İlker Avcıbay

İlker Avcıbay — Biography

İlker Avcıbay is a Turkish former goalkeeper born on October 1, 1978, in Adana. He began his playing career at Elazığspor in 2000, then played for Denizlispor, Altay, Antalyaspor, Adana Demirspor and Konyaspor. Loaned to Manisaspor for the second half of the 2008-09 season, he joined the club permanently at its end and served as captain there for a long stretch, though he could not prevent relegation in his final season despite playing 30 matches. In 2012 he moved to newly promoted Süper Lig side Kasımpaşa, where he served as backup to Andreas Isaksson and made just five appearances over two seasons. He joined Gaziantep Büyükşehir Belediyespor as club captain in 2014, moved to Bayrampaşa in 2015 and to Manisa FK in 2016, and retired on January 17, 2017.

He became engaged in May 2011 to Güney Bölgen, daughter of coach Celal Bölgen, with the couple's rings placed on by Adanaspor coach Levent Eriş; the couple have a daughter named Naz. In January 2026 he was reportedly referred to Turkish football's disciplinary board as part of a betting investigation.

After retiring as a player, Avcıbay moved into coaching, first serving as goalkeeping coach at Giresunspor. He took charge of Kütahyaspor in December 2025, briefly parted ways with the club in January 2026, returned to the post in March, and led the team to the championship in April 2026 before leaving the club again that May. In June 2026 he agreed to become head coach of Bitlis Spor 1916.