Gürsel Aksel (10 May 1937 – 13 October 1978), was a Turkish
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 ...
who played as a
midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
. Aksel spent his entire professional career with Göztepe, and is their most capped player in their history. He had three caps with the
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 ...
, and after retiring was briefly a manager before his untimely death in 1978.
Professional career and death
Aksel joined Göztepe in 1955, at the same time as his brother Güler Aksel who was the first footballer to sign professionally for the team. He debuted professionally in 1959, and played 390 games with 81 goals over his 14 seasons with the team in the
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 is the all-time appearance leader in the history of Göztepe, and their second-most prolific scorer.
After his career, Aksel had a brief stint in management with Göztepe,
Orduspor
Orduspor is a Turkish football club founded in 1967. The club is located in Ordu, Turkey and played their home games at 19 Eylül Stadium. The team managed to qualify for the Turkish Super League again in 2011. But the last spell in top level ...
, and
Çaykur Rizespor
Çaykur Rizespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Rize, a city on the eastern Black Sea region, Black Sea coast. The team competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of Football in Turkey, Turkish footba ...
. On 13 October 1978, Aksel died in an explosion in a gas station in
Rize
Rize (; ; ; ka, რიზე}; ) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District.Göztepe's home stadium,
Gürsel Aksel Stadium
The Gürsel Aksel Sports and Healthy Life Center (), colloquially known as Gürsel Aksel Stadium is a football stadium located in Üçkuyular, Göztepe, a neighbourhood in the Konak district of İzmir, Turkey. The stadium is the home ground of ...
, is named in his honour.
Honours
;Göztepe
*
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 ...