Abdullah Çevrim

Abdullah Çevrim — Biography

Abdullah Çevrim was a former international footballer known for a career that ran from Gençlerbirliği to Fenerbahçe in the 1960s, and for the two league titles he won with Fenerbahçe. He was moved from defense to attack at Fenerbahçe, played six times for the senior national team and worked as a sports writer after leaving football. When he died in Fethiye on February 19, 2019, many news outlets remembered him as one of Fenerbahçe's legendary names.

Born in the Kırıkhan district of Hatay, he began playing at Kırıkhan Gençlik Kulübü. At Kuleli Military High School he turned to athletics and became Turkish champion over 100 meters, yet chose football, and during his military school years he played for Harbiye Spor Kulübü. While a student at the Turkish Military Academy he signed with Gençlerbirliği, scoring 41 goals in 138 matches between 1961 and 1966. He wanted to continue his studies at Ankara University's Faculty of Political Sciences, so he put off Fenerbahçe's offers for several years.

He joined Fenerbahçe in 1966 and won the 1966-67 Balkan Cup as his first trophy. Hungarian coach Ignác Molnár moved him up front in 1967-68, and the team took both the league and the cup that season. In 1968-69 he was the forward in the side that knocked Manchester City out of the European Champion Clubs' Cup, and in 1969-70 he won a second league title. He scored 23 goals in 106 matches in the yellow-and-navy shirt. In 1970 he moved to MKE Ankaragücü and won the 1971-72 Turkish Cup there; Gaziantepspor is also among his clubs. He first wore the national shirt on December 16, 1962, away to Ethiopia.