Kennedy Bakircioglu (born 2 November 1980) is a Swedish former 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 ...
who played as a
midfielder
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 ...
.
He is best remembered for his time with
Hammarby IF, with whom he won the
2001 Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan 2001, part of the 2001 Swedish football season, was the 77th Allsvenskan season played. The first match was played 7 April 2001 and the last match was played 27 October 2001. Hammarby IF won the league ahead of runners-up Djurgårde ...
and
2014 Superettan
The 2014 Superettan, part of the 2014 Swedish football season, was the 14th season of Superettan, Sweden's second-tier football league in its current format. The 2014 fixtures were released on 20 December 2013. The season started on 5 April 2014 a ...
titles. He also represented
Assyriska
The following is a List of Assyrian-Syriac football teams in Sweden.
The Swedish football league system currently has ten levels, with the first five being governed by the Swedish Football Association. The sixth to tenth levels are controlled by ...
,
Iraklis,
Twente
Twente ( nl, Twente , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Ge ...
,
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...
and
Racing de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...
, in a 22-year career.
A full international between 2001 and 2008, Bakircioglu won 14
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
for the
Sweden national team.
Early life
Bakircioglu's family was ethnic
Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
, followers of the
Syriac Orthodox Church. The family arrived in Sweden in 1972 from
Midyat, Turkey.
Born in
Södertälje
Södertälje ( , ) is a city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea through the lock in the ...
, Bakircioglu was named after the former
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
president
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
.
His father Benjamin was one of the first to play for newly founded
Assyriska FF
Assyriska Fotbollsföreningen, also known simply as Assyriska FF, is a Swedish football club based in Södertälje, Stockholm County. The club, formed in 1974 by Assyrian immigrants, has advanced through the league system and is currently play ...
, a club established by the Assyrian diaspora, going on to become its record goal scorer.
Club career
Assyriska
Bakircioglu started his professional career with Assyriska, making his senior debut in 1996 at age 15. He would soon establish himself as a regular starter in
Division 1, by then the Swedish second tier, despite of his young age.
In
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
, Bakircioglu saw a major breakthrough in his senior career and scored nine goals whilst also providing eight
assists, in 25 league games. He had a trial with
Manchester United during the winter of that year, but did not impress enough to secure a contract with the English team.
Hammarby
Before the start of
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
, Bakircioglu transferred to
Hammarby IF in
Allsvenskan. He scored his first competitive goal for the
Stockholm-based side on 1 July the same year, in a 3–0 home win against
IFK Norrköping
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play thei ...
.
He quickly became a fan favourite at his new club, and ended the season playing 25 league matches, scoring twice.
On 4 July 1999, Bakircioglu made his continental debut in
the second round of the
UEFA Intertoto Cup, a 4–0 home victory over
FC Gomel
FC Gomel ( be, ФК Гомель), or FK Homiel, is a Belarusian football club, playing in the city of Gomel. Their home stadium is Central Stadium.
History
Teams from Gomel (usually city or raion selection or railway-based team ''Lokomotiv'', ...
. In the away leg, he scored a brace to help to a 2–2 draw and subsequent qualification.
At the end of the year, he was voted "Allsvenskan newcomer of the year".
During the
2000 campaign, Bakircioglu was a key player in manager
Sören Cratz
Carl Sören Harry Cratz (born 28 September 1948) is a Swedish former football manager. As a manager of Hammarby IF, he won the 2001 Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan 2001, part of the 2001 Swedish football season, was the 77th Allsvenskan season playe ...
's squad, playing as
attacking midfielder
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 ...
behind the
strikers
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
. He made 26 league appearances and netted five times, but the side finished eighth.
In
2001, Bakircioglu scored eight goals in 26 games to lead the team to their first-ever national championship. He also provided seven assists throughout the domestic tournament,
and was praised by pundits as player of the season at Hammarby. He scored in the title-deciding fixture against
Örgryte IS
Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. H ...
on 21 October, a 3–2 win at
Söderstadion
Söderstadion ''(translated in English as Southern Stadium)'' was a football and bandy stadium in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 pe ...
.
Bakircioglu continued
2002 in similar fashion, and netted 11 goals from 26 appearances.
His team, however, suffered a tough year in the table and failed to produce any sort of challenge, eventually ending in ninth position. As reigning Swedish champions, they took part in
the second qualifying round of the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
where they faced the
Serbian SuperLiga
The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...
's
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...
, with the player being featured in both legs of the 5–1 aggregate loss. He reportedly attracted interest from
Beşiktaş J.K. from Turkey during the season, but the deal fell through in the last minute.
In the
2003 campaign, Bakircioglu scored six goals in the league's first seven rounds – in an eventual total of 12
– as Hammarby went on an unbeaten streak. In September, the club's board of directors suspended both him and
Mikael Andersson because the parties could not agree to extend their outgoing contracts. The decision was, however, revoked after only a few days, roughly at the same time as the team was surpassed by
city rivals Djurgårdens IF
Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm.
Name
The club is name ...
at the top of table and eventually finished second.
Bakircioglu left on a
free transfer at the end of the year.
A year after his departure, he was voted the club's fourth greatest player of all time.
