Open Cup legends Maccabi LA – in Photos
Maccabi Los Angeles were near unstoppable in the American club game for a decade in the 1970s and early 80s. Founded by a handful of Holocaust survivors in Southern California in 1971, the Maccabees boasted a squad loaded with former pros, Israeli national team standouts and even – in keeping with the rich Hollywood roots in the area – one Emmy award-winning actor. The meteoric Maccabi LA lifted the U.S. Open Cup (then the National Challenge Cup) five times on seven trips to the Final. Join us for a rare photographic look back at these legends of the semipro era and one of just two teams in history to lift five Cups.
Former Israeli international Benny Binshtock (left) was a toymaker by trade and good enough on the field to draw the attention of Pele and the old New York Cosmos. Here he poses with the Dewar Cup (the original U.S. Open Cup trophy)
Members of Maccabi LA pose with Brazilian legend and 1970 World Cup winner Tostao (third from left) at the LA Coliseum. Defender Eli Marmur is at the far right, Benny Binshtock is second from right and Daytime Emmy Award Winner Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast in Nazi Germany) is second from left. The actor, who still plays Victor Newman on the The Young and the Restless, was a left back for the Maccabees in their 1973 Open Cup-winning team
The Maccabees win the coin toss before the 1973 Open Cup (then National Challenge Cup) Western Semifinal against the San Jose Portuguese. They won 2-1 after a 0-0 result in the first leg forced a replay. In the other rounds that year, the Maccabees beat the Yugoslav Americans, St. Stephens and Croatian SC (all 1-0) before besting Inter Italian of Ohio 5-3 in the Final.
Defender Eli Marmur – a physical therapist and member of the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame – poses with the Dewar Cup (the original U.S. Open Cup/National Challenge Cup trophy) at Maccabi LA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium
The Maccabees hosted a number of overseas professional clubs and traveling national teams over the course of their brief history at the top of the American game
Benny Binshtock (left) is considered among the best players in the history of Maccabi Los Angeles. In addition to being offered a contract to play for the star-studded New York Cosmos of the old NASL, he was also invited to line up for Israel at the World Cup in Mexico in 1970. He had to decline on both occasions due to work/life conflicts
The 1973 Open Cup-winning Maccabi LA team. This was the first of five national titles (and seven Finals) for the club. A quick look at the names shows that, despite having a core of Jewish players, there were a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities represented
IMaccabi LA were powers in the Greater Los Angeles Soccer League (GLASL) alongside the likes of San Pedro Yugoslavs, Los Angeles SC, LA Gauchos, United Armenians and South Bay Unitedmage Text: [No text in field]
Benny Binshtock and the Maccabees in action in league play in the GLASL – a league they dominated during the 1970s and early in the 80s. Local newspapers regularly covered the team in national and league play
Maccabi LA Team photo with the Greater Los Angeles Soccer League (GLASL) trophy
The Maccabees played in seven Open Cup Finals in the 1970s and 80s and they won five of them. Only one other team – the legendary Bethlehem Steel – can officially claim to have won that many
The Maccabees graced more than a few covers of the SoCal Soccer Magazine (a regional Soccer America publication of the time)
Trophies – both local and national – were not rare at Maccabi LA in the 1970s and 80s
Close-up of the Maccabi LA logo
Local press ahead of the Maccabees’ friendly with the Israeli National Team