Hakkı Yeten (3 December 1910 – 16 April 1989) 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 ...

player and president of the

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 ...

-based football club Beşiktaş J.K., which he also coached. He is one of the most important names in Beşiktaş history. He made Beşiktaş strong in character and club basis and has many records. He is still the football player who scored the most goals in Beşiktaş's history and scored the most in derbies. Its name is kept alive in Beşiktaş's infrastructure facilities. In addition, the east tribune of

Vodafone Park Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and ...

, which was opened in 2016, was named "''Baba Hakkı Tribünü''". Hakkı Yeten is one of the two honorary presidents of Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü, along with

Süleyman Seba Süleyman Seba (; 5 April 1926 – 13 August 2014) was a Turkish football player of Abkhazian origin and was the longest presiding chairman of the Istanbul-based multisports club Beşiktaş. He was also an intelligence officer for National Int ...

Early life and career

Yeten was born in 1910 at

Vodina Edessa (, ), known until 1923 as Vodena (), is a city in northern Greece and the capital of the Pella regional unit, in the Central Macedonia region of Greece. It was also the capital of the defunct province of the same name. Edessa holds a spe ...

, in the

Salonica Vilayet The Vilayet of Salonica () was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1867 to 1913. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of .

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(present-day

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

). His father, a major in the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

moved his family of six children to

, settling in the

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 ...

district when Yeten was a year old. In 1914, Yeten's father was killed in the Battle of Gallipoli. Yeten went on to attend military high school, as his two elder brothers did before him. Yeten was attracted to football after his eldest brother, Muhtar, a multi-talented sportsman) introduced him to the sport. Yeten played in the school team, and was discovered soon by Beşiktaş J.K. club managers. He was one of the founders of

Karagümrük Karagümrük is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Fatih, Istanbul Province, Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called E ...

and played for them between 1926 and 1931. In 1931, Yeten dropped out of school and joined Beşiktaş. He played for Beşiktaş for 17 years mostly in the

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

position, contributing to its numerous victories. Declared as permanent captain, he led Beşiktaş to 8 Istanbul League Champions, 3 Istanbul Cups, one İzmir International Fair Cup, 3 National League Champions, one Turkish Champion, 2 Prime Minister Cups and 4 Private Cups. Yeten was capped only three times for 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 ...

due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His fame became international, and eventually the English team

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

showed and interest in him. However, Yeten preferred to stay in Turkey. Yeten scored 382 goals in 439 games. He quit football as a player in 1948 after fans hooted him during a match. He was appointed coach in the 1948–1949 season, and served once again as manager in the 1950–1951 season. Yeten studied Law, graduating in 1937. He became a legal advisor for a state owned

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

. After his retirement from the active sports, he served as Vice Chairman of the

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Foo ...

, and acted as president of Beşiktaş J.K. for three terms in 1960–1963, 1964–1966 and 1967–1968. In 1984, he backed

in the elections, who became club president. Called "Baba" ("Father") Hakkı, he was elected the first honorary president of his club before he died on April 17, 1989, in Istanbul. He was buried at the

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 ...

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Player

Beşiktaş *

Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League () was founded as a regional association football, football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empire, ...

: 1933–34, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45, 1945–46 *

Turkish Football Championship The Turkish Football Championship () was a top-level association football, football competition in Turkey. It was the first nationwide championship in Turkish football history. The championship was organised by the Turkish Football Federation (the ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

* Istanbul Shield: 1935 *

Turkish National Division The National Division or National League () was a top-level football competition organised by the Turkish Football Federation, including the most successful teams from Istanbul, Ankara, and İzmir in Turkey. It was the first national league in Tu ...

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

Prime Minister's Cup Prime Minister's Cup may refer to: *Prime Minister's Cup (Laos), a football competition in Laos *Prime Minister's Cup (Turkey), a defunct football competition in Turkey *Başbakanlık Kupası (Northern Cyprus), a tournament of the Cyprus Turkish Fo ...

, 1947 Individual *

Top Scorer: 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34 *

Top Scorer:

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

all time scorer, (382 goal) * Beşiktaş–Fenerbahçe rivalry top goal scorer, (32 goal) * Beşiktaş–Galatasaray rivalry top goal scorer, (29 goal) *Beşiktaş J.K. Squads of Century (Golden Team)

Manager

Beşiktaş *

: 1950–51 *

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

President

Beşiktaş * Turkish 1. Football League: 1965–66 * Turkish 1. Football League: 1966–67 * Presidential Cup:

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

References

External links

Biography in Turkish

Beşiktaş JK website coach list in English

Beşiktaş JK website president list in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeten, Hakki 1910 births 1989 deaths People from Beşiktaş Footballers from Istanbul People from Salonica vilayet Macedonian Turks Turkish men's footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Turkish football managers Beşiktaş J.K. managers Beşiktaş J.K. presidents Turkey men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Turkey Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Burials at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery Men's association football forwards Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni 20th-century Turkish sportsmen