Erol Keskin

Erol Keskin — Biography

Erol Keskin was born on 2 March 1927 in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul and became a Turkish international football forward. He joined Fenerbahçe's youth setup in 1939 at the age of 12, spent five years in the club's junior sides, and made his first-team debut at 17 in a league match against Harbiye on 26 March 1944. Although a natural right winger, coach Ignác Molnár moved him to inside-right because Fikret Kırcan already held the wing spot. Keskin scored 51 goals in 213 appearances for Fenerbahçe, winning two Istanbul League titles (1947, 1948) and two National Division championships (1946, 1950) with the club. He transferred to Adalet Spor Kulübü in 1951, played there until the 1958-59 season before retiring from active football, and was later elected to Fenerbahçe's High Advisory Board.

He made his national team debut on 23 April 1948 against Greece in Athens, going on to win 20 caps in total (5 for Turkey's U-21 side and 15 for the senior team) and scoring 2 goals. He was part of Turkey's squad at the 1948 London Summer Olympics and at the 1954 World Cup finals in Switzerland, where he scored against South Korea, and he also took a runner-up medal with the national team at the 1949 Mediterranean Games. Standing 1.72 m tall, Keskin died at the age of 89 in his native Istanbul.