Hüseyin Er (14 January 1985 – 16 May 2021) was a deaf Turkish-born footballer who grew up and mostly lived in London. He was a member of the Turkey national deaf football team.

Private life

Er was born to Haydar and Çiçek in

Göksun Göksun (, or , ''Koukousós''; or ; ) is a municipality and district of Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,942 km2, and its population is 50,676 (2022). It is near one of the sources of the Ceyhan River (ancient Pyramos), in the ...

Kahramanmaraş Province Kahramanmaraş Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is 14,520 km2, and its population is 1,177,436 (2022). Its provincial capital is the city o ...

, southern Turkey in 1985. He had eight siblings, of whom four are also deaf. He had a twin brother, Hasan, who also became a football player. The family migrated to the United Kingdom when he was two years old.

Club career

Er started playing football at a very young age.

Memnos Costi Memnos Costi (born 14 August 1976) is an English television presenter and football player who is deaf. He is a presenter on the deaf magazine programme '' See Hear''. Biography Personal life Costi was born in England to Greek Cypriot parents, ...

, a deaf footballer and coach, who knew the twin brothers since their age of six, taught them to play football. At 14, the quick-learning boy became a member of Tottenham Deaf Football Club (DFC). He then played for Arsenal DFC, and also for St John's DFC. With St John's DFC, he won all of the domestic trophies. In 2012, Er transferred from the British Arsenal DFC to the 2011–12 Turkish league champion Kartal Municipality DFC 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 together with his brother Ali. In the second half of the 2019–20 season, he transferred to

İzmirspor İzmirspor is а Turkish football club based in İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the ...

in the

Turkish Regional Amateur League The Turkish Regional Amateur League () is the fifth tier of the Turkish football league system. The tier comprises a number (usually 10-13, varies by season) of groups across Turkey, each consisting of teams grouped according to the regions in ...

International career

Er became a member of the Turkey deaf football team in 2006. During his career, his national team took the runners-up position at the 2008 World Championships and EuroDeaf 2011, and champion titles at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

(

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

), 2017 Deaflympics, and European Championships (

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

). He was named ''Best Player'' of the 2008 World Championships. Er played at the

2017 Summer Deaflympics The 2017 Summer Deaflympics (), officially known as the 23rd Summer Deaflympics (), is an international multi-sport event that took place in Samsun, Turkey from July 18 to July 30, 2017. 3,148 athletes from 97 countries competed in 18 sports with ...

held in

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

, Turkey. He scored one goal in the match against Italy, and two goals against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. At the EuroDeaf 2019 in

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

, Greece, he netted four goals in total. Er took part in the Group F of the qualification round for the EuroDeaf 2019 held in Wales. The opponents were

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, Sweden, and Wales.

Death

Er died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

after a training session in London at the age of 36 on 16 May 2021. He was interred at Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield, London. His family later held a memorial and religious service at the London

Alevi Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

Cultural Centre and Cem-Evi.

Honours

Individual

: ''Best player'' (1): 2008 World

International

;Turkey national deaf football team :''Champions'' (4): 2012 World, EuroDeaf 2015, 2016 World, 2017 Deaflympics, EuroDeaf 2019 :''Runners-up'' (1): 2008 World, EuroDeaf 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Er, Huseyin 1985 births 2021 deaths People from Göksun Turkish Alevis Turkish deaf people Turkish disabled sportspeople Sportspeople from Kahramanmaraş Turkish emigrants to the United Kingdom English people of Turkish descent Footballers from London English deaf people Deaf association football players Turkish men's footballers İzmirspor footballers Men's association football forwards Players of deaf football Association football players who died while playing Sport deaths in England English men's footballers 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen