Abdulah Gegić ( sr-cyr, Абдулах Гегић, tr, Abdullah Gegiç; 19 March 1924 – 21 June 2008) was a Yugoslav and Serbian football manager of Bosniak ethnicity, who also held

Turkish citizenship Turkish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of '' jus sanguinis''. Children who are born to a Turkish mother or a Turkish father (in or out of marriage) are Turkish citizens from birth. The intention to renounce Turkish citi ...

Biography

As a player, he played with Metalac Beograd and with

Mačva Šabac Mačva ( sr-Cyrl, Мачва, ; hu, Macsó) is a geographical and historical region in the northwest of Central Serbia, on a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is nam ...

in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

. Gegić began his coaching career as coach of Serbian clubs

FK Bor FK Bor (Serbian Cyrillic: ФК Бор) is a football club based in Bor, Serbia. History Early Years (1920s to 1960s) The club was founded in 1919 as a Serbian-French sports society under the name Association Sportive Bor (ASB). The club was ...

and

FK Radnički Niš Fudbalski klub Radnički (), commonly known as Radnički Niš ( sr-cyr, Раднички Ниш), is a professional football club based in ok Niš, Serbia. Its name means ''Labourers'' in Serbian and stems from the relationship with the Labour ...

, and later of the Yugoslav u-21 team, and also the Yugoslavia national football team. He coached

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

where he reached the Final of the

European Champion Clubs' Cup The European Champion Clubs' Cup, also known as Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The competition in its older format ...

(today known as 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 ...

) in 1966 where he saw a 2–1 defeat against Real Madrid. He was named the second best coach of Europe by ''

France Football ''France Football'' is a French weekly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclusi ...

'' magazine. If Gegić had won the final, he would have been named the new coach of Real Madrid. Gegić then went to Turkey to coach

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division ...

, where he became very successful and led the club to many victories. He also coached Beşiktaş (1972–1973), Fenerbahçe (1975–1976) and the Turkish national football team. Gegić is nicknamed ''Futbol Profesörü'' (Football Professor) by the Turkish press. In 1979, he took Turkish nationality and became a citizen of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. He is still an important figure in Turkish football having mentored most of the top Turkish coaches of today such as

Fatih Terim Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish association football manager and former player. He is the former manager of Galatasaray, a position he previously held four times. Terim has managed several clubs in Italy (Milan and Fiorentina) ...

Mustafa Denizli Mustafa Denizli (born 10 November 1949) is a Turkish football coach and former player. He has managed many notable Turkish football clubs, including ''"Istanbul Big Three"'' ( Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş) and has won the Süper L ...

, and

Şenol Güneş Şenol Güneş, T.C., (, born 1 June 1952) is a Turkish football manager and former player. His most notable managerial achievements to date include coaching the Turkey national team to third place in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and winning two S� ...

. On 4 June 2008, in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

, the 84-year-old Gegić had a stroke and died 17 days later.

Honours

Managerial

Partizan * European Cup: Runner-up: 1965–66 Fenerbahçe * Spor Toto Cup: 1967 Turkey * RCD Cup:

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Eskişehirspor *

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 Kupas� ...

: 1970–71 *

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 ...

: 1971 Beşiktaş *

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 ...

: 1973

References

External links

IN MEMORIAM: Abdulah Gegić
MTS Mondo, 21 June 2008
In memoriam: Abdulah Gegić
B92, 22 June 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gegic, Abdulah 1924 births 2008 deaths Serbian footballers Yugoslav footballers Association football forwards FK Novi Pazar players OFK Beograd players FK Mačva Šabac players Yugoslav First League players Yugoslav football managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Serbian football managers FK Radnički Niš managers FK Sarajevo managers FK Partizan managers Eskişehirspor managers Fenerbahçe football managers Beşiktaş J.K. managers Sportspeople from Novi Pazar Turkey national football team managers Bursaspor managers FK Bor managers Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Turkey Adanaspor managers Diyarbakırspor managers Samsunspor managers Adana Demirspor managers Turkish people of Serbian descent Turkish people of Bosniak descent Serbian Muslims