Serkan Şahin (born 15 February 1988) is a Turkish former footballer who played mainly as a defender, but also as defensive midfielder.

Career

Şahin began his children's football with local club FC Bubendorf, but soon moved to the youth department of FC Basel, where he advanced successfully through the ranks. In summer 2005 he was in their U-18 team, but his coach Patrick Rahmen told Şahin that there were too many players in the squad. FCB sent three players, under these were the coaches son Yannick, Şahin and Marc Troller, on loan to local amateur club SC Dornach, who at that time played in the 1. Liga, the third tier of Swiss football. After a successful season in Dornach, where the first named two soon advanced to becoming regular players, they returned to Basel's U-21 under coach Heinz Hermann and became regular playing time here as well. The coaching staff of the first team were watching Şahin's progress and he was called into Basel's first team during their 2008–09 season under head coach Christian Gross. After playing in ten test games Şahin played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 15 February 2009 as Basel played a goalless draw with

Grasshopper Club Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

. At the end of the 2008–09 Super League season Basel were third in the table, seven points behind new champions Zürich and one adrift of runners-up Young Boys. Şahin had four appearances. Basel joined the

2009–10 UEFA Europa League The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years. Spain ...

in the second qualifying round. Şahin scored his first goal for his team in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park, the first leg of this qualifier on 16 July 2009. His long distance left footed shot was the first goal of the match as Basel won 3–0 against Andoran club Santa Coloma. Basel advanced to the group stage, in which despite winning three of the six games the ended in third position and were eliminated. They finished four points behind group winners Roma and one behind

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, against whom they lost 3–2 in the last game of the stage. Şahin had 5 appearances in 12 European games. At the end of the 2009–10 season he won the Double with his club. They won the League Championship title with 3 points advantage over second placed Young Boys. In the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

via SC Cham, FC Le Mont, Zürich, FC Biel-Bienne and in the semi-final SC Kriens, Basel advanced to the final, and winning this 6–0 against

Lausanne-Sport FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...

they won the competition. In the off-season Şahin received an offer from Turkey and he decided on a move. During his time with the first team Şahin played a total of 55 games for Basel scoring that one goal. 15 of these games were in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

, two in the

, five in the Europa League and 33 were friendly games. In June 2010, Şahin joined Turkish side Konyaspor. In January 2014 he moved to Fethiyespor, who played in the Turkish second division. In January 2015 he returned to Switzerland and somewhat later he joined BSC Old Boys, who at that time played in the

Promotion League The Promotion League, named the YAPEAL Promotion League for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Swiss football league system. Eighteen clubs compete in the league, playing each other twice over the course of the season. The champions are ...

, the third tier of Swiss football. In the summer of 2019 Şahin retired from active football. Şahin played for Turkish U-21 team and wanted to play for Turkey at senior level.Serkan Şahin's National Career with Turkey
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Honours

Basel *

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References

https://web.archive.org/web/20100626214335/http://www.medyaspor.com/haberler/transfer/haberler/15153 Konyaspor Serkan Şahin'i transfer etti.

Sources

* Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel.
Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" Homepage

External links

* * *
Profile at Swiss Football League Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahin, Serkan 1988 births Living people Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's B international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers Swiss people of Turkish descent Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Süper Lig players FC Basel players BSC Old Boys players Swiss Super League players SC Dornach players TFF First League players Fethiyespor footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders People from Solothurn