Semih Aydilek (born 16 January 1989) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward. Internationally, Aydilek represented Turkey, the country of his parents, at under-17 and under-18 level, but later chose to represent the country of his birth, and played for Germany at under-19 and under-20 level.

Club career

Birmingham

Aydilek was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany, to Turkish parents, and spent ten years in the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

of home-town club

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. While playing in a youth tournament in 2006, he was spotted by

Terry Westley Terence Westley (born 18 September 1959) is an association football coach and manager (association football), manager. Until 2011 he was the Academy Director at Birmingham City F.C. Reserves and Academy, Birmingham City and in July 2014 he was ...

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

manager at English club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, who persuaded the player that a move to England would benefit his career. Aydilek agreed to join Birmingham, then in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, in October 2007, though the move could not be completed until his German passport came through in December. He played regularly with their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, with whom he won the 2007–08

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a regional Association football, football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest County Football Association, count ...

. He was given a

squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...

prior to being named as a substitute for the League Cup defeat to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in August 2008, but took no part in the game. In February 2009, Aydilek joined

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

of the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2008–09 season, where he linked up with fellow loanee and Birmingham team-mate Artur Krysiak. Motherwell manager

Mark McGhee Mark Edward McGhee (born 25 May 1957) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. A former forward, McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and had spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, ...

had not seen the player, but signed him on the recommendation of his Birmingham counterpart, former Scotland national manager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps f ...

, who felt he had potential but needed to play in competitive football to develop his game. He was an unused substitute in the SPL draw with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in February 2009, but never appeared for the first team.

In Turkey

When his contract expired at the end of the 2008–09 season, Aydilek signed a four-year contract with Turkish club

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

. An unused substitute in the opening game of the

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 ...

season, he made his debut in the next, on 16 August as a 76th-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw at home to

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matc ...

. He made his first start for the club on 29 November as Kayserispor beat Manisaspor 1–0 away from home, and finished the season with 13 Süper Lig appearances, mostly as a substitute, without scoring. During the 2010–11 season, Aydilek made ten appearances for the Süper Lig side, four starts and six as a substitute.

Later career

In May 2016, while at German lower-league side Hanauer SC, received a 14-match ban.

International career

Aydilek represented

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

at under-17 and under-18 level while an Eintracht Frankfurt player. However, having received a German passport, he accepted a call-up to the German under-19 team in January 2008. He made his debut in a friendly against Poland under-19, and made a significant contribution to their

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the final stages of the 2008 UEFA under-19 championships. At the pre-tournament training camp, he suffered a severe tear to his ankle ligaments, so missed the final tournament which Germany went on to win, and was still recovering from the injury while his team-mates were in pre-season training at the start of the 2008–09 season. In September 2008 he appeared for the German under-20 team, and, despite feeling pressure to commit to Turkey, he accepted selection for the German team to compete at the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

. In their opening game in the tournament, Aydilek was fouled to earn his side a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

, which he converted himself to open the scoring in a 3–0 defeat of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He scored the second goal of the final group game, a 3–0 defeat of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, but was sent off a few minutes later, which brought a suspension for the round of 16. Germany were eliminated in the quarter-finals by

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

2–1 after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

; Aydilek missed a chance when one-on-one with the goalkeeper and set up the opening goal for Lewis Holtby, but had been substituted by the time Brazil equalised.

Honours

Birmingham City *

: 2008

References

External links

*
Player profile
at Birmingham City F.C. website
Player profile
at Turkish Football Federation website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aydilek, Semih 1989 births Living people German sportspeople of Turkish descent German men's footballers Turkish men's footballers Footballers from Frankfurt Men's association football forwards Turkey men's youth international footballers Germany men's youth international footballers Süper Lig players Eintracht Frankfurt II players Birmingham City F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Kayserispor footballers Konyaspor footballers Gaziantepspor footballers 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen