 | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium, Haifa, Israel | Lithuania | 4–2 | Friendly |

## Managerial statistics

| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Team | Nat | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win % |
| Maccabi Netanya | | 21 February 2004 | 14 May 2006 | 94 | 38 | 23 | 33 | 040.43 |
| Maccabi Herzliya | | 21 July 2006 | 7 November 2006 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 015.38 |
| Maccabi Netanya | | 3 January 2007 | 1 June 2008 | 66 | 32 | 21 | 13 | 048.48 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | | 3 September 2008 | 26 May 2009 | 45 | 23 | 8 | 14 | 051.11 |
| Maccabi Netanya | | 29 September 2009 | 12 May 2012 | 112 | 47 | 27 | 38 | 041.96 |
| Maccabi Haifa | | 1 July 2012 | 13 November 2012 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 023.08 |
| Maccabi Netanya | | 19 March 2013 | 18 May 2013 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 033.33 |
| Hapoel Haifa | | 12 May 2014 | 16 February 2015 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 033.33 |
| Maccabi Netanya | | 6 November 2015 | 10 January 2016 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 000.00 |
| Hapoel Afula | | 20 January 2017 | 2 August 2017 | 18 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 022.22 |
| Ashdod | | 3 August 2017 | 3 October 2017 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 011.11 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 414 | 162 | 111 | 141 | 039.13 |

## Honours
### Player

Maccabi Haifa
* Israeli Premier League: 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2001–02
* State Cup: 1991, 1993; runner-up 1987, 1989, 2002
* Toto Cup: 1993–94

### Manager

Maccabi Netanya
* Toto Cup (Leumit): 2004–05
* Israeli Second Division runner-up: 2004–05
* Israeli Premier League runner-up: 2006–07, 2007–08
Beitar Jerusalem
* State Cup: 2009