Lowys, Leeds and looking back

Decades ago in Sydney, a father took his three sons regularly to watch Hakoah play soccer, but this came to a halt in 1987 when the club withdrew from the National Soccer League.

Almost forty years later, the father, Frank Lowy, joined his three sons, David, Peter and Steven in the directors’ box in Elland Rd, the home of Premier League club Leeds United, in which the family partly owns, with Peter being a director.

The last time they watched a game together was in 2006 in Germany.

The Lowys’ connection to Hakoah is legendary.

Even though newly-promoted Leeds beat Everton 1-0 last Monday in its first appearance in the EPL since 2020, the Lowys relished their soccer reunion rather than Leeds’ victory.

Peter had travelled from Los Angeles, David from New York, Steven from Sydney and patriarch and Westfield Shopping Centre co-founder Frank from Tel Aviv.

Even before Hakoah retired from the NSL, it was a rare occasion when all four were together. As Westfield expanded internationally, Peter and David were relocated to America.

Peter told J-Wire: “For the four of us to be together watching a football team we are all in love after all these years with, is insane. Growing up, Hakoah came first, and now Leeds comes first.”

Frank Lowy was the president of Hakoah and the National Soccer League. During the Hakoah years, Leeds was chaired by a well-known member of Leeds’ Jewish community, Mannie Cussins, between 1972 and 1983. In the halcyon 70s, Scottish international Eddie Gray played for Leeds under legendary manager Don Revie and in later years became the manager himself.

Eddie joined the four Lowy men to watch Monday’s match.

The Lowy football fanatics had plans for years to invest in an English team and, for value reasons, passed an opportunity to buy 1o% of Arsenal.

Leeds United went into administration in 2004, the same year they were relegated from the Premier League to Division One.

Peter said: “It became the only franchise available at a reasonable price and it had a great Jewish support base. It also had a strong history from the 1960s through to 2000. Leeds is also one of the few cities that has one major club and with its environs has a population of around four million. It was in essence underinveted and somewhat rundown. There is a beauty of rebuilding the club recreating a successful franchise.”

The four international spectators watched as Lukas Nmecha found the net from a match-winning penalty in the 84th minute.

Peter recalled: “The four of us were jumping up and down and going crazy. It was like watching a Hakoah game. It brought memories of Pan-Hellenic, Apia, St George and others.”

He said this story is one of a lifetime in the history of football for a family, saying,  “Leeds has brought us back together within football as a football family.”

Peter Lowy is not sure of how many times this experience will be repeated. Frank Lowy is now 95. With a crowd of 35,000 to contend with, attending busy venues creates difficulties.

He added, “But for us, it was just beauty. It was a thing of beauty for the four of us to be on in that stadium together. It’s like my dad’s the dad, and we’re the children, and we’re at the football with him.”

Asked if when watching Leeds and Everton, was the pictured blurred of memories of Hakoah, Peter answered: ” The answer is yes. Your mind goes back to Hakoah. You feel like you’re a young boy, you’ve gone to Wentworth Park with your dad. The difference is that this is the greatest league in the world, and the one place you aspire to when you’re a lover of football is the Premier League. And while Wentworth Park was home, and Hakoah was incredible, and it was our lives, the four of us went to a football game where we own a piece of a Premier League team.

We don’t talk Westfield anymore. We don’t talk business. We talk football. And to be able to do that with my dad being 95 is unbelievable.”

The four Lowys meet regularly, either in Israel or in New York.

Peter added: “Dad’s going to be 95 in October, and there he is in a Premier League stadium, sitting with his three sons in the in the directors’ box”.

The Lowys have their investment through the U.S. football team, the San Francisco 49ers, who run Leeds United.

“The reverence that they gave my dad and that the 49ers’ directors and chairman gave my dad was absolutely beautiful”, Peter Lowy told J-Wire.

Frank Lowy told J-Wire: “Being at Elland Rd all together was very special and reminded us of our days together at Wentworth Park over 50 years ago to support Hakoah. Now it’s the legendary club Leeds United. It was fantastic to be together in an electric atmosphere. Beating Everton was a special start to the season in the toughest league in the world.

Listening to Leeds legend Eddie Gray screaming ‘Go Willie (Gnontto)’ reminded me of screaming ‘Go Willie ( Rutherford)’ in the 60s and 70s for Hakoah. How special to remember the decades of football together and the bond it created for my family.”