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Lefter Küçükandonyadis

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Lefter Küçükandonyadis
Lefter in 1958
Personal information
Date of birth (1924-12-22)22 December 1924
Place of birth Büyükada,[1] Istanbul, Turkey
Date of death 13 January 2012(2012-01-13) (aged 87)
Place of death Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Inside left
Youth career
1938–1941 Taksim
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1941–1943 Taksim[2] 29 (9)
1947–1951 Fenerbahçe[2] 55 (38)
1951–1952 Fiorentina[2] 29 (4)
1952–1953 Nice[5] 12 (2)
1953–1964 Fenerbahçe[2] 245 (140)
1964 AEK Athens[6] 5 (2)
1967–1968 Boluspor[2] 13 (2)
Total 388 (197)
International career
1943 Turkey U21[3][4] 3 (1)
1947 Turkey B[3][4] 1 (0)
1948–1963 Turkey[3][4] 46 (21)
Managerial career
1965 Egaleo
1965–1966 Johannesburg
1966–1967 Samsunspor
1967–1968 Orduspor
1968–1969 Mersin İdman Yurdu
1969–1970 Boluspor
1970 Samsunspor
1970–1971 Sivasspor
1972 Samsunspor
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lefter Küçükandonyadis (Greek: Λευτέρης Αντωνιάδης, Lefteris Antoniadis;[7] 22 December 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish professional footballer of Greek descent,[7][3] who played as a forward. He is often recognized as one of the greatest strikers to play for Fenerbahçe and Turkey.[8] Having won several regional and national championship titles with Fenerbahçe and becoming Turkish top scorer twice in his career, he left an imprint on the history of the club. Lefter is one of a few players whose names are included in the Fenerbahçe Anthem. He was also known as "Ordinaryüs" (professor of professors) in Turkey.[9]

Club career

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Lefter playing for Fiorentina
Statue of Lefter Küçükandonyadis at Yoğurtçu Park, close to Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, in Kadıköy, Istanbul

Lefter started his footballing career on Büyükada (an island in Istanbul) but professionally played first with Taksim SK, a club based in the European part of Istanbul. He transferred to Fenerbahçe in 1947, achieving instant success. He won the National Division championship in 1950, his first nationwide championship title with the club, becoming the Turkish top scorer in the same edition.[10] He was one of the first Turkish footballers to play abroad, playing during 1951–1953 for ACF Fiorentina in Italy and OGC Nice in France. Returning to Fenerbahçe, he won two Istanbul League titles and later, after the start of the Turkish Super League, three Turkish League (1959, 1961 and 1964) titles. In the 1947–48 and 1953–54 seasons, he became the leading goalscorer of the Istanbul League.[11] Overall, he scored a total of 423 goals in 615 games for Fenerbahçe. After ending his career in Turkey in 1964, he played a single season in Greece with AEK Athens at the age of 39. He scored twice in an away 7–1 victory against Apollon Smyrnis and became the eldest goalscorer in the history of the club. These goals also made his the eldest goalscorer in the history of Greek Championship, until he was surpassed by Tasos Mitropoulos in 1997.[12] He participated in only five games in the season, as an injury in the match against Iraklis forced his retirement.

International career

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Lefter in 1958

Küçükandonyadis was capped 46 times for the Turkey national team, 9 as the captain. He also played at the 1948 Summer Olympics,[13] and the 1954 FIFA World Cup netting in two goals, one against West Germany and the other against South Korea. He scored 21 goals for the national team and was the top scorer for Turkey until overtaken by Hakan Şükür. He was the first Turkish football player to receive the "Golden Honor Medal" from the Turkish Football Federation for having played for the national selection in 50 international matches.[14]

Managerial career

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Lefter coached Egaleo in Greece and Johannesburg in South Africa.[15] He later returned to Turkey to coach clubs, mostly Samsunspor, Orduspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, and Boluspor.

