Ünal Karaman (born 29 June 1966, in

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

) is a former 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 lea ...

and a UEFA Pro Licensed manager. In the 2023 Turkish parliamentary election, he was elected to the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

from the

Good Party The Good Party (Turkish language, Turkish: ''İYİ Parti'') is a Turkish nationalism, nationalist, Kemalism, Kemalist and Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 b ...

representing

. However, he resigned from Good Party on 20 January 2025. He joined the AKP on February 23, 2025.

Club career

He played for

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

(as amateur between 1981 and 1984),

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matc ...

(1984–1987),

Malatyaspor Malatya Spor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club based in Malatya, mainly concentrated on football. History Prior to 1984 the club colors were yellow and black. They played for 11 seasons on the top-level of Turkish football. Their best result ...

(1987–1990),

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

(1990–1999) and Ankaragücü (1999–2002).

International career

Karaman made 36 appearances for the senior

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team (), recognized as Türkiye by FIFA and UEFA, represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation (), the governing body for ...

between 1985 and 2002.

Career as manager

He also worked as a caretaker manager for the Turkey national football team in 2004. After serving as the head coach of the

Turkey national under-21 football team The Turkey national Under-21 football team (), also known as Turkey Under-21s or Turkey U-21s, is the Under-21 years of age team of the Turkey national football team. History This team is for Turkish players aged 21 or under at the start of a tw ...

, he signed up with

as a coach in September 2007. Later, Karaman was appointed manager of Ankaragücü after Hakan Kutlu was sacked. He resigned from this position and returned to

replacing Giray Bulak, who was recently sacked. In January 2021, he became manager of Göztepe.

Honours

Club

Trabzonspor *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () 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''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 1991–92, 1994–95 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

: 1995

References

External links

Ünal Karaman
at Mackolik * 1966 births Adana Demirspor managers Men's association football midfielders Gaziantepspor footballers Kardemir Karabükspor managers Konyaspor managers Living people Malatyaspor footballers MKE Ankaragücü footballers MKE Ankaragücü managers Süper Lig managers Süper Lig players Şanlıurfaspor managers Trabzonspor footballers Trabzonspor managers TFF 1. Lig players Çaykur Rizespor managers Turkey men's international footballers Turkey national football team managers Turkish men's footballers Turkish football managers Footballers from Konya Turkish sportsperson-politicians Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey Deputies of Konya Good Party politicians 20th-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-footy-midfielder-stub