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Danny Caro is one of the most well-known names in the world of Jewish sport, and has had a long and extensive career in the field earning him the title of 'Mr Jewish Sport'. This is his incredible story, read about Danny's journey in his words below.
Sport, and in particular, Jewish sport, has played a significant and influential role in my life.
Sport is an important tool for so many reasons. Ultimately it brings people together, is good for body and mind, and it teaches us about sportsmanship, respect, and how to win and handle disappointment.
Community values are also incredibly important to me. Back in the day there was a plethora of Jewish youth clubs - Bar Kochba, Leytonstone Victoria, Barkingside, Catford & Bromley Maccabi, Kenton, Kinnor and Oxford & St George’s to name a few.
Growing up near Golders Green, my journey started at MAL (Maccabi Association London) in Compayne Gardens, West Hampstead. It probably started there for a few of your parents and relatives too. Ask them!
Around the same time, I attended Hampstead Garden Suburb Primary, then Mathilda Marks Kennedy before moving on to JFS school in Camden. I wasn’t particularly academic but came into my own during PE lessons and team sports.
I started kicking a football literally as soon as I could walk and enjoyed five-a-side games in the sports hall at MAL, under the watchful eye of Spurs legend Terry Dyson. I earned my first experience of international sport here, selected for a GB Rep team who played against Maccabi France.
Aged 11, and just down the road to MAL, I joined Hampstead Cricket Club. I was self-taught and a fast learner at each sport - spending many hours too in front of the TV - Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and Glenn Hoddle were my football idols, Bjorn Borg for tennis and Ian Botham for cricket. You could say I’d set the bar high!
Cricket became my number one summer sport and I joined the Hampstead U11 colts team, who were coached by former England and Surrey player Chris Wynn, who also played top-level rugby. I was predominantly a batsman who bowled a bit, and found my place at the top of the order. I spent 19 very happy years at Hampstead, progressing through the U13, 15 and 17 teams and started playing for the adult XI’s at 15, scoring my first century aged 17.
I was also fortunate to play county level for Middlesex colts and scored a half century against the Bangladesh U17s in a representative match - several of the visiting team went on to play Test cricket.
Another highlight was playing and training regularly with Andrew Caddick. He mentored some of the club’s top junior players at Hampstead before he moved to Somerset and went on to play for England with distinction. Another landmark honour for me was being the youngest-ever captain of Hampstead 2nd XI aged 17. I also played for the club’s 1st XI several times and was in the team that won the coveted Bertie Joel Cup. After moving into men’s cricket, I did my coaching badges and was proud to help the club’s U17 team win the league area cup.
So, it was cricket through the summer and football in the winter. While at JFS, I joined a team called EBOR Eagles aged 13 in the old AJY League. We were predominantly a team of school-mates who took Jewish football by storm. We stayed together for a good few years and entered the Maccabi (Southern) Football League. I recall a famous victory over then giants Marshside.
The team disbanded due to university commitments and I joined Temple Fortune FC, where I won Player of the Year three times in four years - twice as goalkeeper and once as a right-back.
At the end of that season, I had a call from North West Neasden, who were one of the best teams around at that time, and I spent several happy seasons there. My best memory there was beating big rivals Scrabble on penalties in the Peter Morrison National Trophy - I saved 3 spot-kicks and converted the winning kick. Limbs!
I went on to enjoy stints with Faithfold, Scrabble, South Mancs, Brixton Old Boys and North London Raiders, and also played one match for the MSFL Representative Team. Then I moved into the Maccabi Masters League, for Faithfold, before an injury forced me to stop playing at 42.
I was also fortunate to have a successful spell playing Jewish cricket - in the Maccabi Sunday League. Upon leaving Hampstead not long after getting married, I joined Casual Nomads and helped the club enjoy a wonderful journey, going from nearly men to champions. We won every trophy available and I captained the team to the league and Stuart Neil’s Cup double - a very proud moment. We dominated Jewish cricket for a period and I managed to win every individual and team award.
I later played for Belmont & Edgware for one season before moving on to London Maccabi Vale, where I helped the team climb the Middlesex Sunday League ladder, and later the Chess Valley League, where we were enjoyed promoted from Division 7 to Division 1 in quick time.
But without doubt, some of my proudest and most memorable experiences playing cricket have come representing Great Britain at the world Maccabiah Games in Israel. We won bronze medals in 2005 and 2013 and as player-manager in 2017, I was proud to lead my country to silver after losing a nail-biting final to South Africa.
My Maccabiah journey did not end there, though, as not long after picking up a tennis racquet, I was picked for the GB Masters in Israel in 2022.
The Maccabiah is the pinnacle for many Jewish sportsmen and women, and marching into the opening ceremony in front of 40,000 spectators in Israel, surrounded by another 10,000 fellow athletes from around the world, is simply an experience I will always cherish. I’m proud to have represented my country four times, and across two sports, and I have made many friends for life.
