Mustafa Denizli (born 10 November 1949) is a Turkish football coach and former player. He has managed many notable Turkish football clubs, including "Istanbul Big Three" (Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş) and has won the Süper Lig title three times. He is the only manager in history to win the Süper Lig with three clubs, and the only manager who reached semi-finals in the European Cup 1988-89 - which make him one the top 3 coaches of Turkey along with Fatih Terim and Şenol Güneş.

Mustafa Denizli
Denizli in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (1949-11-10) 10 November 1949 (age 75)
Place of birth Çeşme, Turkey
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Pakhtakor Tashkent FK (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1983 Altay 386 (121)
1983–1984 Galatasaray 15 (3)
Total 401 (124)
International career
1971–1980 Turkey 10 (2)
Managerial career
1987–1989 Galatasaray
1989–1990 Alemannia Aachen
1990–1992 Galatasaray
1994–1996 Kocaelispor
1996–2000 Turkey
2000–2002 Fenerbahçe
2003–2004 Manisaspor
2004–2006 Pas Tehran
2006–2007 Persepolis
2008–2010 Beşiktaş
2011–2012 Persepolis
2012–2013 Çaykur Rizespor
2013–2014 Khazar Lankaran
2015–2016 Galatasaray
2017 Eskişehirspor
2018–2019 Kasımpaşa
2019 Tractor
2021–2022 Altay
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Managerial career

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Early years

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Denizli was appointed manager of FK Khazar Lankaran on 3 December 2013, with a one-and-a-half-year deal.[1] On 16 May 2014, Denizli terminated his contract with Khazar.[2]

He also has worked outside Turkey with Alemannia Aachen in Germany, Pas and Persepolis in Iran and Khazar Lankaran in Azerbaijan. He managed the Turkey national team for four years and reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2000. On 23 December 2011, he returned to Persepolis but resigned at the end of the season. He spent 17 years with his hometown club Altay in İzmir, gaining a reputation as one of the best players in the position of attacking left forward in the league's history. On 9 October 2008 he signed a 1-year contract with Beşiktaş. On 30 May the club claimed its 13th Süper Lig title under his guidance. Denizli is the only one in Turkey who have won the national league with the ""three biggest"" football clubs; Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray as a manager. With 2008–09 league title, Denizli also clings to the achievement of being "the one and only Turkish coach Beşiktaş earned the league title with". 2 June 2010 According to a number of reports from Turkey, experienced gaffer Denizli has resigned as head coach of Süper Lig titans Beşiktaş for medical reasons.[3]

Third term at Galatasaray

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On 19 November 2015, Galatasaray manager Hamza Hamzaoğlu left his position as a result of mutual agreement.[4] On 22 November 2015, Denizli said "Galatasaray's president called me. I am going to meet with him tomorrow, negotiating for managerial position" on TRT Spor broadcast.[5] A day later, Galatasaray's president Dursun Aydın Özbek met with Denizli at Point Hotel Beşiktaş, Istanbul and he said "I offered managerial position to Mustafa Denizli and he accepted in principle. We will sign the official contract in a few days" on the press conference. Denizli commented "I started my career's unforgettable success' here and I want close the parenthesis here."[6]

Before the signing, Denizli followed UEFA Champions League match, Galatasaray played with Atlético Madrid in Vicente Calderón Stadium. But in this match, the team was managed by Cláudio Taffarel as the interim manager.[7] On 26 November 2015, he signed a contract until June 2017 in Florya Metin Oktay Sports Complex and Training Center.[8]

Denizli started his third term at Galatasaray with a 2–2 draw against Kasımpaşa in Süper Lig.[9] Team was beat Bursaspor with 3-0 in Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex, which is his second match.[10] On 8 December 2015, team draw against 1-1 with FC Astana but they took third place in UEFA Champions League C Group and qualified for 2015–16 UEFA Europa League knockout phase.[11] He said "This was the hardest 90 minutes of my career." after the game.[12] His last European match in 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup with Werder Bremen while he was a coach of Galatasaray until this match.[13]

 
Denizli as manager of Beşiktaş in 2010

His first derby was with Beşiktaş in Atatürk Olympic Stadium and Galatasaray lost 2–1 this match. Besides, this was first defeat of Denizli on third term.[14] After this, Galatasaray was met with Akhisar Belediyespor, impending Turkish Cup and beat in two matches.[15][16] Denizli went outside Istanbul with Kastamonuspor match since appointed of manager.[17] Denizli resigned from his duty on 1 March 2016.[18]

Kasımpaşa

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On 2 October 2018, Denizli was appointed as the head coach of Kasımpaşa.[19] Denizli resigned in May 2019 two weeks before the end of the season.[20]

Tractor

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Denizli was appointed as the head coach of Tractor in June 2019.[21] One of his biggest successes during his career at Tractor FC, was winning the Persepolis–Tractor rivalry and when he was the head coach, Tractor defeated Persepolis after more than five years.[22][23] However, he was sacked on 7 December 2019 after a series of bad results, including a 4–2 home loss to Esteghlal.[24]

Altay

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On 28 April 2021, Denizli was appointed as the head coach of Altay. He requested that the proceeds from the contract he signed with Altay to be donated to the Mehmetçik Foundation and the Veterans and Martyrs Families Foundation of Turkey.[25] He finished the regular season in 5th place in the TFF 1. League earning Altay a spot in the promotion play-offs, later becoming play-off champions and getting Altay promoted to the Süper Lig.[26] Denizli resigned in January 2022 after going on a 13 match winless streak in the Süper Lig.[27]