After football

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His statue was erected next to the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in 2009.[15] He was buried in the Greek Orthodox cemetery on his native island.[7]

Personal life

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Both of his parents were of Greek origin,[7] Christofis Antoniadis, a fisherman, and Argyro Antoniadis, a tailor, who had immigrated from Ottoman Albania to the island of Büyükada in Istanbul in the early 20th century.[16][3] He grew up with ten brothers and sisters, and had a Greek Orthodox upbringing. One of his brothers, Panagis Antoniadis, played for Pera Club. His family took part in the exodus of ethnic Greeks from Turkey during his childhood – except for his father. Due to his small stature, the Turks gave him the nickname Küçük, Turkish for "The Small", and Lefter added it to his surname – Küçükandonyadis, meaning "The Small Antoniadis". He was married to a fellow Greek woman, Stavriani Bekiari, and they had three children.[7][3]

Career statistics

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International goals

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Turkey score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lefter goal.
List of international goals scored by Lefter
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 23 April 1948 Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Athens, Greece 1  Greece 2–0 3–1 Friendly
2 2 August 1948 Green Pond Road Stadium, Walthamstow, England 3  Republic of China 4–0 4–0 1948 Summer Olympics
3 20 November 1949 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey 7  Syria 5–0 7–0 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification
4 28 May 1950 Dolmabahçe Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 8  Iran 5–1 6–1 Friendly
5 6–1
6 3 December 1950 Dolmabahçe Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 9  Israel 3–2 3–2 Friendly
7 10 June 1951 Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden 10  Sweden 1–0 1–3 Friendly
8 20 June 1954 Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland 17  South Korea 2–0 7–0 1954 FIFA World Cup
9 23 June 1954 Hardturm Stadium, Zürich, Switzerland 18  West Germany 2–7 2–7 1954 FIFA World Cup
10 26 June 1955 Stadio Comunale, Trieste, Italy 21  Italy B 1–1 1–1 Mediterranean Games
11 18 December 1955 Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 22  Portugal 1–1 3–1 Friendly
12 19 February 1956 Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 24  Hungary 1–0 3–1 Friendly
13 2–0
14 5 April 1957 Al Zamalek Stadium, Cairo, Egypt 28  Egypt 1–0 4–0 Mediterranean Games
15 2–0
16 3–0
17 26 April 1959 Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 37  Romania 1–0 2–0 1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying
18 2–0
19 8 June 1960 19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey 39  Scotland 2–1 4–2 Friendly
20 3–1
21 16 May 1962 Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey 45  Israel 1–0 1–0 Friendly

Honours

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Club

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Fenerbahçe
Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü Resmi Sitesi / Türkiye'nin en Gelişmiş Spor Kulübü Portalı". Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Lefter Küçükandonyadis - Mackolik" (in Turkish). Mackolik.com. 13 January 2012. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Lefter'in aramızdan ayrılışının 4. yılı - Lefter Küçükandonyadis kimdir?". hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Λευτέρης Αντωνιάδης - Σαν Σήμερα". sanSimera.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Küçükandonyadis Lefter - FootballDatabase". FootballDatabase.eu. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Λευτέρης Αντωνιάδης - Βάση Δεδομένων Α.Ε.Κ." Football.AEK.com (in Greek). Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e Ferentinou, Ariana (16 January 2012). "Farewell to Lefter". Hürriyet. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  8. ^ Κουκουλας, Γιαννης. "Η Γκαλατάσαραϊ του Αλί Σαμί Γιεν και του UEFA". kathimerini. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  9. ^ "Turkish football mourns loss of Lefter Küçükandonyanis - Turkish News". Hürriyet Daily News.
  10. ^ "Turkey – List of Topscorers". RSSSF. RSSSF. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Turkey – List of Istanbul League Topscorers". RSSSF. RSSSF. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Ποιο ρεκόρ της Α' Εθνικής κυνηγάει ο Πίτι - News Quake". 22 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Lefter Küçükandonyadis". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Merhaba Dünya Kupası" (in Turkish). Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Lefter Küçükandonyadis".
  16. ^ Arslanbenzer, Hakan (6 September 2014). "Lefter Küçükandonyadis: Professor of football". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 23 June 2023.

Bibliography

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  • Hergün, Haluk (2012). Lefter (Futbolun Ordinaryüsü) (in Turkish). NTV (Biyograf Dizisi). ISBN 9786055443481.
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