Mustafa Denizli (born 10 November 1949) is a Turkish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. He has managed many notable Turkish football clubs, including ''"

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Big Three"'' ( Fenerbahçe,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

and

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

) and has won the Süper Lig title three times. He is the only manager in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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 Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish people, Turkish professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab FC (Riyadh), Al-Shabab ...

and

Şenol Güneş Şenol Güneş (, born 1 June 1952) is a Turkish football manager and former player who is currently the director of professional football for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor. His most notable managerial achievements to date include coaching the T ...

Managerial career

Early years

Denizli was appointed manager of

FK Khazar Lankaran Khazar Lankaran FK () was an Azerbaijani football club based in Lankaran that last played in the Azerbaijan Premier League during the 2015–16 season. Since the summer of 2016 the club has concentrated on youth football. It played in the Aze ...

on 3 December 2013, with a one-and-a-half-year deal. On 16 May 2014, Denizli terminated his contract with Khazar. He also has worked outside Turkey with

Alemannia Aachen Aachener Turn- und Sportverein Alemannia 1900 e. V., short Alemannia Aachen (), is a German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long-term fixture of the country's second division, Alemannia enjoyed a three- ...

in Germany, Pas and

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

in Iran and Khazar Lankaran in Azerbaijan. He managed the Turkey national team for four years and reached the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

. On 23 December 2011, he returned to

but resigned at the end of the season. He spent 17 years with his hometown club

Altay Altai or Altay may refer to: Places *Altai Mountains, in Central and East Asia, a region shared by China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia In China *Altay Prefecture (阿勒泰地区), Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China *Altay City (阿勒� ...

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, 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

. 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 National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

with the " "three biggest""

football clubs A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

;

, Fenerbahçe and

as a manager. With 2008–09 league title, Denizli also clings to the achievement of being "the one and only Turkish coach

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 The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

titans

for medical reasons.

Third term at Galatasaray

On 19 November 2015,

manager

Hamza Hamzaoğlu Hamza Hamzaoğlu (born 1 July 1970) is a Turkish professional coach and former player, he is the assistant manager of Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab. Club career Hamzaoğlu began his career in 1988 with İzmirspor. In 1995, he transferred t ...

left his position as a result of mutual agreement. 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 TRT 3 is a Turkish television channel. It mostly broadcasts sport events. History TRT 3 started test transmissions on October 2, 1989, as "3. Kanal" or TV3. TV2's reserve transmitters, which were under the jurisdiction of Türk Telekom, were ...

broadcast. A day later,

's president Dursun Aydın Özbek met with Denizli at Point Hotel

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." Before the signing, Denizli followed UEFA Champions League match, Galatasaray played with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

Vicente Calderón Stadium The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907. It was located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela district of Madrid, Spain. The ...

. But in this match, the team was managed by

Cláudio Taffarel Cláudio André Mergen Taffarel (; born 8 May 1966) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the current goalkeeping coach of both club Liverpool, and the Brazil national team. Taffarel began his senio ...

as the interim manager. On 26 November 2015, he signed a contract until June 2017 in Florya Metin Oktay Sports Complex and Training Center. Denizli started his third term at Galatasaray with a 2–2 draw against Kasımpaşa in

. Team was beat

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

with 3-0 in Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex, which is his second match. On 8 December 2015, team draw against 1-1 with

FC Astana Astana Football Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Football in Kazakhstan, Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,000-seat As ...

but they took third place in UEFA Champions League C Group and qualified for

2015–16 UEFA Europa League knockout phase The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League knockout phase began on 16 February and concluded on 18 May 2016 with the 2016 UEFA Europa League Final, final at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland, to decide the champions of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. A ...

. He said "This was the hardest 90 minutes of my career." after the game. His last European match in

1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1991–92 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Werder Bremen in the final against Monaco. Both were first-time finalists in the competition. Defending champions Manchester United were eliminated by Atlético Madrid in the second ...

with

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

while he was a coach of Galatasaray until this match. MDenizli cropped

His first derby was with

Atatürk Olympic Stadium The Atatürk Olympic Stadium (, ) is a stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Located in the western district of Başakşehir, it is the largest-capacity stadium in the country. The stadium is named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first Pre ...

and Galatasaray lost 2–1 this match. Besides, this was first defeat of Denizli on third term. After this, Galatasaray was met with

Akhisar Belediyespor Akhisarspor Kulübü (), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

, impending

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

and beat in two matches. Denizli went outside

with

Kastamonuspor Kastamonu Spor Kulübü was a Turkish football club founded in 1966. The club was located in Kastamonu, Turkey. History Kastamonuspor began to compete at the second level in the 1967 – 1968 season. They was relegated to the amateur le ...

match since appointed of manager. Denizli resigned from his duty on 1 March 2016.

Kasımpaşa

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

Tractor

Denizli was appointed as the head coach of

Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

in June 2019. 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. However, he was sacked on 7 December 2019 after a series of bad results, including a 4–2 home loss to Esteghlal.

Altay

On 28 April 2021, Denizli was appointed as the head coach of

. 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. 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

. Denizli resigned in January 2022 after going on a 13 match winless streak in the Süper Lig.

Career statistics

Player

International

:''Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Denizli goal''.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Altay *

: 1966–67, 1979–80

Managerial

Galatasaray *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: Semi-finals 1988–89 *

: 1987–88 *

: 1990–91 * Cumhurbaşkanlığı Kupası:

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Fenerbahçe *

: 2000–01 Beşiktaş *

: 2008–09 *

: 2008–09 Çaykur Rizespor *

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

: 2012–13 Altay *

Playoffs: 2020–21

Awards and achievements

* 1.Lig top goalscorer: 1979–80 at Altay *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

's 11th best national team coach in the world: 2000

Notes

References

External links

* * * * *
Mustafa Denizli – Coach profile
at www.mackolik.com
Mustafa Denizli at Eurosport.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denizli, Mustafa 1949 births Living people People from Çeşme Footballers from İzmir Province Cretan Turks Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkish football managers Altay S.K. footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Galatasaray S.K. (football) managers Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) managers Beşiktaş J.K. managers UEFA Euro 2000 managers Tractor S.C. managers Süper Lig players Alemannia Aachen managers Turkey national football team managers Süper Lig managers Manisaspor managers Çaykur Rizespor managers Expatriate football managers in Iran Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate football managers in Germany Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate football managers in Azerbaijan Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Turkish expatriate football managers Khazar Lankaran FK managers Men's association football forwards Persian Gulf Pro League managers 20th-century Turkish sportsmen