Rıdvan Dilmen (born 15 August 1962) is a Turkish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or winger, notably for Fenerbahçe and the Turkey national team. During his career, Dilmen established himself as one of the most skilled players of the

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 ...

. Although he stated on numerous occasions his dislike for it, he was given the nickname "''Şeytan Rıdvan''" ("Rıdvan the Devil") mostly for his wits, immense speed with the ball and stupendous fakes. Since retiring as a player, Rıdvan coached several teams before becoming a color commentator, analyst and sportswriter.

Playing career

Dilmen made his debut with Sümerspor in 1977. He transferred to Muğlaspor in exchange for 25 footballs in 1979 and then became a renowned player for

Boluspor Boluspor, known as Geosis Boluspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Bolu. The clubs plays in red and white kits, and have done so since their formation in 1965.Sarıyer Sarıyer () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 177 km2 and its population is 350,454 (2022). It is on the northeastern part of Istanbul's European side. Sarıyer al ...

between 1983–1987, he signed for Fenerbahçe and fulfilled his dream. He was the main actor of the 1988–89 Turkish League season, which Fenerbahçe won the title with 103 goals in 36 matches. In the 1988–1989 season, he scored 19 goals and made 41 assists. After getting injured in 1990 against

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

by the Serbian defender

Miodrag Ješić Miodrag Ješić ( sr-Cyrl, Миодраг Јешић, ; 30 November 1958 – 8 December 2022) was a Serbian football manager and player. Playing career Born in Osečenica, Ješić played for Partizan between 1974 and 1985, taking part in 342 ...

, he never fully recovered. Rıdvan failed to fulfill expectations due to consistent injuries, which required sixteen operations. He retired in 1994 after painful years of injuries. He is one of the symbol players not only for Fenerbahçe but for Turkish football also. The reason that his name is not as well-known worldwide are that he seldom had the chance to prove himself on the big international occasions. He played with Turkey, mostly in the 80s, and was a no-hoper and Fenerbahçe's status on the European club stage was scarcely different. Dilmen made 24 appearances for the Turkey national team from 1984 to 1992.

Managerial career

Dilmen worked as a

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 ...

for

Vanspor Vanspor A.Ş. was a football team of Van in eastern Turkey. History They played in the Süper Lig, top division of Turkish football, between 1994 and 1998, playing once more in 1999–2000 season. After relegation from the first division, Vans ...

in 1998–99 season. His club finished the season as champions of Turkish Second League. He then became Fenerbahçe football teams manager in 2000. However, his stay only lasted five weeks. He resigned as Fenerbahçe was eliminated from

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

at an early stage. Dilmen was also employed as a manager for Altay SK and

Adanaspor Adanaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Adana; currently, they play in the TFF First League. The club was founded in 1954 by middle-class merchants and artisans in response to their perceived ali ...

and

Karşıyaka SK Karşıyaka () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 51 km2, and its population is 346,264 (2022). The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of ...

. So far, he doesn't have a successful managing career as he was expected to deliver.

Commentating career

Dilmen is a commentator at

NTV Spor NTV Spor is a Turkish online sports platform. NTV Spor used to be a nationwide TV channel between 2008 and 2018. NTV Spor continues to produce content via their website and YouTube channel. NTV Spor used to hold broadcasting rights of varied sp ...

and a columnist at ''

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

''; at the same time he does bet guesswork at ''Fanatik'' newspaper. He is a narrator at Star TV for the important Champions League matches. Dilmen has a reputation of saying "it'll be a goal" a few moments before the ball hits the back of the net. He transferred to ''Sabah'' on 1 August 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dilmen, Ridvan 1962 births Living people Turkish men's footballers Turkish football managers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) managers Sarıyer S.K. footballers Boluspor footballers Turkey men's international footballers Süper Lig managers Karşıyaka S.K. managers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Golden Butterfly Award winners People from Nazilli Footballers from Aydın Province Milliyet people Sabah (newspaper) people Turkish columnists Turkish sports journalists 20th-century Turkish sportsmen