Volkan Ünlü

Volkan Ünlü — Biography

Volkan Ünlü, born on July 8, 1983, in Gelsenkirchen, is a Turkish goalkeeper. He started playing football in 1995 at the age of 12 with FC Gladbeck, moved to SV Höntrop a year later and turned to goalkeeping there. In 1998 he joined the Schalke 04 youth system. On March 6, 2004, he replaced first-choice keeper Frank Rost in a Bundesliga match against SC Freiburg, which Schalke won 3-0. He kept goal for four weeks in a row, and Schalke won two of those four games.

In June 2005 he moved to Beşiktaş but stayed third-choice, and his contract was ended by mutual consent in September 2006. He then made his first Süper Lig appearance for Çaykur Rizespor and played for Sivasspor against OFK Grbalj in the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup. In 2009-10 he played 13 matches for MVV Maastricht in the Netherlands, and in 2010-11 he was loaned to Trabzonspor's feeder side 1461 Trabzon, making 26 appearances in the 2. Lig. After spells at SG Sonnenhof Großaspach and KFC Uerdingen in Germany he retired during the 2013-14 winter break. He also played for the Turkey Under-21 team in 2004.

Back in Gelsenkirchen he managed the local side Arminia Ückendorf in 2013-14. He now works as a goalkeeper coach in the Schalke 04 academy.