Bülent Eken

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Bülent Eken
Personnel
birthday October 26, 1923
place of birth Mersin ,  Turkey
date of death July 25, 2016
Place of death Istanbul ,  Turkey
position Defense
Juniors
Years station
until 1942 Galatasaray Istanbul
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1942-1950 Galatasaray Istanbul
1950-1951 Salernitana Calcio 21 (1)
1951-1952 US Palermo 17 (0)
1952-1954 Galatasaray Istanbul
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1948-1954 Turkey 13 (1)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
1956 Galatasaray Istanbul (Assistant Coach)
1956-1959 Beyoğluspor
1959-1960 Karagümrük SK
1960-1961 Izmirspor
1961–1962 Karagümrük SK
1962-1963 Beyoğluspor
1963 Turkey
1963-1964 Goztepe Izmir
1964 Karşıyaka SK
1964-1965 Beyoğluspor
1965-1966 Altay Izmir
1966 Vefa Istanbul
1966-1967 Galatasaray Istanbul
1969-1970 Göztepe Izmir (assistant coach)
1970-1971 Adanaspor
1972-1973 Sivasspor
1974-1975 Beykozspor
1975 Orduspor
1975-1976 Rizespor
1976-1977 Goztepe Izmir
1980 Sarıyer SK
1980-1982 Galatasaray Istanbul (Manager)
1 Only league games are given.

Bülent Eken (born October 26, 1923 in Mersin ; † July 25, 2016 in Istanbul ) was a Turkish football player , coach and official. Through his many years of work for Galatasaray Istanbul , he is strongly associated with this association. On fan and club pages he is seen as one of the most important players in club history. He also wore the captain's armband for Galatasaray during the final seasons of his career. With the Turkish national team , he took part in the 1954 World Cup and the 1948 Summer Olympics. After his football career, he was head coach, among others, for the Turkish national team and Galatasaray Istanbul. His two brothers Danyal Vuran and Reha Eken were also active as players at Galatasaray, with the latter like Bülent Eken himself being one of the club's legends.

Player career

society

Eken began his professional football career in 1942 with the traditional Istanbul club Galatasaray Istanbul . His older brother Danyal Vuran played for Galatasaray in the 1930s, which is why Eken started his career with this club. A little later, his younger brother Reha began his professional career at this club. At that time there was no national professional league in Turkey. Instead, regional leagues existed in metropolitan areas such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir , of which the İstanbul Futbol Ligi (German: Istanbul Football League ) was considered the most famous. In addition, from 1936 an attempt was made to establish a kind of national championship with the Türkiye Maarif Mükafatı , a national football league of Turkey designed as a tournament and held at irregular intervals. Eken made his debut for Galatasaray during the game in the Istanbul Football League on October 18, 1942 against Suleymaniye SK . In this game Eken also scored his first goal. By the end of the season March 10, 1943, Eken completed two more games for his team. After the end of the season, Galatasaray took part in the Türkiye Maarif Mükafatı. Eken was used in almost all matches during this tournament and was runner-up with his team with one point but the better goal difference behind arch rivals Fenerbahçe Istanbul . Eken scored ten goals in 13 games in the striker position and was the second most successful goalscorer of his team after Cemil Erlertürk .

After that, Eken was also used more and more often in the Istanbul Football League. In the 1943/44 season he was the team's most successful goalscorer with twelve goals in 13 league games. With his team he finished the league in 3rd place in the table and did not take part in the post-season Türkiye Maarif Mükafatı this time. The following season was also successful for Eken. With his team, Eken always occupied places in the upper table segment and established himself as a top performer. Through his achievements, he also rose to the national team in 1948 and took part in the 1948 Summer Olympics with the Turkish national team.

In the 1948/49 season, Eken and his team reached the championship of the Istanbul Football League and thus the first and only title win of his playing career. Eken, who had started his career in the forward position, later played in the midfield position rather he was used in the defensive position.

