Mesut Bakkal

Mesut Bakkal — Biography

Mesut Bakkal is a football manager who moved into coaching in 1995 after years as a midfielder at Denizlispor and has since led many sides, from the Süper Lig to the lower divisions. He earned a UEFA Pro Licence in 2009; in February 2026 he took charge of Amedspor again and parted ways with the club by mutual agreement on April 27, 2026.

He began in the youth ranks of MKE Kırıkkalespor in Kırıkkale, was called up to the under-21 national team at 18 and made five youth appearances, three for the under-18s and two for the under-21s. He played professionally for Denizlispor from 1982 to 1994, and Afyonspor and İzmirspor are also among his clubs. After he started coaching he worked in the Denizlispor youth setup and, from 1997, held posts at Denizlispor, Ankaragücü, Gençlerbirliği and with the national team.

The spell that made his name was at Gençlerbirliği, where he arrived on August 30, 2005, after Ziya Doğan left: under him the team took 14 wins, 7 draws and 9 defeats in 30 Süper Lig matches and finished 2005-06 in sixth place. He returned to the club later, and when he took charge for a fourth time in 2017 his side beat Başakşehir and Beşiktaş. In between he managed Gaziantepspor, Manisaspor, Sivasspor, Ankaragücü, Samsunspor, Kardemir Karabükspor, Konyaspor and Mersin İdman Yurdu, and in April 2017 he took over Kayserispor and kept it in the league over the last six weeks. Alanyaspor, Bursaspor, BB Erzurumspor, Bandırmaspor and Sakaryaspor are among his later clubs.