Nir Bitton

Nir Bitton (or Biton,[2][3][4] Hebrew: ניר ביטון‎; born 30 October 1991) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as either a defensive midfielder or central defender for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Israel national team. Prior to his professional football career, he completed mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces.[5]

Nir Bitton
Bitton playing for Celtic in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-10-30) 30 October 1991
Place of birth Ashdod, Israel
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 6
Youth career
1997–2009 Ashdod
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2013 Ashdod 123 (14)
2013– Celtic 149 (9)
National team‡
2008 Israel U17 5 (0)
2009 Israel U18 2 (0)
2009 Israel U19 15 (0)
2010–2013 Israel U21 22 (2)
2010– Israel 30 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:14, 23 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 October 2020

Early life

Bitton was born in Ashdod, Israel, to a Sephardic Jewish family.[6] He served as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces.[7]

Club career

Ashdod

Bitton broke into the first team of his home-town club F.C. Ashdod at the age of 17, and went on to make over 100 appearances.[8]

Celtic

On 30 August 2013, Bitton signed a four-year deal with Scottish Premiership club Celtic, for a fee of around £700,000 and a 20% sell-on clause from Israeli Premier League club Ashdod.[9]

He made his debut for the club on 18 September, in a Champions League group stage match against AC Milan, coming into the game as a late substitute in the 89th minute.[10][11] Three weeks later he made another Champions League appearance for Celtic, coming as a 77th-minute substitute against Ajax on 22 October, but was sent off eleven minutes later for a late tackle on Thulani Serero.[10] The resulting suspension and a few niggling injuries hindered Bitton's efforts to establish himself in the team,[12] but he still managed to make a total of 20 appearances for Celtic by the end of his first season there.[13] Celtic won their third successive league title, and Bitton's 15 league appearances saw him pick up his first major honour.[12][14]

In the 2014–15 season, Bitton scored in Celtic's first league match of the season from the penalty spot after a controversial red card for St Johnstone defender Dave Mackay.[15] Celtic winger Derk Boerrigter was later given a 3-match ban for simulation.[16] Later in the season, Bitton scored a stunning 30-yard goal against Dundee. in a 5–0 win.[17] He scored another long distance strike on 12 August 2015, netting from 25 yards into the top corner in a 2–2 draw with Kilmarnock.[18]

To begin the 2015–16 season, on 19 August 2015, Bitton scored against Swedish side Malmö FF in a 3–2 win at Celtic Park in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.[19] On 2 November 2015, Bitton was signed a new contract which would keep him at Celtic until the summer of 2020,[20] and again on 16 December 2019 he extended his contract up to 2023.[21]

International career

In 2009, Bitton was selected to represent Israel at the 2009 Maccabiah Games, and the team won a bronze medal.[22] He played in the only Israel U-21 team to qualify for the UEFA European U21 Championship in 2013.[23]

He made his senior debut for Israel in a friendly match against Uruguay on 26 May 2010. Bitton played a major role in qualifying games for the 2016 UEFA Euro Tournament.[24] He scored his first goal for the national team against Andorra in a 4–0 victory On 3 September 2015.[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of 23 January 2021[26][14][27]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
F.C. Ashdod[lower-roman 1] 2008–09 Israeli Premier League 1000000010
2009–10 Israeli Premier League 201000000201
2010–11 Israeli Premier League 345000000345
2011–12 Israeli Premier League 364000000364
2012–13 Israeli Premier League 314001000324
2013–14 Israeli Premier League 1000000010
Total 1231400100012414
Celtic 2013–14 Scottish Premiership 15010103[lower-alpha 1]0200
2014–15 Scottish Premiership 31250205[lower-alpha 2]0432
2015–16 Scottish Premiership 305302011[lower-alpha 3]3468
2016–17 Scottish Premiership 26130208[lower-alpha 1]1392
2017–18 Scottish Premiership 14010206[lower-alpha 1]0230
2018–19 Scottish Premiership 70300000100
2019–20 Scottish Premiership 150302011[lower-alpha 4]0310
2020–21 Scottish Premiership 11100106[lower-alpha 5]0181
Total 149919012050423013
Career total 2722319013050435427
  1. National Cup and League Cup appearances for F.C. Ashdod unknown
  1. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
  2. Two appearances in the UEFA Champions League and three appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  3. Six appearances and two goals in the UEFA Champions League and five appearances and one goal in the UEFA Europa League
  4. Five appearances in the UEFA Champions League and six appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  5. One appearance in the UEFA Champions League and five appearances in the UEFA Europa League

International goals
Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first.[24]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.3 September 2015Sammy Ofer Stadium, Haifa, Israel Andorra2–04–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
2.10 October 2015Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem, Israel Cyprus1–11–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualification

Honours

Club

Celtic[14]

References
  1. "ניר ביטון נחת. סוכנו: מנצ'סטר סיטי רוצה אותו". Sport5.co.il - אתר ערוץ הספורט.
  2. "football - Nir BITON". www.football.org.il.
  3. "Nir Biton - Celtic Glasgow - Stats - titles won". www.footballdatabase.eu.
  4. https://www.uefa.com/under21/photos/photoid=1959948.html
  5. "Stewart Fisher: Celtic's Nir Bitton is right - you shouldn't mix politics and football". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  6. Pilcher, Ross (3 February 2019). "S'appenin' Bitton? Ofir Marciano looking forward to facing close friend". edinburghlive.
  7. "Meet The 24-Year-Old Celtic Midfielder Who's Been Compared To Sergio Busquets". The18. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  8. "Nir Bitton". Celtic FC. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  9. "Celtic sign Israeli star, Nir Biton". Celtic FC. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  10. "Games Involving Biton, Nir in season 2013/2014". FitbaStats. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  11. "0-2 Vs AC Milan in UEFA Champions League (18/09/2013)". FitbaStats. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  12. Cully, Ronnie (13 February 2014). "Biton out for Celtic shot at glory". Evening Times. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  13. "Biton, Nir". FitbaStats. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  14. "N. Biton". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  15. Burns, Cheri (13 August 2015). "St Johnstone 0 - 3 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  16. "Derk Boerrigter accepts two-match ban for 'simulation'". BBC Sport. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  17. "See Bitton hit wonder goal as Celtic edge closer to title with 5-0 win". STV Sport. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  18. Campbell, Andy (12 August 2015). "Kilmarnock 2 - 2 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  19. "Celtic on top but Berget gives Malmö hope". UEFA. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  20. "Bitton signs contract until 2020 with Scottish champions". BBC Sport. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  21. "Celtic: Nir Bitton signs contract extension until 2023". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  22. "סגלי נבחרות ישראל לטורניר הכדורגל של המכביה". Israel Football Association. 9 July 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  23. "England Crushed by Israel's Winning Goal in Jerusalem (Video)". Jewish Press. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  24. "Nir Biton". National Football Teams. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  25. "Israel back on track after Andorra stroll". UEFA. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  26. Nir Bitton at Soccerbase
  27. "Nir Biton Israel Football Association profile". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  28. "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  29. Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020
  30. "Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
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