Through his performances at Galatasaray and the national team, several Italian clubs became aware of Eken, including Lazio Rome . In December Eken moved to the Italian Serie B to the club Salernitana Calcio . He was one of the first Turkish players to move abroad. For this club he played a season and completed 21 league games. After one season, Eken moved to Serie A for US Palermo . Here he also played for a season and then left this club for Galatasaray. After a few months, Palermo tried to sign Eken again, but Eken refused. He tried to continue his career in France and negotiated here a. a. with FC Nancy . While negotiating with Nancy, he continued his career at Galatasaray. In November 1952, Eken announced that he had agreed with the officials at Nancy FC on a move, but that despite a poorly paid contract, he decided to continue his career at Galatasaray.

At Galatasaray he played two more seasons until the summer of 1954 and took part with the national team in the 1954 World Cup. After the World Cup, Eken was put up for sale by Galatasaray. In response to this decision, Eken ended his football playing career. With a scheduled farewell game between Galatasaray and FK Sarajevo on January 8, 1955 , Eken was officially retired from football.

National team

Eken was appointed to the squad of the Turkish national team for the first time in the context of a test match against the Greek national team scheduled for April 24, 1948, by the then national coach Ignác Molnár . In this game he played from the start and made his international debut. From then on he was one of the regularly nominated players for two years and took part in the 1948 Summer Olympics with the national team. Here Eken reached the quarter-finals with his team and failed in this with a 1: 3 defeat at Yugoslavia . Eken played both of his team's games during this tournament.

In the summer of 1949 Eken took part with Turkey in the Mediterranean Cup and finished second behind the second selection of the Italian national team .

Eken made his last international match for the time being in a friendly against the Israeli national team in December 1954 .

After more than three years of international absence , Eken received a nomination in June 1954 for a World Cup qualifying match against the Spanish team from national coach Sandro Puppo . After Turkey prevailed against Spain in three games, they qualified for the first time in the association's history for a football World Cup .

Eken was appointed by far the oldest player in the squad of the Turkish national team on the occasion of the Football World Cup in 1954 . At the end of the group stage, they finished second in the table, tied with the German selection . Although they had the better goal difference, according to the rules of the time, the group runners-up was decided by a playoff between these two teams. In this encounter, which Germany won 7-2, Eken played his last international match. During this tournament, Eken did not play any other international matches.

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Eken attended a coaching course in his adopted country of Italy . He interrupted this course and worked as a sports journalist after his farewell game. In the summer of 1956 he came into conversation at Galatasaray as the successor to coach Gündüz Kılıç . When asked about this rumor, he stated that although he had not received a request, he would accept if an offer was made. He then stated that he would be doing his coaching license in Italy in the coming weeks. In early August 1956, Galatasaray announced that Eken would look after the team on an interim basis until the new coach George Dick took office . So Eken looked after the team for a few days. On August 7, 1956, he handed over the office to Dick and henceforth worked as his assistant coach. Just four days later, Dick canceled his contract due to illness and was then replaced by the old coach Gündüz Kılıç. After these developments Eken took over managerial activities for the club. In September 1956, Eken gave up his post at Galatasaray to continue his coaching course in Italy.

After Eken had completed his coaching course in Italy, he returned to Turkey and took over the Istanbul club Beyoğluspor in October 1956 . At that time, Eken was one of the few coaches who could show a coaching certificate. Parallel to his work at Beyoğluspor, Eken also looked after the second selection of the Turkish national team from November 1958 and a little later also the Turkish national youth team.

In September 1959 Eken left Beyoğluspor after three years and took over city rivals Fatih Karagümrük SK . The decisive factor for this change was the fact that Beyoğluspor did not take part in the newly founded Millî Lig , but continued to compete in the İstanbul Profesyonel Ligi (in English: Istanbul Professional League). In the spring of 1959 the newly founded and nationwide Millî Lig was started, with today's name Süper Lig. While Beyoğluspor missed participation in the Millî Lig, Karagümrük was one of the founding members of this league. With Karagümrük, Eken took eighth place in the table in the second season of the Millî Lig and fell short of expectations. The club was one of the financially strongest clubs in Turkish football and had bought the star Kadri Aytaç from Galatasaray . Despite the disappointing performance, the club's management tried to extend Eken's contract. In the new season, Eken worked at Karagümrük as an assistant coach and thus assisted the new head coach Halil Özyazıcı .

