Gündüz Tekin Onay (31 May 1942 – 4 January 2008) was a Turkish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er and coach who also trained

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 ...

club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

between 1976 and 1977. He is known for his success in discovering starlets and for his modesty. Additionally, he was the author of a system to explore and breed young talents for Turkish football.

Playing career

Onay was born in

Çankırı Çankırı, historically known as Gangra (Greek language, Greek: Γάγγρα), is a city in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated about 800 m (2500 ft) above sea level. It is the seat of Çankırı Province and of Çankır ...

. He began his professional career in 1957 as a player of

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish football club located in Eskişehir. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division of Turkish football for 16 years until they were relegated. After being out of the Süper Lig for 12 years the ...

. Respectively he played for Bursa Akınspor, Kardemir Karabükspor, Muhafızgücü,

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 51 km2, and its population is 346,264 (2022). The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of ...

, Şekerspor and Kastamonuspor beside National Army Football.

Managerial career

Onay began to manage when he was 26 with coaching Kastamonuspor in 1968. Afterward, he became the assistant of Abdullah Gegiç for

National Team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in 1969. He maintained this duty until 1972 as an employer of TFF. Onay entered

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

as the coach of

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 age of 30. He worked in numerous teams for non-stop 21 years, which is record in Turkish football history as total of 462 matches. He coached successively Zonguldakspor, Beşiktaş,

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

, Mersin İdmanyurdu, Ankaragücü,

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

, Gençlerbirliği, Adana Demirspor alongside

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 ...

, Denizlispor when the teams were competing in Division 2. He was also chairman of Adanaspor.

Later life

After ending his managerial career, he contributed the Turkish football in different cases, including the top-adviser function of TFF as well as general co-ordinator of the Researching, Planning, Education and improvement Department (ARPEG). During his task, he created ''Van Football Village Project'', which aimed to gather and train youngsters from different cities, and compose a synthesis of eastern and western Turkish football. After

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

declared 2007 as Year of Rumi, he achieved ''the clemency and example behaviour'' prize by Turkish Football Coaches Association. Additionally in 2007, he was awarded the special ''Namık Sevik Prize'' after the 54th annual Sportsmen of the Year survey of daily newspaper ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...

''. Onay worked as a sports columnist various newspapers and was the author of 14 books devoted to football.

Personal life and death

Onay was married and had one daughter and one son. His son Güntekin Onay, is a well known Turkish sports commentator who currently works for Turkish TV station NTV. Onay died in

, Turkey due to cancer during his treatment period. He was inferred on 5 January 2008 in

Zincirlikuyu Cemetery The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery () is a modern burial ground in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of politics, business, sports and arts rest here. The ce ...

in Istanbul. There were several sports persons at his funeral such as UEFA vice president Şenes Erzik, former TFF president Haluk Ulusoy,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

manager

Fatih Terim Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish people, Turkish professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab FC (Riyadh), Al-Shabab ...

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 ...

chairman Mecnun Otyakmaz, and national footballer Emre Belözoğlu.Cesur yürek Kenan (Eng: Braveheart Kenan, survey results)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onay, Gunduz Tekin 1942 births 2008 deaths People from Çankırı Turkish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Turkish football managers Süper Lig managers Bursaspor managers Beşiktaş J.K. managers Mersin Talim Yurdu managers Adanaspor managers MKE Ankaragücü managers Denizlispor managers Gençlerbirliği S.K. managers Kayserispor managers Konyaspor managers Adana Demirspor managers Deaths from cancer in Turkey Burials at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery 20th-century Turkish sportsmen