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Metin Oktay (2 February 1936 – 13 September 1991) nicknamed the Uncrowned King ( tr, Taçsız Kral) by
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 ...
fans, was a Turkish
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 ...
and one of the most successful goal scorers in Turkey.


Early life

Metin Oktay was born in
Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of İzmir. Its centre is at a distance of to the north from the traditional cen ...
,
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 ...
, on 2 February 1936. His father was a factory worker and his mother a homemaker.


Personal life

Metin Oktay married Servet Kardicali on 12 May 1965, in Istanbul. On 9 February 1965, the couple had a daughter who was named by Metin Oktay as "Zeynep". She died the same day she was born. In 1979, Metin and Servet Oktay had a granddaughter from their son Rifat Halil Pala who was named Zeynep Pala. Metin Oktay lived with his family; his spouse Servet Kardicali Oktay, his son Rifat and granddaughter Zeynep until he died on 13 September 1991 in Istanbul.


Career

Oktay started his career at his local amateur club, Damlacık, in 1952 and moved to another amateur side, Yün Mensucat, in the following season during which he made his first appearance for the junior national team in 1954. He was quickly transferred to İzmirspor at the end of the season and became the top scorer with 17 goals in the İzmir League the following season, the first of many times that he would lead the top scorers in the league. In 1955,
Gündüz Kılıç "Baba" Gündüz Kılıç (29 October 1918 – 17 May 1980) was a Turkish football player and coach. He was Ali Kılıç's son and Altemur Kılıç's brother. Biography Born in 1918 in Istanbul, Gündüz Kılıç attended Galatasaray Lycee ...
, trainer and former footballer of Galatasaray transferred him. Oktay, then only 19 years old, signed a five-year contract with Galatasaray in exchange for a
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
car. Despite his young age, he was the top scorer in his first season in the Istanbul League, with 19 goals, and his team Galatasaray won the championship. Oktay was top scorer for four seasons in the İstanbul League and then three more in the Turkish League, thus making it seven consecutive years in the competitions he played in. Oktay made a record-breaking contract with Galatasaray in 1960 and because of this deal he had to divorce his wife Oya Sarı who wanted him to play for his old club İzmirspor. In December that year, he scored four goals (after 1, 9, 61 and 71 minutes) in a 5–0 victory against arch rivals Fenerbahçe which fixed his hero status among Galatasaray supporters. Songs were created for him and he became the first-ever Turkish footballer to play himself in a movie based on his life while actively pursuing his career. Metin Oktay stayed with Galatasaray until 1969, with the exception of a short period in 1961–1962, when he played for
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
in Italy. He was the most crowned (six times) top goalscorer in the Turkish League and set a record with 217 goals in total.
Tanju Çolak Tanju Çolak (born 10 November 1963 in Samsun) is a Turkish retired footballer who played as a striker. Club career He made his debut for Samsun Yolspor. From there he was transferred to Samsunspor in 1981 where he was the top scorer in both t ...
broke his record of most goals in a season in 1988 by a margin of one goal. Nicknamed the Taçsız Kral or "King without a crown", he was a particularly strong goal scorer in Derby matches. During a Derby match against Galatasaray's archrivals Fenerbahçe in 1959, he hit the ball hard enough to open a hole in the opponents' goal net. This unforgettable shot was one of the 18 goals that Oktay scored against Fenerbahçe in his career. The other major Istanbul rivals,
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 ...
let in 13 of his goals. Oktay was also assistant coach and head coach of Galatasaray football team in the 1969–70 season and he later coached Bursaspor for a couple of years. Oktay was a board member of the club in 1984 for two years. He played 36 times for the Turkish national team and scored 19 goals. Breaking almost every record in the history of Turkish football that stood at the time, the "King" retired in 1969. Oktay died on 13 September 1991 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 a car accident.


Legacy

Turkish comics artist Abdullah Turhan once made a comic strip about Metin Okay, published in the magazine 1001 Roman and Fotomaç. Every year on 13 September, Galatasaray players and supporters pay homage to the "Uncrowned King" at his grave in Kozlu cemetery near Topkapı in Istanbul. Galatasaray's sports complex and training facility, the Metin Oktay Sports Complex and Training Center, located in
Florya Florya is a neighborhood ( tr, mahalle) belonging to the Bakırköy district of the greater Istanbul, Turkey. It is located along Marmara Sea, and borders to the northeast the neighborhood of Yeşilköy, to the northwest that of Küçükçekmece. ...
, Istanbul, is named after him.


Career statistics


International goals


Club level

A goals tally in bold indicates that Oktay was the competition's top scorer for that season.


Honours


Club

Galatasaray *
Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...
: 1962–63, 1968–69 *
Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...
: 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66 *
Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known a ...
:
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
, 1969 *
Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League ( tr, İstanbul Futbol Ligi) was founded as a regional football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empi ...
: 1955–56, 1957–58 *
TSYD Cup The TSYD Cup ( tr, Türk Spor Yazarları Derneği Kupası, Turkish Sports Writers Association Cup) was a friendly football competition in Turkey. The tournament started in 1963. It was played throughout six regions in Turkey: Adana, Ankara, Istanbu ...
: 1963, 1966, 1967


Individual

* Izmir Football League Top Scorer: 1954–55 *
Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League ( tr, İstanbul Futbol Ligi) was founded as a regional football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empi ...
Top Scorer: 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59 *
Gol Kralı Gol may refer to: Places * * Gol, Gilan, a village in Gilan Province, Iran * Gol, South Khorasan, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Gol, Bukan, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Gol, Chaldoran, a village in West Azerbaij ...
(6):
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1964–65, 1968–69 (record)
(In 1968–69, both Metin Oktay and
Fevzi Zemzem Fevzi Zemzem (27 June 1941 – 21 March 2022) was a Turkish professional footballer who played as a striker for Göztepe and the Turkey national team. Playing career Zemzem played for Göztepe for his entire fourteen-year professional care ...
had 19 goals each. Zemzem asked for Oktay to have the trophy)
*Most Süper Lig goals in a single season: 38 (1962–63) *
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 ...
All-Time Top Scorer: 352


See also

* List of Galatasaray S.K. records and statistics


References


External links


Taçsız Kral
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oktay, Metin 1936 births 1991 deaths Turkish footballers Turkish football managers Turkey international footballers Turkey youth international footballers Turkish expatriate footballers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Footballers from İzmir Bursaspor managers Expatriate footballers in Italy Galatasaray S.K. (football) managers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Serie A players Süper Lig players Süper Lig managers Palermo F.C. players Road incident deaths in Turkey Association football forwards Burials at Topkapı Cemetery