Uri Magbo, one of the more recognisable journeymen of the Israeli lower leagues over the past decade, has a new club: Hapoel Umm al-Fahm, who play in Liga Alef North, confirmed on Friday that the 38-year-old left-back has signed until the end of the season.
"The experienced left-back Uri Magbo has joined the club until the end of the season," Hapoel Umm al-Fahm said in a statement carried by ONE, adding that Magbo brings "extensive experience and a strong leadership personality" to a squad being rebuilt under coach Tomer Kashtan.
Magbo, for his part, framed the move as buying into a project rather than winding down a career. According to ONE, he said the club and its supporters "deserve at least the Premier League" — a pointed statement of ambition for a side currently competing in Israel's third tier.
The name will mean plenty to Beitar Jerusalem fans. Magbo had two spells in the yellow and black, first arriving in 2015 and featuring in the club's European campaigns, then returning in 2019 for a second stint that produced some of the most vivid moments of his career.
He scored in extra time as Beitar beat Maccabi Tel Aviv to lift the 2019 Toto Cup, and the following year won the competition again with the club. In 2021 he struck a late equaliser against Bnei Yehuda that proved pivotal in Beitar's fight to avoid relegation from the top flight.
Those Beitar years sit at the peak of a long and well-travelled career. Magbo has made more than 450 league appearances and scored around 35 goals, passing through clubs including Maccabi Petah Tikva, Ironi Kiryat Shmona and Hapoel Kfar Saba along the way. Last season he made 31 appearances for Hapoel Hadera.
At Umm al-Fahm he joins a club looking to climb back up the pyramid after relegation from Liga Leumit at the end of the 2024–25 season, and his arrival is being pitched by the club as a statement of intent for the campaign ahead.
