İsmet Uluğ

İsmet Uluğ — Biography

Ahmet İsmet Uluğ was born in Istanbul in 1901 and died in the same city in August 1975. A military-trained ophthalmologist as well as a national footballer, boxer and sports administrator, he served as Fenerbahçe's 23rd club president from 1962 to 1966.

He began his football career at Galatasaray before making his name at Fenerbahçe, where his combative style earned him the nickname "Yavuz." He captained the club, won four championships as a player, and earned 11 caps for the Turkish national team, featuring in Turkey's first-ever international match in 1923 as well as the squads for the 1924 and 1928 Olympics. He was equally known as a boxer, becoming champion in his weight class at a 1920 Kadıköy tournament, knocking out rivals from Beşiktaş, and, during the Allied occupation of Istanbul between 1918 and 1923, defeating a string of occupying and Greek boxers at venues around Beyoğlu.

A graduate of the military medical school who became an eye doctor and a founding member of the Turkish Ophthalmological Society in 1928, Uluğ led Fenerbahçe to league titles in the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons and to the 1964 Atatürk Cup with a win over Galatasaray. Under his presidency the club's amateur branches also flourished, capturing nineteen team championships across eight disciplines in 1965 alone.