Iraklis
On 12 January 2004, Bakircioglu moved to the
Super League Greece with
Iraklis 1908 Thessaloniki FC. He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract, linking up with compatriot
Mats Jingblad
Mats Olof Jingblad (born 9 August 1958) is a Swedish football coach and former footballer who played as a striker.
Club career
Jingblad played for BK Astrio and Halmstads BK. He made a total of 216 appearances for Halmstads BK.
International ...
who held the managerial position at his new club.
Bakircioglu was sparingly used in
his only full campaign.
Twente
![Kennedy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Kennedy.jpg)
Bakircioglu moved teams and countries again in the 2005 off-season, joining
FC Twente
Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese ...
in the Netherlands and impressing manager
Fred Rutten
Fredericus Jacobus Rutten (; born 5 December 1962) is a Dutch football coach and former player. As a player, he spent his entire career with Twente during the years 1979 to 1992. Following his playing career, Rutten also managed Twente, before m ...
straight away to become a first-team regular. In
2006–07, he scored 15 goals in the
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
as the
Enschede side finished fourth and
qualified to the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
.
Ajax
On 5 May 2007, newspaper ''
De Telegraaf'' announced that Bakircioglu had reached an agreement with fellow league club
AFC Ajax
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...
. He was officially signed ten days later,
and scored on his official debut, an 8–1 away rout of
De Graafschap.
In August 2008, new manager
Marco van Basten deemed Bakircioglu surplus to requirements, but the latter decided to stay, being restricted to only 17 league games over two seasons. He did manage, however, a crucial goal for the
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
team, in the
2008–09 UEFA Cup
The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup association football, football tournament. The 2009 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K., Fenerbahçe, i ...
, in a 1–0 away win against
ACF Fiorentina in the
round of 32 (2–1 aggregate victory).
Racing Santander
Bakircioglu left Ajax in June 2010, signing for Spain's
Racing de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...
early in the following month. He started in all but two matches he appeared in
his first season, as the
Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
ns retained their
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
status. Three of his league goals came in the last month of competition, against
RCD Mallorca (2–0 home win),
Atlético Madrid (2–1, home) and
Athletic Bilbao (1–2 loss also at the ''
Campos de Sport de El Sardinero'').
Bakircioglu spent the vast majority of
2011–12 nursing an
achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...
injury, and Racing would also return to
Segunda División after one full decade in the top flight.
Return to Hammarby
At the end of August 2012, Bakircioglu returned to Hammarby, now in the
Superettan. On 23 June 2013, they faced
Ängelholms FF
Ängelholms FF is a football club based in Ängelholm, Sweden. The club is affiliated to Skånes Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Ängelholms IP. The club was formed in 1976 as a merger between Ängelholms IF and Skörpinge GIF. The ...
in the last football game at
Söderstadion
Söderstadion ''(translated in English as Southern Stadium)'' was a football and bandy stadium in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 pe ...
, that had been the club's home ground since 1967; the game ended 1–1, with his team securing a late draw when he scored from a
free kick
A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play.
Association football
In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
.
Bakircioglu led all scorers with 17 goals and contributed seven decisive passes in the
2014 campaign, helping to a return to the top division whilst also acting as
captain. A regular in both
2015 and
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, with the team finishing 11th on both occasions, the 36-year-old signed a new one year-contract in December 2016.
In his later years, Bakircioglu repositioned himself as a
central midfielder
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 ...
, dictating the game as a
playmaker. He agreed to a new one year-deal on 22 October 2017, and simultaneously announced that he would retire from football when it expired. On 1 October 2018, at the end of
his last season, he scored from a spectacular free kick to make it 3–0 in the league fixture against
IFK Göteborg
Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
, and proceeded to celebrate the goal in front of the home fans by catching and drinking from a cup of beer that was thrown towards him from the stands.
International career
Bakircioglu made over 40 appearances for
Sweden at
under-17,
under-19 and
under-21 levels, before making his full debut on 20 November 2003 in a
friendly against the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
.
He appeared in three
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying games in 2007, but did not make the squad for the final tournament.
Bakircioglu played his 14th and last international match on 26 May 2008, in a friendly with
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
.
In popular culture
Bakircioglu gained fame and cult status early in his career thanks to the computer game ''
Championship Manager: Season 01/02'', where he was considered one of the greatest "hidden gem" players of all time.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Hammarby
*
Allsvenskan:
2001
*
Superettan:
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
Ajax
*
KNVB Cup:
2009–10
*
Johan Cruyff Shield:
2007
Individual
*Allsvenskan Newcomer of the Year:
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
*Superettan top scorer:
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
References
External links
Stats at Voetbal International
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakircioglu, Kennedy
1980 births
Living people
People from Södertälje
Swedish people of Assyrian/Syriac descent
Syriac Orthodox Christians
Sportspeople from Stockholm County
Swedish footballers
Assyrian footballers
Association football midfielders
Allsvenskan players
Superettan players
Assyriska FF players
Hammarby Fotboll players
Super League Greece players
Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. players
Eredivisie players
FC Twente players
AFC Ajax players
La Liga players
Racing de Santander players
Sweden youth international footballers
Sweden under-21 international footballers
Sweden international footballers
Swedish expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Greece
Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Spain