Özgür Çek (born 3 January 1991) is a Turkish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...

club Gençlerbirliği.

Early years

Özgür Çek began his footballing at a Fenerbahçe school in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. In 2002, he moved to local club

Maltepespor İstanbul Maltepespor, often known as just Maltepespor, is a Turkish football club from the Istanbul district of Maltepe, Istanbul Maltepe is a district in Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara. It touches Kadıköy ...

due to its proximity to his residence. He was transferred to

Pendikspor Pendikspor is a Turkish sports club based in Pendik, Istanbul. The club's homeground is the ''Pendik Stadium''. The football team is widely known for their upsetting 2-1 victory over Fenerbahçe, in the 3rd round of the Turkish Cup (then Fortis ...

in 2004, with club scouts having been impressed with his talent. Özgür Çek was persuaded by the club's training facilities and former players who had gone through the youth system at Pendikspor. His dream was to eventually move to one of

's "big three" clubs:

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

, Fenerbahçe and

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. Özgür Çek later received offers from all three clubs in 2006, choosing Fenerbahçe in the end. In an interview, Özgür Çek remarked that he knew it was very hard for youth players to break through into the first team at Fenerbahçe, but stated that his biggest dream was to play for the club.

Club career

Fenerbahçe signed him to his first professional contract on 1 July 2006. However, he did not make any league appearances for the club, and was later sent to

Ankaraspor Ankaraspor Kulübü (), formerly known as Osmanlıspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. History Ankaraspor was founded as "Ankara Bele ...

as part of the deal that brought

Özer Hurmacı Özer Hurmacı (born 20 November 1986) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played a winger or attacking midfielder. He represented the Turkey national team in varied age levels, including his two caps for senior level in 2010. Clu ...

to Fenerbahçe. His professional debut came against

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matche ...

on 23 August 2009. Özgür Çek's career with the club didn't last long, as they were expelled from the league because of its relationship with

MKE Ankaragücü MKE Ankaragücü or fully Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü (), is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Ankara. The football team wears a yellow and navy kit and plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium following the closure of th ...

, ruling that it was contrary to sporting competitiveness" (see

2009–10 in Turkish football The 2009–10 season was the 105th season of competitive football in Turkey. Overview Bursaspor became league champions for the first time in club history, as well as the second club outside of Istanbul to win the Süper Lig.

). As a result, Özgür Çek was loaned out to

for the rest of the season. His deal was made permanent at the end of the year,

having ceased operations, signing a five-year deal with

. Özgür Çek has been a regular fixture in the side for the 2010–11 season, starting the first seven matches while scoring two goals.

Eskişehirspor

Özgür Çek signed a 3.5 year contract with

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division ...

on 5 January 2013.

Gençlerbirliği

On 12 January 2023, Çek joined Gençlerbirliği on a one-and-a-half-year-deal.

References

External links

*
Özgür Çek
at Footballdatabase * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cek, Ozgur 1991 births Living people People from Erbaa Turkish footballers Turkey under-21 international footballers Turkey youth international footballers Eskişehirspor footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Ankaraspor footballers MKE Ankaragücü footballers Manisa FK footballers Gençlerbirliği S.K. footballers Denizlispor footballers Süper Lig players Association football wingers Turkey B international footballers