Gamze İskeçeli (born May 26, 1983) is a former

Turkish 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, who lately played in the Women's First League for

Konak Belediyespor Konak Belediyespor Women's Football ( tr, Konak Belediyespor Bayan Futbol Takımı) is the women's football team of the Turkish multi-sport club of Konak Belediyespor based in Konak district of İzmir, Turkey. The team was established by the d ...

with jersey number 9. She made her Champions League debut in 2013. İskeçeli was a member of the Turkish national team since 2001.

Early life

Gamze İskeçeli was born on May 28, 1983, in

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

, western Turkey. At the age of six, she got interested in football playing. Her father supported Gamze, and registered her in a İzmir-based sport club. However, at that time, there was no girls' football team available, so she had to play with her coeval boys. The talented girl became even top scorer among them. She studied physical education and sports at

Gazi University Gazi University ( tr, Gazi Üniversitesi) is a public university primarily located in Ankara, Turkey. It was established in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as Gazi Teacher Training Institute. In 1982, it was reorganized by merging with the Bolu ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

between 2002 and 2007. Today, she works as a teacher of physical education in a primary school in

Buca Buca (, ) is a district of İzmir Province, Turkey. It is one of the main urban districts of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. History Buca was one of the preferred settlement areas of İzmir's community of Levantines. The great mansions they bui ...

, İzmir.

Playing career

Club

She entered İzmirspor with her father's and uncle's initiative. After playing two years football with boys, she was admitted to

Altay S.K. Altay Spor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in the city of İzmir. Formed in 1914, Altay are nicknamed ''Büyük Altay'' (Great Altay). The club colors are black and white, and they currently play their home matches at the ...

After the dissolving of Altay in ashort time, she went to İzmir Öztürkspor. İskeçeli received her license on November 8, 1999. As once the goalkeeper got injured, İskeçeli, normally a forward, served also as goalkeeper. In this position, she transferred to the newly formed Van Eğitimspor at

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

, eastern Turkey in February 2001. She received an offer from

for higher education, and so moved to Gazi Üniversitesispor in January 2002. After four seasons with Gazi Üniversitesispor, and completing her education there, İskeçeli returned home and paused for a while. Then, she joined

Bucaspor Bucaspor was a professional Turkish football club based in Buca, Izmir. Formed in 1928, Bucaspor were nicknamed Fırtına (Storm). The club colours were yellow and navy. It was dissolved in 2020. History Bucaspor was the fifth football club to ...

in the 2006–07 season. Finally, she signed for

in the 2009–10 season. At the end of the 2012–13 season, she enjoyed league championship with her club Konak Belediyespor. Iskeçeli debuted in the

2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 13th edition of the European women's championship for football clubs. The final was held at Estádio do Restelo, Lisbon, Portugal. German team VfL Wolfsburg won the title over Swedish club Tyre ...

match against

FC NSA Sofia FC NSA Sofia (Bulgarian: ФК НCА София) is the women's football club of the Vasil Levski National Sports Academy of Bulgaria, based in the capital city Sofia. The club has won the Bulgarian AFG title every year from 2005 to 2018, so they h ...

on August 8, 2013, and played in the subsequent preliminary round matches. Beside her playing career, she acts also as a football coach in the school she is serving as a teacher. After coaching initially the boys' team, she formed a girls' football team, which became provincial champion in futsal and football.

International

On September 9, 2000, İskeçeli became part of the U-19 national team in the match against Austrian junior women. She capped sixteen times in total, and participated thereby at the 2001 and 2002

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is a competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belong to the ...

qualifying round matches. İskeçeli made her debut in the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

on May 20, 2001, playing in the friendly match against the Greek team. She took part at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 8,

2005 Summer Universiade The 2005 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXIII Summer Universiade, took place in İzmir, Turkey, in August. Emblem The emblem is the letter “U”, inspired by the bird's-eye view of the Gulf of İzmir. This shape has perfectly fit the lett ...

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6 The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification UEFA Group 6 was a UEFA qualifying group for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. The group comprised Belarus, England, Montenegro, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales. The group winners qualified directly for the ...

matches and a

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying – Group 2 The UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying – Group 2 was contested by six teams competing for one spot for the final tournament. Spain's María Paz set a new competition record when she scored seven goals against Kazakhstan. Standings Fixtures ...

match. She capped seventeen times for the Turkey national team as of November 28, 2013. In addition to her capacity as forward, İskeçeli played also as goalkeeper for the national team.

Retirement

Gamze İskeçeli sustained an injury to her right leg during the

match against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

in Izmir on November 28, 2013. She decided to retire from active sports after the rupture of her

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

was cured.

Career statistics

Honours

Turkish Women's First League

:; Bucaspor :: ''Runners-up'' (2): 2007–08, 2008–09 :; Konak Belediyespor :: ''Champions'' (2):

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 :: ''Runners-up'' (1): 010–11 :: ''Third places'' (1): 2009–10

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iskeceli, Gamze Living people 1983 births Footballers from İzmir Turkish women's footballers Gazi University alumni Women's association football forwards Women's association football goalkeepers Gazi Üniversitesispor players Bucaspor women's players Konak Belediyespor players Turkey women's international footballers Turkish schoolteachers Turkish football managers 21st-century Turkish sportswomen