İsmail Kartal (born 15 June 1961), colloquially known by the given nickname "Arap İsmail" due to his tanned skin, is a Turkish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who recently was the manager of Persian Gulf Pro League club

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

Playing career

Born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey, Kartal played eleven seasons in the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

. He won two national league titles with Fenerbahce in 1984–85 and 1988–89 seasons. He played for Denizlispor and

Adanaspor Adanaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Adana; currently, they play in the TFF First League. The club was founded in 1954 by middle-class merchants and artisans in response to their perceived ali ...

at the end of his football player career. Kartal made six appearances for the senior Turkey national football team from 1982 through 1985.

Managerial career

After his retirement, he started his management career and coached Karabükspor,

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global 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 has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

Mardinspor Mardinspor was a Turkish football (soccer), football club located in Mardin, Turkey. They played their home games in Mardin 21 Kasım Stadium in Mardin. The club was founded in 1969 after the merger of ''Timurspor'', ''Kalespor'', ''Mezopotamyas ...

, Altay, Malatyaspor, Orduspor and Konya Anadolu Selçukspor. He led Sivasspor to win

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

title for the first time in club's history. Between 1997 and 1999 and 2010 to 2014, he was the assistant coach at Fenerbahce. After

Ersun Yanal Kazım Ersun Yanal (, born 17 December 1961) is a Turkish football manager and former player. His style has always been attacking football doubled up with tactics unprecedented in Turkish football. He enjoys a very respectable place amongst Turki ...

's resignation, Kartal took over as manager. At the end of the 2014–15 Süper Lig season, he officially announced his resignation as manager of Fenerbahçe, though it was clear beforehand that he would not be manager for the next season. He led Ankaragücü to win

title in 2018. On 12 January 2022, following the departure of Vitor Pereira, Kartal signed with Fenerbahçe for the rest of the season. At the end of the season, Fenerbahçe finished in second place, by eight points behind

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 ...

. Kartal finished with a record of twelve wins, five draws and four losses in 21 matches. On 28 June 2023, Kartal signed a one-year contract with Fenerbahçe for his third managerial spell at the club. In the 2023–24 season, he led the club to achieve 99 points in the Süper Lig, yet they finished second behind their rivals Galatasaray with 102 points. Upon the conclusion of the season, he left the club on 31 May 2024.

Persepolis

On 24 January 2025,

signed Kartal to a 18-month contract for the rest of the 2024–25 season. In his first match in charge, he led Persepolis to a 2-0 victory over league leaders Tractor, despite his team being reduced to 10 men.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Sarıyer *

: 1981–82 Fenerbahçe *

: 1984–85, 1988–89 * Turkish Super Cup: 1984, 1985, 1990 * Prime Minister's Cup: 1989 Assistant Manager Fenerbahçe *Süper Lig: 2010-11, 2013-14 *Turkish Cup: 2011-12, 2012-13

Manager

Sivasspor *

: 2004–05 Fenerbahçe * Turkish Super Cup:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

İsmail Kartal
at Mackolik * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kartal, Ismail 1961 births Living people Footballers from Istanbul Turkish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Sarıyer S.K. footballers Gaziantepspor footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Denizlispor footballers Adanaspor footballers Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Turkey men's international footballers Turkish football managers Kardemir Karabükspor managers Sivasspor managers Mardinspor managers Altay S.K. managers Malatyaspor managers Orduspor managers Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) non-playing staff Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) managers Eskişehirspor managers Gaziantepspor managers MKE Ankaragücü managers Çaykur Rizespor managers Konyaspor managers Persepolis F.C. managers Süper Lig managers TFF 1. Lig managers Persian Gulf Pro League managers 20th-century Turkish sportsmen Turkish expatriate football managers Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate football managers in Iran