So that’s my playing history done … I’ve also managed North London Raiders in the MSFL, alongside Adam Fegan - winning the Division One title and reaching the semi-finals of the Peter Morrison Trophy, and more recently, managing my son’s HMH team in the Watford Friendly League for several seasons - an incredibly fulfilling experience. Other football titles include goalkeeping coach and Director of Football at FC Team.
Off the pitch, I’ve also enjoyed what many have described as “a dream job,” writing about Jewish sport. I first cut my teeth into journalism during the 1990’s when doing work experience on the sports desks at the Jewish Chronicle, Hendon & Finchley Times and Ham & High. I realised then I had a strong interest in statistics and story-telling.
But some years later, my route into journalism was pretty unconventional. While at university, I sent my match reports into the Jewish News who published them every week. This quickly went from freelance to part-time to a full-time role and I became Sports Editor in 1999.
Coverage of Jewish sport was fairly minimal in those days but things developed quickly and the JN went from one page of sport to five super fast. I was never short of material and added features such as Team of the Week and Player Profiles, which my readership loved.
Then something called the internet was developed and this was a real game-changer, as Maccabi League players didn’t need to wait until the following Friday to read my match reports from the previous Sunday. They could read it almost immediately and it turned into a 24/6 obsession.
Things really started to snowball and in 2003 I was part of the Jewish News’ team who won the coveted title of Press Gazette Regional Newspaper of the Year. The awards were held at Old Trafford (I should probably mention at this point that I’m a Liverpool fan!)
Jewish and Israeli teams, sportsmen and women nationwide were literally fighting to get coverage in the paper and following a merger with the totallyjewish website, the football messageboard was the hot topic up and down the land. It certainly provided some entertaining moments.
Whenever I wasn’t playing sport, I made the effort to cover Maccabi teams, spending Sundays on the touchline along with photographer David Katz. We were quite the double act.
I left the JN in 2005 and after three months doing shift work on the sports desk at Teletext and the Evening Standard website, I was appointed Sports Editor at the Jewish Chronicle later that year.
2005 was a memorable year for several reasons as I was presented with a special award for outstanding services to Maccabi football by the MSFL and Masters Leagues, and was also named Maccabi GB Sports Personality of the Year.
I spent 15 incredibly happy years at the JC, where highlights included interviewing the late Sir Bobby Charlton at the start of the Maccabiah Games in Israel in 2009. A year earlier I interviewed England manager Steve McClaren ahead of the European Championship qualifying double-header between Israel and England. Before the first game in Ramat Gan, I was invited as part of a special JNF trip in a delegation led by England and Liverpool legend John Barnes and the late Avi Cohen. Part of the trip saw was a peace mission where they did a skills school with Palestinian and Israeli children.
Other stand-out moments on a professional level include interviewing World Cup winner Alan Ball, Steven Gerrard, Yossi Benayoun and reporting on my first Champions League match - between Manchester United and Maccabi Haifa at Old Trafford - Utd featured a young David Beckham and Ryan Giggs that day. I had about 10 minutes to complete and file my match report before security kicked me out!
I’ve also covered Wimbledon tennis for 20 years and the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics - focusing on Jewish and Israeli athletes. And I was there to see Usain Bolt break the 100m world record!
In terms of Jewish sport, I covered the Maccabiah in 2009 after missing out on selection. It was an incredible experience to cover such a large-scale event ringside, being driven from sport to sport up and down Israel, and I also live-blogged the Open Men’s football final between GB and Argentina, which we lost on penalties. I’ve also covered the European Maccabi Games in Stirling, Antwerp, Vienna and Rome.
Another landmark achievement saw me run the London Marathon in 2001, where I raised funds for Jewish Care and I have participated in numerous Maccabi Community Fun Runs, in the build-up to the Maccabiah.
Other highlights include organising an event to unearth ‘Britain’s Fittest Jewish Footballer’ and hosting my own online football highlights show ‘When Sunday Comes’. I’ve made appearances on Football Focus, BBC 5Live and Talksport, talking about issues including antisemitism in Jewish football. The latest statistics make grim reading, sadly. It’s a topic close to my heart and something I’m determined to help the authorities clamp down on, and, hopefully one day, eradicate.
As a self-starter in sports journalism, I was fortunate to do a job I loved for more than 20 years. My passion for Jewish sport remains as strong as ever. Having enjoyed a strong playing career, I’m also incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved so far in my professional career, with positive promotion of Jewish and Israeli sports from grass-roots upwards, all the way to top-level.
Now my focus is on giving back to my community and I recently qualified as a football referee.
A few years ago, I also agreed to become involved in ORT UK’s ‘Jump’ mentoring programme for young people looking to explore different careers. As a mentor, I shared my knowledge, experience and self-taught skills I’d accomplished in journalism over a series of meetings, and I’m proud to say my star pupil won the national prize.
Sport has given me so much joy and so many incredible memories. I hope my story will inspire everyone reading this. Good luck to everyone starting their journey and my message is whatever you do, give it your best shot. Hard work and tenacity are key qualities - it’s been an incredibly rewarding career.
Yours in sport,
Danny
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