Lefter Küçükandonyadis (, ''Lefteris Antoniadis''; 22 December 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish professional footballer of Greek descent, who played as a forward. He is often recognized as one of the greatest strikers to play for Fenerbahçe and

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 ...

. Having won several regional and national championship titles with Fenerbahçe and becoming Turkish top scorer twice in his career, he left an imprint on the history of the club. Lefter is one of a few players whose names are included in the Fenerbahçe Anthem. He was also known as ''"Ordinaryüs"'' (professor of professors) in Turkey.

Club career

Lefter started his footballing career on Büyükada (an island in Istanbul) but professionally played first with Taksim SK, a club based in the European part of Istanbul. He transferred to Fenerbahçe in 1947, achieving instant success. He won the National Division championship in 1950, his first nationwide championship title with the club, becoming the Turkish top scorer in the same edition. He was one of the first Turkish footballers to play abroad, playing during 1951–1953 for ACF Fiorentina in Italy and OGC Nice in France. Returning to Fenerbahçe, he won two Istanbul League titles and later, after the start of the Turkish Super League, three Turkish League (1959, 1961 and 1964) titles. In the 1947–48 and 1953–54 seasons, he became the leading goalscorer of the Istanbul League. Overall, he scored a total of 423 goals in 615 games for Fenerbahçe. After ending his career in Turkey in 1964, he played a single season in Greece with AEK Athens at the age of 39. He scored twice in an away 7–1 victory against Apollon Smyrnis and became the eldest goalscorer in the history of the club. These goals also made his the eldest goalscorer in the history of Greek Championship, until he was surpassed by Tasos Mitropoulos in 1997. He participated in only five games in the season, as an injury in the match against Iraklis forced his retirement.

International career

Küçükandonyadis was capped 46 times for the Turkey national team, 9 as the captain. He also played at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

, and the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

netting in two goals, one against West Germany and the other against South Korea. He scored 21 goals for the national team and was the top scorer for Turkey until overtaken by Hakan Şükür. He was the first Turkish football player to receive the "Golden Honor Medal" from the Turkish Football Federation for having played for the national selection in 50 international matches.

Managerial career

Lefter coached Egaleo in Greece and Johannesburg in South Africa. He later returned to Turkey to coach clubs, mostly Samsunspor, Orduspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, and Boluspor.

After football

His

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

was erected next to the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in 2009. He was buried in the Greek Orthodox cemetery on his native island.

Personal life

Both of his parents were of Greek origin, Christofis Antoniadis, a fisherman, and Argyro Antoniadis, a tailor, who had immigrated from Ottoman Albania to the island of Büyükada 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 ...

in the early 20th century. He grew up with ten brothers and sisters, and had a Greek Orthodox upbringing. One of his brothers, Panagis Antoniadis, played for Pera Club. His family took part in the exodus of ethnic Greeks from Turkey during his childhoodexcept for his father. Due to his small stature, the Turks gave him the nickname Küçük, Turkish for "The Small", and Lefter added it to his surname – Küçükandonyadis, meaning "The Small Antoniadis". He was married to a fellow Greek woman, Stavriani Bekiari, and they had three children.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lefter goal.''

Honours

;Fenerbahçe *

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 ...

: 1959, 1960–61, 1963–64 * National Division: 1950 * Istanbul Football League: 1947–48, 1956–57, 1958–59 * Atatürk Cup: 1963–64 ;Individual *Turkish League top scorer: 1950, 1957–58 *Istanbul League top scorer: 1947–48, 1953–54 * Turkish Footballer of the Year: 1955

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website of Fenerbahçe SK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kucukandonyadis, Lefter 1925 births 2012 deaths Turkish people of Greek descent Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkish football managers Taksim S.K. footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers ACF Fiorentina players OGC Nice players Serie A players Ligue 1 players Olympic footballers for Turkey Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics 1954 FIFA World Cup players AEK Athens F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in France Turkish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Turkish expatriate men's footballers Mersin Talim Yurdu managers Sivasspor managers Samsunspor managers Footballers from Istanbul Egaleo F.C. managers SuperSport United F.C. managers Orduspor managers Men's association football forwards Constantinopolitan Greeks 20th-century Turkish sportsmen