Career statistics

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Player

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[nb 1][28] Europe[nb 2] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Altay 1967–68 7 3 6 4 - - 13 7
1968–69 24 3 5 0 2 1 31 4
1969–70 27 8 3 0 2 0 32 8
1970–71 28 5 2 0 - - 30 5
1971–72 28 10 10 2 - - 28 12
1972–73 25 12 2 0 - - 27 12
1973–74 25 7 6 2 - - 31 9
1974–75 28 5 2 0 - - 30 5
1975–76 22 4 0 0 - - 22 4
1976–77 26 10 2 0 - - 28 10
1977–78 27 5 3 0 2 3 32 8
1978–79 23 9 9 4 - - 32 13
1979–80 22 12 8 7 - - 30 19
1980–81 21 9 2 1 1 0 24 10
1981–82 26 12 4 2 - - 30 14
1982–83 27 7 4 2 - - 31 9
Total 386 121 68 24 7 4 461 149
Galatasaray 1983–84 15 3 7 2 - - 22 5
Career total 401 124 75 26 7 4 483 154

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[29]
National team Year Apps Goals
Turkey 1977 4 1
1979 6 1
1980 1 0
Total 10 2
Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Denizli goal.[29]
List of international goals scored by Mustafa Denizli
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 6 April 1977 Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey   Finland 1–0 1–2 Friendly
2 28 October 1979 Empire Stadium, Gżira, Malta   Malta 2–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying

Managerial statistics

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As of 9 January 2022[30]
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Galatasaray   1987 1989 99 60 22 17 060.61
Aachen   1989 1990 15 5 1 9 033.33
Galatasaray   1990 1992 77 47 14 16 061.04
Kocaelispor   1994 1996 81 34 24 23 041.98
Turkey   1996 2000 35 11 10 14 031.43
Fenerbahçe   2000 2001 66 40 8 18 060.61
Manisaspor   2003 2004 37 20 7 10 054.05
Pas Tehran   2004 2006 51 26 17 8 050.98
Persepolis   2006 2007 30 14 11 5 046.67
Beşiktaş   2008 2010 82 45 17 20 054.88
Persepolis   2011 2012 24 8 7 9 033.33
Çaykur Rizespor   2012 2013 17 10 2 5 058.82
Khazar Lankaran   2013 2014 26 11 9 6 042.31
Galatasaray   2015 2016 22 11 6 5 050.00
Eskişehirspor   2017 2017 16 6 6 4 037.50
Kasımpaşa   2018 2019 32 11 6 15 034.38
Tractor   2019 2019 13 7 3 3 053.85
Altay   2021 2022 28 12 3 13 042.86
Total 751 378 173 200 050.33

Honours

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Player

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Altay

Managerial

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Galatasaray

Fenerbahçe

Beşiktaş

Çaykur Rizespor

Altay

Awards and achievements

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  • 1.Lig top goalscorer: 1979–80 at Altay
  • IFFHS's 11th best national team coach in the world: 2000

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Mustafa Denizli signed a 1.5 year contract with XL" (in Azerbaijani). www.azerisport.com/. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  2. ^ "XL Mustafa Dənizli ilə yollarını ayırdı" (in Azerbaijani). Azerisport. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Mustafa Denizli Resigns As Besiktas Coach". Goal.com. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Explanation from Galatasaray Sportif A.Ş." (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  5. ^ "Explanation for Galatasaray from Denizli" (in Turkish). www.trtspor.com.tr/. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Explanations from Dursun Aydın Özbek and Mustafa Denizli" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Denizli talks after Atlético Madrid match" (in Turkish). www.sporx.com. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Mustafa Denizli signed with Galatasaray" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Kasımpaşa 2-2 Galatasaray" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  10. ^ "Galatasaray 3-0 Bursaspor" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Galatasaray 1-1 Astana" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Comments from Mustafa Denizli for Astana match" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  13. ^ "At Europe with Galatasaray after 8665 days" (in Turkish). www.trtspor.com.tr. Retrieved 8 December 2015.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Beşiktaş 2-1 Galatasaray" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  15. ^ "Galatasaray 2-1 Akhisar Belediyespor" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Galatasaray 3-2 Akhisar Belediyespor" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  17. ^ "Kastamonuspor 1966 1-2 Galatasaray" (in Turkish). www.galatasaray.org. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  18. ^ "Galatasaray'da Mustafa Denizli dönemi sona erdi" (in Turkish). www.t24.com.tr. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  19. ^ Mustafa Denizli Kasımpaşamızda, kasimpasaspor.org.tr, 2 October 2018
  20. ^ "Mustafa Denizli istifasını açıkladı! ("Mustafa Denizli announced his resignation!")". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 14 May 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  21. ^ Mu Xuequan (13 June 2019). "Turkish Mustafa Denizli named Iran's Tractor head coach". Xinhuanet. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  22. ^ "شکست پرسپولیس بعد از 5 سال مقابل تراکتور". Farsnews - Persian. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  23. ^ "تراکتور ۱ - ۰ پرسپولیس/ ۳ امتیاز شیرین برای تراکتور با شوت احسان". 90tv.ir (in Persian). Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  24. ^ "مصطفی دنیزلی از تراکتور جدا شد". www.varzesh3.com (in Persian). Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Mustafa Denizli'den Altay'a şartlı 'evet': 'Mehmetçik Vakfı'na bağışlarsanız…'". Sözcü (in Turkish). 27 April 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  26. ^ "Süper Lig'e son bilet Altay'ın". Anadolu Agency (in Turkish). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  27. ^ "Altay'da Mustafa Denizli dönemi sona erdi!". NTV Spor (in Turkish). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  28. ^ "İstatistikler". mackolik.com. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  29. ^ a b "Mustafa Denizli". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  30. ^ "Mustafa Denizli Managerial Statistic". mackolik.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
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