Can Bartu (31 January 1936 – 11 April 2019) was a Turkish

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player of Circassian origin. He was the first Turkish footballer to play a final in Europe. His statue was erected in Istanbul. After retirement, he also worked as a pundit and sports journalist.

Personal life

Bartu was considered a "legendary" footballer, and was nicknamed the "Sinyor" (from Italian "Signor" for nobleman). After his retirement, he wrote columns long time for the daily ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

''. Can Bartu died at the age of 83 on 11 April 2019. He was interred at the

Karacaahmet Cemetery The Karacaahmet Cemetery ( tr, Karacaahmet Mezarlığı) is a 700-year-old historic cemetery, located in Üsküdar, the Asian side of Istanbul. Karacaahmet cemetery is the oldest and largest in Istanbul at , and the largest burial ground in Turkey ...

following a memorial ceremony held at the

Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium The Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium () (Known for sponsorship reasons as Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi, or Ülker Stadium for short) is a football stadium located in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is th ...

, the home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K., and the religious funeral at the Marmara İlahiyat Mosque in

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; w ...

Career

He started to play basketball for Fenerbahçe and was a six-time international representative with the national basketball team. He was invited by the football coach

Fikret Arıcan Fikret Arıcan (17 July 1911 – 25 May 1993) was a footballer and chairman of Turkish sports club Fenerbahçe SK between 1984 and 1986. He was regarded as one of the best Turkish football players of the pre-war era. He was born in Istanbul, Tu ...

to play football beside basketball. On 25 January 1957, Bartu played football for his club against

Beyoğluspor Beyoğluspor Kulübü, also known as the Beyoğlu Sports Club, or by its historic Greek name of Pera Sports Club ( el, ΑΣΠ; Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Πέραν), or simply Pera Club, is an amateur sports club based in Istanbul, Turke ...

. He scored two goals and assisted for two more. He helped so his team won 4–0. Then, that evening, Bartu played basketball for Fenerbahçe, scoring 10 points. He helped his club win 44–43 shooting a goal three seconds before the finish. Bartu switched then over to football in his club. He played 26 times for the

Turkish national football team The Turkey national football team ( tr, Türkiye Millî Futbol Takımı) represents Turkey in men's international football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation ( tr, Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu), the governing body ...

. In 1961, Bartu transferred to

ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Later, he played for Venezia A.C. in 1962 and for S.S. Lazio in 1964. He is the first ever Turkish footballer, who played a final game in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with Fiorentina against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

in 1962. He was nicknamed "Signor" by the Italians due to his technique and gentile manner on the playground and because of his chic outfits worn off field. After successful seasons in Italy, Bartu returned to Turkey in 1967 to play in his former club Fenerbahçe for more three years. Overall, Bartu played 326 games with Fenerbahçe and scored 162 goals. He became four-time

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

champion in 1959, 1961, 1968 and 1970 with Fenerbahçe. He retired from active sport in 1970 and continued his career as a sports journalist writing for the newspaper

. He also took part on a national TV channel in Turkey as a commentator. Bartu was the UEFA Cup ambassador of Turkey in 2008/2009 season, when the

in Istanbul hosted the final. Bartu replaced the injured Turgay Şeren at 77' and played as a goalkeeper against Romania on 2 November 1958 in București during a European Cup game.

Career statistics

International goals

Legacy

The current training facilities of the Fenerbahçe senior football team are named after Bartu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartu, Can 1936 births Turkish people of Circassian descent Turkish men's basketball players Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Turkish footballers Association football wingers Turkey international footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers ACF Fiorentina players Venezia F.C. players S.S. Lazio players Serie A players Expatriate footballers in Italy Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Turkish expatriate footballers Turkish sports journalists Turkish columnists Hürriyet people 2019 deaths Burials at Karacaahmet Cemetery