Ronny Rosenthal

Ronny Rosenthal (Template:Langx; born 11 October 1963), nicknamed "Rocket Ronny",<ref name=autogenerated1>Template:Cite book</ref> is an Israeli former footballer who played as a forward.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After starting his career in his birth city with Maccabi Haifa, Rosenthal went on to play in Belgium with Club Brugge and Standard Liège. He moved to Liverpool in 1990 for a fee of £1.1 million, becoming the first non-UK player to move to an English club for more than £1 million. After four years at Liverpool, Rosenthal finished his career with Tottenham Hotspur and Watford.

Between 1983 and 1997 he made 60 appearances for the Israel national team, scoring 11 goals.

Early and personal life

Rosenthal was born in Haifa, Israel.<ref name=autogenerated2>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His father, who was born in Bucharest, Romania and is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, immigrated to Israel later on.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name= "romanian passport nephew Denny Gropper">Template:Cite web</ref> His mother, born in Morocco to a Moroccan Jewish family, also immigrated to Israel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His brother Lior Rosenthal is also a former footballer who played for Maccabi Haifa and the Israeli national team.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

Rosenthal married a Belgian, Nancy, who converted to Judaism.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Their two sons, Dean Rosenthal—who was Bar Mitzvah in Israel—and Tom Rosenthal, were born in England.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Dean is director of a sporting management company; while Tom, formerly on the books of Queens Park Rangers as a midfielder, formerly played for the Dutch team FC Dordrecht, and has been capped by Belgium at the under-18 and U19 levels—where he scored three goals—and has switched to Israel and was named to its U21 national team in 2018 for the Euro 2019 qualifiers against Germany and Norway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>"Rosenthal called up by Israel U21s; English-born Tom Rosenthal has been named in Israel’s under-21 squad for the Euro 2019 qualifiers against Germany and Norway."</ref>

Rosenthal now resides in London, and has worked as a football agent and consultant.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> His nephew is Israeli international footballer Denny Gropper.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= "romanian passport nephew Denny Gropper" />

On 11 May 2019, Rosenthal and his family were subjected to a "terrifying ordeal", when masked machetes-holding robbers, raided his home in Cricklewood, England.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Club career

He was left-footed, and began his playing career with Maccabi Haifa in the city in which he was born in his native Israel, winning two Israeli league titles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=autogenerated2 /> Rosenthal left his homeland to sign for Belgian side Club Brugge KV in 1988.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> He scored 15 goals in two seasons, and won the Belgian league title one season.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

After a short spell at Udinese, where he failed to play a single game, and a trial at Luton Town which saw him score twice in three games, Rosenthal joined English side Liverpool on loan in March 1990, as manager Kenny Dalglish looked to increase his options for the forward positions during Liverpool's league title run-in.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He made his debut for the Reds in a 3-2 win over Southampton at Anfield on 31 March 1990, scoring his first goal for the club eleven days later in a 4-0 away win over Charlton Athletic at Selhurst Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He scored seven goals in eight Football League First Division games, including a hat-trick against Charlton Athletic, which helped Liverpool secure their third league title in five seasons. His move to Anfield was then made permanent for a fee of £1 million - double the fee which had been quoted before the loan deal was agreed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> At Anfield, he became a cult hero.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During the 1990–91 season, Rosenthal faced continued fierce competition for a place in the first team from Liverpool's established strikers Ian Rush and Peter Beardsley, and then from mid-season signing David Speedie. He played 16 times in the league, and scored five goals as Liverpool finished second in the league. In 1991–92, Rosenthal played 20 times in the league, but it was a frustrating league campaign for both player and club, as the Reds finished sixth in the league and Rosenthal only found the net three times. Liverpool did win the FA Cup that season, but Rosenthal was not selected for the final. Despite the pre-season departure of both Speedie and Beardsley, Rosenthal was now faced with competition for a place from new signing Dean Saunders. 1992–93 was slightly better, as Rosenthal played 27 games in the new Premier League, and scored six goals, but it was another frustrating season for Liverpool, who finished sixth in the league once again and spent most of the season occupying even lower positions. Saunders had been sold to Aston Villa early in the season, while new signing Paul Stewart proved to be a major disappointment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A memorable occasion during that first Premier League season came when Rosenthal hit the crossbar with a shot on an open goal in a league match against Aston Villa.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

With the arrival of Nigel Clough in the summer of 1993, and the breakthrough of Robbie Fowler soon after, Rosenthal played just three league games for Liverpool in 1993–94 and was sold to Tottenham Hotspur in January 1994.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Rosenthal scored on his debut in February 1994, in a home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday. He became a regular member of the first team at White Hart Lane, playing 15 league games and scoring twice before the season's end. Despite Teddy Sheringham overcoming injury problems, and the close season signing of Jürgen Klinsmann, Rosenthal still managed to appear in 20 Premier League games in 1994–95, though he failed to score. His best form came in the FA Cup, in which he scored five goals in Tottenham's run to the semi-final. This included a hat-trick in a 6–2 fifth round replay win at Southampton. Klinsmann was then sold to Bayern Munich and Spurs signed Chris Armstrong, but Rosenthal still played in all but five of Tottenham's 38 Premier League games in 1995–96, mostly as a substitute, but only scored one goal.Template:Citation needed

