Nurcan Çelik (born 1 January 1980) is a Turkish women's footballer, who last played as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
in the Turkish Women's First Football League for
Kireçburnu Spor
Kireçburnu Spor Women's Football () is a women's association football, women's football team based in Kireçburnu, Sarıyer, Istanbul playing in the Turkish Women's First Football League. It was formed in 2010 as part of the 1951-established Foot ...
. She played for the Turkey women's under-19 national team before she became a member of the Turkey women's team. She was the founder and president of Akdeniz Nurçelik Spor.After retiring from active playing, she became manager of the newly reestablished women's team of
Galatasaray S.K.
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...
Personal life
Early life
Nurcan Çelik was born in a low-income family as the youngest of three children, a son and two daughters, in
Artvin
Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; ; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is the seat of Artvin Province and Artvin District. Her mother died from
breast cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
when Nurcan was four years old. Her father remarried, and the family moved a couple of years later from Artvin to
Bursa
Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...
. Her father died when she was 16 years old. Her elder sister was killed by a gunman. In 2013, her stepmother died also from breast cancer.
Health issues
In 2008, Çelik contracted
thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck, ...
. After surgery and radiation treatment, she underwent eight months of chemotherapy in her family house in a village in Bursa. In 2010, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and invaded lymph nodes. As a result, one of her breasts was removed, and she underwent chemotherapy for eight months in a hospital in Bursa.
Playing career
Çelik became interested in football as a young girl. She idolized the Polish striker
Roman Kosecki
Roman Jacek Kosecki (born 15 February 1966) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. In 1994, he was voted the Polish Footballer of the Year.
Career
In his club career, Kosecki played for RKS URSUS, Gwardia Warsaw, ...
, who played for
Galatasaray S.K.
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...
in Turkey between 1990 and 1992.
Club
She learned from a cousin that women's football was being established in Turkey. At that time, she was able to juggle the ball 500-600 times. She entered the selections, and her football career started as a player in Bursaspor in 1995, where she played two seasons in the youth setup. She was a member of Bursaspor until 1999. Her coach wanted her in the goalkeeper position against her will. Even her father was against it. She unwillingly accepted the goalkeeper position. He was shocked when saw his daughter as goalkeeper during a match visit.
She transferred to Gemlik Zeytinspor in
Gemlik
Gemlik is a municipality and district of Bursa Province, Turkey. Its area is 401 km2, and its population is 120,245 (2022). It is located in the east of the Gulf of Gemlik. It is approximately away from Bursa. In antiquity, Gemlik was the l ...
,
Bursa Province
Bursa Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in Turkey along the Sea of Marmara coast in northwestern Anatolia. It borders Balıkesir Province, Balıkesir to the west, K ...
. In the second half of the 2000–01 season and joined 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 club Zeytinburnuspor. She moved to
Maltepe Yalıspor
Maltepe Yalıspor, shortly Yalıspor, is the women's football team of the club located in Maltepe district of Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic ...
at the beginning of the second half of the 2003–04 season.
In 2003, as 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 ...
suspended the women's football leagues, players found no chance to continue competition football. Women with an educated profession found employment. Çelik applied to the German club
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...
upon their advertisement on the internet. She signed a six-month contract with the club and obtained a residence permit for six months. The first half season, she took part in training only. After that period, she had to return to Turkey because her residence permit was not extended.
Returning home, she signed for Dostluk Spor, where she stayed for one season. She then returned to her former club Zeytinburnuspor in the 2007–08 season, where she played three seasons until 2010.
In June 2010, she moved to
Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...
, and obtained a license. She played in two matches for Akdeniz Spor Birliği in the KTFF Women's League. However, she had to return home after the final match in July 2010 due to cancellation of her license, which was issued out of the transfer period by way of an exception.
In the 2011–12 season, she played one match for İstanbul Nurçelik Spor. Following a break of one year, she again played for her club, which was renamed Akdeniz Nurçelik Spor in the 2013–14 season. Aside from playing as a goalkeeper, she occasionally plays in the
midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
Kireçburnu Spor
Kireçburnu Spor Women's Football () is a women's association football, women's football team based in Kireçburnu, Sarıyer, Istanbul playing in the Turkish Women's First Football League. It was formed in 2010 as part of the 1951-established Foot ...
as a goalkeeoer. This was her return to the First League after twelve years.
International
Çelik was admitted to the Turkey women's national U-19 team, and debuted in the 1998 UEFA Women's Under-18 Championship qualifying round match against
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
on 17 November 1997. Later, she played in two matches of the 1999 UEFA Women's Under-18 Championship qualifying round against
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
in September 1998.
She was nominated to play for the
Turkey women's national football team
The Turkey women's national football team () represents Turkey in international women's football (soccer), women's football. The team was established in 1995, and compete in the qualification for UEFA Women's Championship and the UEFA qualify ...
in February 1999. After playing for the first time for the national team in a friendly match against
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
on 3 July 1999, she took part in two matches of the UEFA Women's Euro 2001 qualification round the same year. In 2007 and 2008, Çelik played three matches in the UEFA International Support Tournament.
Career statistics
.
Club founder and president
In 2010, she founded her own football club İstanbul Nurçelik Spor in Turkey giving her name to the club. She took over the players of her former club Zeytinburnuspor, which had recently folded. She established a women-only club, and did not open a men's branch for fear that one day a club president may decide to close the women's branch. She intended to bring women footballers from Northern Cyprus to Turkey. However, this became impossible as an international embargo was imposed on the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all o ...
. Therefore, the two clubs, İstanbul Nurçelik Spor and Akdeniz Spor Birliği, were merged into Akdeniz Nurçelik Spor in the 2013–14 season. Çelik acts as the president of her club.
Managerial career
Galatasaray
As of September 2021, Galatasaray Club established a women's football team and appointed Çelik as the coach. In the notification made on 10 August 2022, it was announced that the contract with Çelik, who served as the Technical Director in the 2021–22 season, has ended and the roads have parted.