Kemal "Kem" Izzet (; born 29 September 1980) is an English football coach and former professional player. He most notably played for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

between 2001 and 2013, where he made over 400 league appearances. He was previously on the books at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

but failed to break into the first-team setup at The Valley. He spent three years with

Needham Market Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market. History It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 166 ...

after leaving Colchester.

Playing career

Charlton Athletic

Izzet started his career with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

. He did not break into the first team at Charlton. He had previously played for London-based Sunday league side Senrab alongside

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and Bobby Zamora.

Colchester United

In April 2001, he joined

on a permanent basis after a one-month loan period. Later that year, he was linked with

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

but was happy to stay with Colchester, and signed a long-term contract with the club in March 2002. Izzet missed most of the 2004–05 season owing to an ankle injury that required surgery. He recovered for the 2005–06 season and was a key member of the team that challenged for promotion that season. He signed a new contract in March 2006 and, after lengthy negotiations, a contract extension in January 2008. At that time, he was the club's second longest serving player. By the end of the 2008–09 season, Izzet had made over 330 league and cup appearances for Colchester. Izzet was twice named the club's Young Player of the Year. He was inducted into Colchester's Hall of Fame in 2011 prior to the final game of the season for his testimonial year. On 3 July 2012, Izzet signed a new contract, having made over 400 league appearances since signing in 2001 and having just played his testimonial season. Izzet brought an end to his 12-year stay with Colchester on 2 September 2013, leaving the club by mutual consent. He left the club having received his testimonial in 2012 and a runners-up medal from the club's promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

in 2006. Having failed to make an appearance for the first-team in the 2013–14 season, Izzet decided to end his long association with the U's in order to look for regular football at a new club.

Needham Market

After leaving Colchester, Izzet joined local Isthmian League Division One North club

on 10 September, beginning his time with the club on the bench alongside fellow ex-U's player Jamie Guy. Izzet signed despite interest from Football League clubs including

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, instead choosing to invest his financial settlement agreed with Colchester after ending his contract in setting up a football school business, with help from financial advisor and Needham Market manager Mark Morsley. Izzet was also studying towards his UEFA B Licence in the latter stages of his Colchester career and continued working toward coaching badge with Needham. After making 120 appearances and scoring 16 goals, Izzet left the club after his role as academy manager was effectively removed following restructuring.

Managerial career

In May 2017, Izzet was appointed manager of

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

club Stanway Rovers. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Izzet left Stanway. He was appointed manager of

Brightlingsea Regent Brightlingsea Regent Football Club is an English football club based in Brightlingsea, Essex. Formed by a merger of Brightlingsea United and Regent Park Rangers in 2005, they are currently members of the and play at North Road. History Brightl ...

in October 2019. He left Brightlingsea Regent in October 2020, seven games into the 2020–21 season.

Personal life

Izzet's father is a

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,0 ...

, and his elder brother,

Muzzy Izzet Mustafa Kemal "Muzzy" Izzet (; tr, İzzet; born 31 October 1974) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Chelsea, Leicester City, Birmingham City. Born in England, he represented the Turkey national team internationa ...

, was a Turkish international footballer.

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

, FA Trophy, .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Izzet, Kemal 1980 births Living people Footballers from Mile End English footballers Turkish footballers Sportspeople of Turkish Cypriot descent English people of Turkish Cypriot descent English people of Turkish descent Turkish people of English descent Association football midfielders Senrab F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Needham Market F.C. players Stanway Rovers F.C. managers Brightlingsea Regent F.C. managers English Football League players English football managers