İsmail Kurt

İsmail Kurt — Biography

İsmail Kurt was born on January 1, 1934, in the village of Karakoç in Kırklareli Province. He began football in the Fenerbahçe youth system and turned professional at Fatih Karagümrük, whose form earned him a move to Galatasaray in 1956. A right-back, he spent five seasons with the club, during which he also entered the national team; over his career he was capped 17 times for Turkey, including once for the B side. After repeated clashes with the club's management, he left in 1960 and crossed over to arch-rival Fenerbahçe.

Kurt played six seasons for Fenerbahçe and became the right-back of one of the most celebrated sides in the club's history, winning three league titles in the 1960-61, 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons; he is regarded as one of the club's all-time greats. He later played for Vefa and Malatyaspor before retiring in 1968.

He then moved into management, leading Çorumspor to the 3. Lig title and promotion in 1973-74, and also coached Karabükspor, Kırklarelispor, Sivasspor and Davutpaşa, in addition to working in the Fenerbahçe academy. The elder brother of fellow international Metin Kurt, İsmail Kurt died in a traffic accident in Istanbul on February 27, 2017, at the age of 83.