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 ...
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
, currently serving as the
technical director
A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. They are responsible for overseeing and coordinating all of the technical aspect ...
Necla Güngör was born in 1982, and grew up with her two siblings in
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
, Turkey. Despite being the granddaughter of a well-known Muslim preacher in Ankara, and the daughter of a
hajji
Hajji (; sometimes spelled Hajjeh, Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca.
Etymology
''Hajji'' is derived from the Arabic ' (), which i ...
, she was supported in playing football by her family. During her childhood, she used to step in when her father's football team lacked a player on the artificial turf.
Sports career
Club
Necla Güngör graduated from the School of Sport Sciences and Technology at
Hacettepe University
Hacettepe University () is a public research university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2021.
The university has two main c ...
in Ankara. In 2000, she was tasked with the introduction of rhythm training to footballers by music assisting manager
Ersun Yanal
Kazım Ersun Yanal (, born 17 December 1961) is a Turkish football manager and former player. His style has always been attacking football doubled up with tactics unprecedented in Turkish football. He enjoys a very respectable place amongst Turki ...
at Ankaragücü. The next year, she moved with him to
Gençlerbirliği S.K.
Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü (pronounced ), commonly known as Gençlerbirliği, is a Turkish sports club based in Ankara. Formed in 1923, Gençlerbirliği are nicknamed ''Ankara Rüzgârı'' (The Wind of Ankara) or simply ''Gençler'' (The Yo ...
to instruct the infrastructure team's players in basic training. Later, she received bids from
Ankaraspor
Sincan Belediyesi Ankaraspor Kulübü, commonly known as Ankaraspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. The club was known as Osmanlıspor ...
. After four years, she served again under Ersun Yanal in
Manisaspor
Manisaspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Manisa. Originally formed in 1931 as Sakaryaspor, the club changed its name to Manisaspor on 15 June 1965.
National teams
Through
Oğuz Çetin
Ahmet Oğuz Çetin (born 15 February 1963) is a Turkish football manager and former football player who played as a midfielder.
Career
Born in Adapazarı, Çetin began playing football with the local side Sakaryaspor. He started to play regular ...
, she was introduced to 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 ...
. After nine years with men's football teams, Necla Güngör was first appointed as a trainer for the women's national team; she then became the director of the Women's Football Department of the Federation. After serving five years as a trainer, she was appointed director of football for the Turkey girls' national under-15 team, supported by Yücel Uyar, the director of the Federation's Education Department. She became the first ever female football director of a Turkish national team.
With effect of 1 January 2020, she was appointed technical director of the Turkey women's national team replacing Talat Tuncel in this position. The national team was successful in all three friendly matches in 2021.