Osman Arpacıoğlu

Osman Arpacıoğlu — Biography

Osman Arpacıoğlu was born on January 5, 1947, in Ankara. A forward nicknamed "Bay Gol" ("Mr Goal"), he was a Turkish former international footballer and, later, a sports writer.

He began his football career in 1963 at Samsun Akınspor, going on to play for Samsun Yolspor, Hacettepespor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, Fenerbahçe and Balıkesirspor. After standing out at Mersin İdman Yurdu, he transferred to Fenerbahçe in 1971, where he spent six seasons and was part of squads that won two league titles, a Turkish Cup, a Presidential Cup and a Prime Minister's Cup. He finished the 1972-73 season as the league's top scorer with 16 goals, and his five goals in the Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray derby rank him third among Fenerbahçe players to have scored against Galatasaray in the fixture. He moved to Balıkesirspor in 1977 and ended his career in the Balıkesirspor-Fenerbahçe match of June 9, 1980.

He won 13 caps for the Turkish national team between 1968 and 1974, scoring three goals, and on February 14, 1973, he scored the 200th goal in the history of the Turkey national team, against Algeria. Alongside football, he worked for many years as a sports writer and also served on Fenerbahçe's Yüksek Divan Kurulu (high advisory board). Arpacıoğlu died in İzmir on December 5, 2021, and was buried at the Karşıyaka Örnekköy Cemetery.