In October 1960, Eken was offered an offer as head coach from the first division club Izmirspor . Eken agreed and moved to the port city of Izmir . Eken trained this club for a season and ended the season with him in 7th place in the table. For the new season he negotiated with his old club Karagümrük. After initially not agreeing on the salary, they later worked together again. With Karagümrük, Eken had a mixed season and played for relegation at the end of the season. The league was achieved by a 3-0 win on the last match day against city rivals Vefa Istanbul .

Even before the end of the season 1961/62 it became known that Eken Karagümrük would leave with the end of the season and take over his old club Beyoğluspor . With Beyoğluspor, Eken took part in the relegation round for the Milli Lig and achieved promotion here. Subsequently, Eken was linked with Beşiktaş Istanbul for the upcoming season and stated that he did not want to work as a coach for the new season. Despite this announcement, he continued his coaching activity at Beyoğluspor. At the beginning of January 1963 it was also announced that Eken, who in parallel to his coaching activities also always worked for the national teams as youth coach, assistant coach or coach of the second selection, would in future also look after the national team as head coach. Previously, the previous national coach Ljubiša Spajić was dismissed from his post after a 6-0 away defeat against the Italian national team during a European Championship qualifier . In addition to his work at Beyoğluspor, Eken also took care of the national team. He played his first international game against the Italian national team in the second leg on March 27, 1963. The game was unfortunately lost 0: 1 by conceding a goal in the 86th minute and thus missed participation in the 1964 European Championship . Eken was criticized by the trade press for his defensive tactics. The Millî Lig ended Eken with Beyoğluspor on a non-relegation zone.

For the season 1963/64 Eken was introduced as the new coach of Goztepe Izmir . In addition, Eken also looked after the national team at all three international matches in 1963 and was then replaced by Cihat Arman in 1964 . In early February 1964, Eken resigned from his position at Göztepe and switched to city and league rivals Karşıyaka SK . At the end of the season he missed relegation with Karşıyaka.

For the new season he took over his old club Beyoğluspor, which had meanwhile been relegated to the 2nd league , in the summer of 1964 . After the direct recovery failed with this club, Eken left Beyoğluspor after a year and moved to the first division Altay Izmir . With Altay Eken ended the 1965/66 season in 6th place in the table.

For the new season he left Altay and took over the league rivals Vefa Istanbul . After a bad start to the season, with four defeats in four games, Eken retired after the league game against İstanbulspor and was replaced a few days later by his former assistant coach Basri Dirimlili .

After Eken stopped working for the rest of the 1966/67 season, he was proposed as the head coach of Galatasaray Istanbul for the new season . Finally, in late May 1967, he was introduced as head coach, sharing this position with a foreign coach. Another coach was later dispensed with and it was decided that only Eken should look after the team. Although they got disappointing results in friendly matches in the pre-season phase, the season got off to a good start. In the TSYD Cup , which was held before the season , they defeated their arch-rivals Fenerbahçe Istanbul and Beşiktaş Istanbul and won this cup. After Galatasaray got off to a disappointing start in the league's season, the club's board considered adding a foreign coach to the coaching staff. In December, Eşfak Aykaç was hired as sporting director and second trainer. At the end of the season they finished in 3rd place, far behind from the top of the table and also got nothing in the Turkish Cup . With the end of the season Eken left Galatasaray and was replaced by the Yugoslav coach Tomislav Kaloperović .

In the summer of 1969 he took over the position of assistant coach at Göztepe Izmir and thus assisted the head coach Adnan Süvari . With Eken Göztepe reached the final of the Turkish Cup , prevailed here in two games against Eskişehirspor and won this cup. In the European Cup Winners' Cup of the 1969/70 season they reached the quarter-finals. The 1st Lig ended in 5th place in the table.

After this successful season at Göztepe, Eken moved to the second division Adanaspor in the summer of 1970 and took over the position of head coach. With this team he reached the championship of the 2nd Lig at the end of the season and thus the direct promotion to the Süper Lig . After this success, Eken was already planning the team for the new season and called for the signing of goalkeeper Güngör Çelikçiler from Göztepe Izmir . Because of this demand, he fell out with some of the association officials and resigned from his position. His resignation was not accepted. A few days later he again submitted his resignation, which this time was accepted by the club. After his resignation, Eken looked after the team for the last time at the Cup of the Youth and Sports Ministry and won this trophy with a 2-0 win over Izmir Denizgücü .

