Tolga Seyhan (born January 17, 1977) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

former

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 was born in

Giresun Giresun (), formerly Cerasus (Ancient Greek: Κερασοῦς, Greek: Κερασούντα), is the provincial capital of Giresun Province in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon. Etymology Giresun wa ...

, a city on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

Club career

Tolga started out his career as a striker at Giresun Şafakspor. He continued at this position for a number of years and at several clubs including

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

Düzcespor Düzcespor is a Turkish football club located in Düzce, Turkey. They play their home games at 18 Temmuz Stadı in Düzce. The club colors are red-navy blue. Former Fenerbahce Chairman Aziz Yıldırım was a player of youth teams of Duzcespor. ...

and

Çanakkale Dardanelspor Çanakkale Dardanel Spor Kulübü is a sports club located in Çanakkale, Turkey. History Çanakkale Dardanel SAŞ was founded as Çanakkalespor after merging Boğazspor, Türkgücü and Kalespor, which were amateur clubs of Çanakkale. The club ...

. It was here that he was originally moved to defence, and he took it in his stride as he made the position of central defence his own. He soon joined

Malatyaspor Malatya Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Malatya, mainly concentrated on football. Previously their colors were yellow and black (prior to 1984). They played in First League for 11 seasons. They are the first team located in Eas ...

and was extremely impressive as Malatyaspor defied expectations to remain in the

Turkish Süper Lig Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

in their first season in the top flight, in the 2001/2002 season. The next season was even more impressive as a late season run enabled Malatyaspor to claim a

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 Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

place for the next season. By this point, Tolga had made his first appearances for the Turkey national team and was being courted by many clubs, but remained with Malatyaspor for the beginning of the next season. When the Malatyaspor manager

Ziya Doğan Ziyaettin Dogan (born 1 January 1961 in Gümüşhane, Turkey) is a UEFA Pro Licensed Turkish football manager. Career Ziya Doğan has played at Beşiktaş (1979–1987), Ankaragücü (1987–1990), Kocaelispor (1990–1992) and Zeytinburnuspor ...

left to join Trabzonspor in January 2004 he took Tolga with him. Tolga has since developed into one of the best defenders in Turkish football. Eighteen months later, Tolga was bought by the Ukrainian team

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

. Tolga is a powerful big defender who uses his frame to stifle opponents in the air and on the ground. He is very quick for his size and despite playing in defence still impresses with the number of goals he scores, obviously due to his experience in playing for many years as a striker. Tolga obtained Ukrainian championship and is thinking about a comeback to Trabzonspor. In July 2006,

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 ...

had made an agreement with Tolga to play for them, on loan for one season. In July 2010, he returned to where he was born, Giresun, for a one year contract with Giresunspor, playing in Turkish 1st division "Bank Asya League". Giresunspor's board decided to give him the captain armband.

Honours

Club

Trabzonspor *

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 ...

: 2003–04

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seyhan, Tolga 1977 births Living people Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkey men's B international footballers Turkish expatriate men's footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Çanakkale Dardanelspor footballers Malatyaspor footballers Kocaelispor footballers Trabzonspor footballers FC Shakhtar Donetsk players Gaziantepspor footballers Giresunspor footballers Hacettepe S.K. footballers Süper Lig players Ukrainian Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football central defenders Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Sportspeople from Giresun