Zeki Rıza Sporel (28 February 1898 – 3 November 1969)
/ref> was a Turkish

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 ...

player and a politician. He plied his trade at the striker position for Fenerbahçe and the Turkey national football team. His career started in the Fenerbahçe youth teams until he was promoted to the senior team. Zeki spent his entire career with the club, setting numerous records. He was also a forerunner for

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, becoming the first player to score for the team. He is often cited as one of the best strikers in Turkish football history. He was also active in politics as he became a member of the Democrat Party in 1946. Zeki Rıza was the younger brother of Hasan Kamil Sporel who both played for and served as president of Fenerbahçe S.K.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

in 1898, Zeki's career began in the Fenerbahçe youth system, where he spent three years. He was promoted to the senior squad during the 1915–16 season at the age of eighteen. His left foot was dominant, as he scarcely used his right foot and his head. Zeki set many scoring records at Fenerbahçe, including most goals in a single match, and fastest goal. On 13 February 1931, Zeki scored a record eight goals in a match as Fenerbahçe won 16–0 against Üsküdar Anadolu. His prolific goal-scoring ability led him to be affectionately named ''Üstad'' (The Master). The entirety of his career was spent at Fenerbahçe, retiring in 1934 after eighteen years of service. Zeki's final goal record was 470 goals in 352 matches. If you include the goals from the national team, Istanbul Select and other club selects his total would reach to over 800.

International career

A member of the first Turkey national team, Zeki played and scored in the country's first international match against

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. He rounded off the performance with a second goal in the other half. Winning sixteen caps, Zeki led the team ten times while scoring 15 goals. He also played for Turkey at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

and the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

* Turkish Football Championship (1):

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League () was founded as a regional association football, football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empire, ...

(4): 1920–21, 1922–23, 1929–30, 1932–33 * Istanbul Friday League (2): 1920–21, 1922–23 * Istanbul Shield (1): 1930 * General Harrington Cup (1): 1923

Political career

After retiring from football Sporel joined the Democrat Party. He was also among the directors of the Party newspaper '' Zafer''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sporel, Zeki Riza 20th-century Turkish journalists 1898 births 1969 deaths Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Olympic footballers for Turkey Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Fenerbahçe S.K. presidents Men's association football forwards Democrat Party (Turkey, 1946–1960) politicians Turkish newspaper editors Footballers from Istanbul