For the 1971/72 season, Eken negotiated with the newcomer Giresunspor and agreed on a collaboration. This change then failed later, so that Ogün Altıparmak was introduced as head coach.

In the summer of 1972/73, Eken negotiated with the then second division Trabzonspor . After he could not come to an agreement with Eken, he accepted the offer of the second division side Sivasspor . With this club he played for the championship until the end of the season. Only by losing points in the last few days of the match did they miss promotion. So they became runner- up behind Adana Demirspor . After the failed rise with Sivasspor, Eken left the city of Sivas and thus resigned from his office.

After working at Sivasspor Eken did not work as a coach for a year and took over the second division Beykozspor for the 1974/75 season . The season started with the declared goal of promotion. After missing this goal, Eken left Beykozspor.

For the new season, Eken hired the new first division club Orduspor . Eken only looked after this club for six match days and then separated from the club. A few days after resigning from Orduspor, he took over the second division club Rizespor . Eken looked after this club until the end of the season and took 4th place in the table with him.

For the new season, Eken took over the first division club Göztepe Izmir . With this club he played against relegation until the end of the season. The chance of relegation was preserved until the last day of the match. Although the last two games of the season could be won, relegation was missed by the better results of the three direct competitors.

In April 1980 Eken took over the post of head coach at the Istanbul second division side Sarıyer SK six game days before the end of the season. After he had missed the championship and thus the promotion with the club, he left his post.

Managerial career

For the 1980/81 season he was introduced to Galatasaray Istanbul as a team manager and henceforth worked with head coach Brian Birch . In the first season in this role, the table ended tied with runner-up Adanaspor . The second season began disappointingly, so before the winter break Birch by the Master Trainer Trabzonspor , Özkan Sümer was replaced. Even with this coach there was no noticeable improvement, so the season ended disappointingly in 11th place in the table. Nevertheless, they started the coming season with Sümer, as they won the Turkish Cup and the Turkish Supercup with him . Eken worked as a team manager until the summer of 1982 and then left the club.

After this last managerial position at Galatasaray, Eken ended his coaching and managerial career.

successes

As a player

As a trainer

  • With Galatasaray Istanbul:

