Said Altınordu (born Said Bey, 24 July 1912 – 17 November 1978), alternatively spelled Sait Altınordu, was a Turkish international

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 ...

. Being a notable

one-club man List of one-club men may refer to: * List of one-club men in association football * List of one-club men in rugby league * List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise * List of NBA players who have spent ...

, Altınordu remains one of the most symbolic footballers of the Turkish city of

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 ...

, along with

Vahap Özaltay Vahap Özaltay or Vehâb Özaltay (born, Beşir oğlu Vahap; in 1907, 1908 or 1909 – 10 June 1965) was a Turkish international Association football, footballer and track and field athlete. He is most notably for his service at Altay S.K., be ...

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 ...

and Fuat Göztepe of

Göztepe S.K. Göztepe Spor Kulübü (, Göztepe Sports Club), also known as Göztepe, is a Turkish sports club based in the Göztepe and Güzelyalı neighborhoods of İzmir. The "AŞ" refers to ''incorporated company'', as besides football, the club also ...

His identification with Altınordu S.K. led him to choose the official name of the club as his surname, following the

Surname Law Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames. Canada From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued disc numbers to identify Inuit in their records. In the mid-1960s Project Surname began, and, headed by Abe Okpik, Inuit w ...

of Turkey enacted in 1934. Altınordu served Altınordu S.K. his entire career, earned 4 caps for Turkey national football team between 1932 and 1937. Winning 6

İzmir Football League The İzmir Football League ( tr, İzmir Futbol Ligi) was founded as a regional football league for İzmir based clubs in 1924. In the period from 1924 to 1935, the winners of the İzmir League qualified for the former Turkish Football Championship ...

titles at Altınordu S.K., he is widely accepted by Altınordu S.K. as the ''legendary player'' of the club. He was also part of Turkey's squad at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. In general, Altınordu is reported to have been primarily deployed as a defender, but he also possessed scoring abilities which led him to produce 29 senior goals during his career, leading to him being the top scorer of 1937 Millî Küme campaign with 13 goals. Following his representation of Altınordu S.K. between 1932 and 1937, there were no other Altınordu S.K. player's called-up to the Turkey national team for 78 years, until

Çağlar Söyüncü Çağlar Söyüncü (born 23 May 1996) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Leicester City and the Turkey national team. Söyüncü's first senior professional team was the Turkish second division ...

was invited in 2016.

Playing style

According to Nimet, Altınordu's wife, Said Altınordu used to train ''shooting practices'' individually with his personal efforts at

Alsancak Stadium The Alsancak Mustafa Denizli Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in İzmir, Turkey used mostly for football (soccer), football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 15,000 and was built in 1929. In 1959 it hosted Turkey's first-ever premiere lea ...

. According to Erdoğan Sungur, İzmir-based author; who saw Said Altınordu playing live, Altınordu was capable of "''making feints, producing 'delicious' shoots, and having a 'great' football intelligence.''"

Legacy

Altınordu was the role model of

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

, the iconic player of Galatasaray S.K. and Turkish international. The youth and academy facilities of Altınordu S.K. are named after Said Altınordu, located in Yeşilyurt county of İzmir, facilitating for teams between U-7 and U-14. In 2016, one of the 15 newly launched ferries of İzmir was named after Altınordu following an online-public poll. A statue of Altınordu was opened in front of

Alsancak Terminal Alsancak railway station ( tr, Alsancak garı) is one of the two main railway terminals in İzmir and is the second-oldest railway station in Turkey, after Kemer, being completed in 1858. The statue resembles the moment of Altınordu taking the winning shot against Eskişehir Demirspor at the

1935 Turkish Football Championship The 1935 Turkish Football Championship was the sixth edition of the competition. Fenerbahçe won their second national championship title by defeating Altınordu 3–1 in the final. For Altınordu it was the club's third and last appearance in th ...

semi-final game. Arbitrated by Şazi Tezcan, the game was ended 3–2 in favour of Altınordu S.K., held on 4 September 1935, at

Taksim Stadium Taksim Stadium ( tr, Taksim Stadı) was the first football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Originally the 19th century Taksim Artillery Barracks ('' Taksim Topçu Kışlası'') it was transformed into a stadium in 1921 and was located next to today ...

. Despite the rivalry between their clubs, Altınordu and

, who was an Altay S.K. icon, were best friends.

Honours

; Altınordu S.K. *

(6): 1926–27, 1931–32, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1939–40, 1944–45

Individual

* National Division top scorer (1):

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

(13 goals)

References

; Footnotes ; Citations

Bibliography

; Books *

External links

Profile
at TFF {{DEFAULTSORT:Altinordu, Said 1912 births 1978 deaths Footballers from Istanbul Turkish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Altınordu F.K. players Süper Lig players Turkey men's international footballers Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Turkey