"Aslan" Nihat Asım Bekdik (1902 – 21 June 1972) was a Turkish 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 le ...

. He spent the entirety of his career with his

hometown Hometown, HomeTown, or Home Town may refer to: *A hometown, the town where someone lives or the town that they come from, typically their place of birth. *In developing nations particularly: native place, village of origin in newly urbanized soci ...

club, Galatasaray. He also represented Turkey on 21 occasions, captaining them 10 times, and played for Turkey at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

and the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Sporting career

Football

Nihat was born in Istanbul and played his entire career as a defense player for Galatasaray SK, playing 268 games between 1916 and 1936. Like many other Galatasaray SK players at that time, he was a student of the

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

and started playing football at the Grand Cour of the Galatasaray High School at the age of 10. He was selected to

Galatasaray A2 Galatasaray S.K. U21, commonly known as Galatasaray S.K. B is a football club based in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the reserve team of Galatasaray and the club play in the U21 Ligi. History They have been members of the Turkish Youth league formed ...

team when he was 12. Two years later he started to do athletics for the next four years. He won the Istanbul Football League sixth times as captain of the team in 1928 and 1936. 1930-31 Galatasaray

Other sports

Nihat Bekdik in Istanbul Rowing Championship events, 1933

He was also a very good triple jumper and

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. In 1923 he set new Turkish records at triple jump (11.92m) and

(1.58m). After his football career he continued doing sports in equestrian, rowing and swimming. With his Boat "Aslan" he won numerous cups.

Political career

Between 1957 and 1960 he was in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Aslan

Because of a lion badge at his sweat suit and his fabulous performances on the pitch, the spectators called him " Aslan" which means "

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

" in Turkish. Later " Aslan" became the nickname of the club Galatasaray SK.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

As player

* Galatasaray SK ** Istanbul Football League: 6 ***1921–1922, 1924–1925, 1925–1926, 1926–1927, 1928–1929, 1930–1931 **

Istanbul Cup (football) The Istanbul Football Cup ( tr, İstanbul Futbol Kupası) was a football competition for Istanbul clubs in Turkey. The cup replaced the Istanbul Shield in 1942 and lasted until 1947. The final match between Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe was cancell ...

: 1 ***1933

As manager

* Galatasaray SK ** Istanbul Football League: 1 ***1928–1929

References

External links

Profile at Sports-reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bekdik, Nihat 1902 births 1972 deaths Turkish footballers Turkey international footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Turkish male high jumpers Turkish male triple jumpers Turkish football managers Galatasaray S.K. (football) managers Footballers from Istanbul Galatasaray High School alumni Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Turkey Galatasaray Rowing rowers Turkish male rowers Association football central defenders