1996–97 brought a similar story for player and club. For the third consecutive season, Spurs fell short of a UEFA Cup place, while Rosenthal was on the scoresheet only once in the league, and this time was restricted to 20 league appearances. In more than three years in North London, Rosenthal had appeared in 88 league games (55 of them starts) but scored just four goals.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He then dropped down two divisions to sign for Watford, and played 30 games over the next seasons and scored eight goals as Watford won back-to-back promotions to reach the FA Premier League. He then retired from playing at the age of 35.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

International career

Rosenthal was also a regular member of the Israel national team for most of his career. He won his first senior cap in 1983, and by the time his international career drew to a close in 1997, he had been capped 60 times and scored 11 goals.<ref name=autogenerated2 /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref name="wf">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="nft">Template:NFT</ref>

Club	Season	League			National cupTemplate:Efn		League cupTemplate:Efn		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Maccabi Haifa	1980–81	Liga Artzit	27	4			—		—		—		27	4
	1981–82	Liga Leumit	24	7			—		—		—		24	7
	1983–84	Liga Leumit	23	6			—		—		—		23	6
	1984–85	Liga Leumit	30	12			—		—		—		30	12
	1985–86	Liga Leumit	33	13			—		—		—		33	13
	Total		137	42			—		—		—		137	42
Club Brugge	1986–87	Belgian First Division	28	11			—		2Template:Efn	2	—		30	13
	1987–88	Belgian First Division	15	4			—		8Template:Efn	0	—		23	4
	Total		43	15			—		10	2	—		53	17
Standard Liège	1988–89	Belgian First Division	30	14			—		—		—		30	14
	1989–90	Belgian First Division	14	6			—		—		—		14	6
	Total		44	20			—		—		—		44	20
Liverpool (loan)	1989–90	First Division	8	7	0	0	0	0	—		—		8	7
Liverpool	1990–91	First Division	16	5	3	0	3	0	—		1Template:Efn	0	23	5
	1991–92	First Division	20	3	3	0	0	0	1Template:Efn	0	—		27	3
	1992–93	Premier League	27	6	2	0	3	1	3Template:Efn	0	1Template:Efn	0	36	6
	1993–94	Premier League	3	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
	Total		74	21	8	0	9	1	4	0	2	0	97	22
Tottenham Hotspur	1993–94	Premier League	15	2					—		—		15	2
	1994–95	Premier League	20	0	4	4	1	0	—		—		25	4
	1995–96	Premier League	33	1	5	2	2	1	—		—		40	4
	1996–97	Premier League	20	1					—		—		20	1
	Total		88	4	9	6	3	1	—		—		100	11
Watford	1997–98	Second Division	25	8			4	1	—		—		29	9
	1998–99	First Division	5	0	1	0	2	0	—		—		8	0
	Total		30	8	1	0	6	1	—		—		37	9
Career total			416	110	18	6	18	3	14	2	2	0	468	121

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref name="wf"/><ref name="nft"/>

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Israel	1984	1	0
	1985	7	0
	1986	3	0
	1987	2	0
	1988Template:Efn	4	1
	1989	8	2
	1992	4	1
	1993	7	2
	1994	7	3
	1995	5	1
	1996	3	0
	1997	4	0
Total		55	10

Israel score listed first, score column indicates score after each Rosenthal goal<ref name="wf"/><ref name="nft"/>

List of international goals scored by Ronny RosenthalTemplate:Efn

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 February 1988	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	17	Template:Fb	1–0	1–3	Friendly
2	4 March 1989	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	22	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	9 April 1989	Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	24	Template:Fb	1–0	2–2	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	9 September 1992	Stadion Stali Mielec, Mielec, Poland	26	Template:Fb	1–1	1–1	Friendly
5	11 May 1993	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	32	Template:Fb	2–1	2–2	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	27 October 1993	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	35	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	16 November 1994	Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium, Trabzon, Turkey	41	Template:Fb	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
8	29 November 1994	Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem, Israel	42	Template:Fb	4–3	4–3	Friendly
9	14 December 1994	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	43	Template:Fb	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
10	25 April 1995	Górnik Zabrze Stadium, Zabrze, Poland	45	Template:Fb	1–1	3–4	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying

Honours

Maccabi Haifa

• Liga Leumit: 1983–84, 1984–85; runner-up, 1985–86

Club Brugge KV

• Belgian First Division: 1987–88

Liverpool FC

• Football League: 1989-90
• FA Charity Shield: 1990

Watford FC

• Football League Second Division: 1997–98
• Football League Championship play-offs: 1999

See also

• List of Jewish footballers

External links

• Template:Soccerbase
• Ronny Rosenthal's page on Official Liverpool F.C. web site
• Ronny Rosenthal's index at Sporting-heroes.net
• LFChistory.net player profile