As an assistant trainer

As a sports manager

Trivia

  • His older brother Danyal Vuran and his younger brother Reha Eken also played for Galatasaray Istanbul for several years . Reha Eken continued to work for Galatasaray after his footballing career in positions of board member and sports manager.
  • Since the opening of the new Türk Telekom Arena stadium , under the patronage of the main sponsor, Türk Telekom , Galatasaray Istanbul has been organizing thanksgiving for its legendary players before every home game. On November 5, 2011, during the league encounter against Mersin İdman Yurdu Eken and his brother Reha Eken, who also played at Galatasaray, a plaque of thanks for their long service and success was presented.
  • Eken is one of the few players who worked for Galatasaray in all positions other than the goalkeeper position. He started his career at Galatasaray as a striker and played in midfield after three years and in defense towards the end of his career.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b galatasaray.org: "Galatasaray Efsanelerini Anıyor Türk Telekom Dünyaya Duyuruyor" (accessed on January 25, 2013)
  2. ↑ Jun 11, 1993, Milliyet, p. 22
  3. ↑ ahaber.com.tr: "G.Saray'da sıra Bülent ve Reha Eken kardeşlerde" (accessed on January 25, 2013).
  4. ↑ Jun 11, 1993, Milliyet, p. 22
  5. ↑ galatasaray.org: "BÜLENT EKEN (1923-)" (accessed on January 25, 2013).
  6. ↑ July 26, 1964, Milliyet, p. 8
  7. ^ Sept. 11, 1984, Milliyet, p. 10
  8. ↑ Aug. 12, 1950, Milliyet, p. 6
  9. ^ Dec. 4, 1950, Milliyet, p. 6
  10. ↑ December 20, 1950, Milliyet, p. 6
  11. ↑ July 6, 1952, Milliyet, p. 5
  12. ↑ Nov. 12, 1952, Milliyet, p. 5
  13. ↑ Nov. 29, 1952, Milliyet, p. 7
  14. ↑ July 20, 1954, Milliyet, p. 4
  15. ^ Oct. 9, 1954, Milliyet, p. 8
  16. ^ Jan. 8, 1955, Milliyet, p. 8
  17. ^ Jan. 9, 1955, Milliyet, p. 8
  18. ^ Greece-Turkey April 24, 1948 in tff.org.
  19. ↑ Germany-Turkey June 23, 1954 in tff.org.
  20. ^ Oct. 9, 1954, Milliyet, p. 8
  21. ↑ June 6, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  22. ↑ Aug. 2, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  23. ↑ Aug. 4, 1956, Milliyet, Sayfa 6
  24. ^ Aug. 5, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  25. ↑ Aug. 8, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  26. ^ Aug. 10, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  27. ↑ Aug. 12, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  28. ↑ Aug. 14, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  29. ^ Sept. 5, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  30. ↑ Oct. 24, 1956, Milliyet, p. 6
  31. ^ Dec. 5, 1958, Milliyet, p. 6
  32. ^ Dec. 11, 1958, Milliyet, p. 6
  33. ↑ Sep. 28, 1959, Milliyet, p. 6
  34. ↑ Aug. 2, 1960, Milliyet, p. 5
  35. ↑ Oct.17 , 1960, Milliyet, p. 6
  36. ↑ July 30, 1961, Milliyet, p. 6
  37. ^ Aug. 5, 1961, Milliyet, p. 5
  38. ↑ Jun 17, 1962, Milliyet, p. 8
  39. ↑ Oct.17 , 1960, Milliyet, p. 6
  40. ↑ Jul. 7, 1962, Milliyet, p. 7
  41. ↑ July 8, 1962, Milliyet, p. 8
  42. ↑ Aug. 28, 1962, Milliyet, p. 7
  43. ^ Jan. 11, 1963, Milliyet, p. 8
  44. ^ Turkey-Italy March 27, 1963 in tff.org.
  45. ^ Feb. 5, 1964, Milliyet, p. 8
  46. ↑ Feb. 7, 1964, Milliyet, p. 8
  47. ^ Feb. 13, 1964, Milliyet, p. 8
  48. ^ Oct. 3, 1964, Milliyet, p. 8
  49. ↑ November 13, 1965, Milliyet, p. 8
  50. ↑ Jul 21, 1966, Milliyet, p. 8
  51. ↑ Oct.9 , 1966, Milliyet, p. 8
  52. ↑ Oct.11 , 1966, Milliyet, p. 8
  53. ↑ April 13, 1967, Milliyet, p. 8
  54. ↑ May 25, 1967, Milliyet, p. 8
  55. ↑ Aug. 24, 1967, Milliyet, p. 8
  56. ↑ Nov. 28, 1967, Milliyet, p. 8
  57. ^ Dec. 15, 1967, Milliyet, p.10
  58. ↑ June 18, 1968, Spor İlavesi, p. 4
  59. ↑ Jul.11 , 1969, Milliyet, p.12.
  60. ↑ May 22, 1970, Milliyet, p. 10
  61. ↑ Aug. 14, 1970, Milliyet, p. 8
  62. ↑ Jun. 1, 1971, Milliyet, p. 10
  63. ↑ Jul 16, 1971, Milliyet, p. 8
  64. ↑ Jul. 18, 1971, Milliyet, p. 8
  65. ↑ Aug. 3, 1971, Milliyet, p. 10
  66. ↑ June 25, 1972, Milliyet, p. 10
  67. ↑ June 3, 1972, Milliyet, Sayfa 10
  68. ↑ May 23, 1973, Milliyet, p. 8
  69. ↑ Aug. 9, 1974, Milliyet, p.11
  70. ^ Jul 5, 1975, Milliyet, p.11.
  71. ↑ Nov. 27, 1975, Milliyet, 11.
  72. ^ Dec. 5, 1975, Milliyet, p.11.
  73. ↑ May 30, 1976, Milliyet, p.12.
  74. ^ April 9, 1980, Milliyet, p.11.
  75. ↑ September 20, 1980, Milliyet, p. 10.
personal data
SURNAME Eken, Bülent
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Turkish soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Mersin
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 2016
Place of death Istanbul