Mete Adanır (14 November 1961 – 20 January 1989) was a

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

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 ...

forward who played for clubs in England and Turkey.

Career

Born in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, Adanır began playing youth football for local side

Doğan Türk Birliği Doğan Türk Birliği is a sports club based in Girne, Northern Cyprus. It was founded in 1938 in Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the secon ...

. He moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in September 1979 to pursue higher education. While studying, he joined

Leyton Orient F.C. Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

's youth side. Six months later, he signed with the senior side and began playing with the reserves. However, the club was unable to get clearance from the Cyprus football association and cancelled his registration. Still living in England, Adanır played at the

Islamic Games The Islamic Games (, ) was a multi-sport event for athletes from Muslim countries that was held from 28 September to 5 October 1980 in İzmir, Turkey. Although 42 nations were invited to compete at the competition, ultimately only ten nations to ...

where he was scouted by Turkish

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 ...

club Altay S.K. He joined Altay at the beginning of the 1981–82 season, and would spend four seasons with the club, three of them in the first division. He moved to second division side

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 ...

, where he would enjoy success. He scored 25 goals during the 1985-86 season and was named the Konya sportsman of the year. After impressing at Konyaspor, Adanır signed with Süper Lig side

Samsunspor Samsunspor Kulübü, officially known as Samsunspor Football Club Joint Stock Company, or as Reeder Samsunspor due to sponsorship agreements, is a Turkey, Turkish Football club (association football), professional football club that competes in t ...

in July 1987, where he would make 38 league appearances before his death.

Death

The Samsunspor team bus was involved in a traffic accident in

Havza Havza (Ottoman حوضة) is a municipality and district of Samsun Province, Turkey. Its area is 865 km2, and its population is 38,492 (2022). The mayor is Sebahattin Özdemir ( AKP). Composition There are 98 neighbourhoods A neighbourho ...

on the way to a match in

Malatya Malatya (; ; Syriac language, Syriac ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city has been a human settlement for thousands of y ...

on 20 January 1989, killing the team coach, five players, among them Adanır, and the bus driver instantly.

References

External links

Profile at Turksports.net
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adanir, Mete 1961 births 1989 deaths Footballers from Limassol Cypriot men's footballers Turkish Cypriot men's footballers Altay S.K. footballers Konyaspor footballers Samsunspor footballers Süper Lig players Road incident deaths in Turkey Cypriot expatriate men's footballers Cypriot expatriates in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Men's association football forwards Turkish Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Turkish Cypriot expatriates in the United Kingdom Turkish Cypriot expatriate sportspeople Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey