Volkan Demirel (; born 27 October 1981) 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,

pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

and former international

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. For many years, he was the starting goalkeeper of Fenerbahçe and the Turkey national team.

Club career

Demirel was born in

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

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 ...

to a family from Artvin with Georgian and Laz roots. He joined

Kartalspor Kartalspor is a sports club located in the Kartal district of Istanbul, Turkey. The club's football team plays in the Bank Asya First League after finishing 2nd in the Second League Promotion Group in the 2006–2007 season. Kartal SK started t ...

as an 18-year-old in 1999 and became the starting goalkeeper the following year.VOLKAN DEMİREL
tff.org , accessed 23 August 2010 Demirel played in 51 matches over the next two seasons, earning a transfer to Fenerbahçe at the start of the 2002 season.VOLKAN DEMİREL'İN PERFORMANSI
turkfutbolu.net , accessed 23 August 2010 Originally backing up

Rüştü Reçber Rüştü Reçber (; born 10 May 1973) is a Turkish former professional footballer and a current sports executive. During his professional career, he played as a goalkeeper for Antalyaspor, Fenerbahçe, Barcelona and Beşiktaş. Rüştü was pa ...

and

Recep Biler Recep Biler (born May 8, 1981) is a former Turkish goalkeeper. He is 1.93 m tall and weighs 80 kg. He is a goalkeeper and transferred from 2000–01 season from Turgutluspor, Yeni Turgutluspor to Fenerbahçe. He debuted on 29 November 2000 fo ...

, Demirel made his debut for the club on 26 April 2003.FENERBAHÇE 1–1 SAMSUNSPOR
tff.org , accessed 23 August 2010 After Reçber's transfer to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Demirel competed in 19 league matches, splitting time with Biler ''(who played in 14 matches)''. He also featured in three

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 ...

matches and won the

2003–04 Süper Lig The 2003–04 Süper Lig was the 46th league season, and the third season of Süper Lig. Fenerbahçe won their 15th title, being 4 points ahead Trabzonspor. Since Turkey dropped from eighth to tenth place in the UEFA association coefficient rank ...

title with Fenerbahçe.SPOR TOTO SÜPER LİG ŞAMPİYONLUKLARI
tff.org , accessed 23 August 2010 Following season, Demirel won another Süper Lig title, but was relegated to the bench after Rüştü Reçber returned to the club at the start of the season. Demirel was the starting goalkeeper at the start of the 2005–06 season, but was benched halfway through the season. At the start of the 2006–07, Demirel was the first choice keeper, but was supplanted by Reçber for a second time. After Reçber suffered an injury, Serdar Kulbilge took over as starting goalkeeper in favor of Demirel for the rest of the season.SERDAR KULBİLGE
tff.org , accessed 23 August 2010 Demirel played in 25 league matches the following season, with Kulbilge playing the rest. Demirel was the starting goalkeeper for the Fenerbahçe squad that progressed past the group stages of the

2007–08 UEFA Champions League The 2007–08 UEFA Champions League was the 16th season of UEFA's premier European club association football, football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded in 1992, and the 53rd tournament overall. The 2008 UEFA Champion ...

. In the Round of 16 tie with

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, Demirel made several mistakes, costing two goals. However, he went on to save three penalties in the penalty shootout, helping the club progress to the quarter-finals, the first time in club history.Volkan the hero as Turkey's Fenerbahce beats Sevilla
hurriyet.com.tr , accessed 24 August 2010 Fenerbahçe went on to face Chelsea, losing 2–3 on aggregate. Following Kulbilge's transfer to

Kocaelispor Kocaelispor is a Turkish professional football club based in İzmit, Kocaeli. They were founded in 1966 and played in the top level between 1980 and 1988, 1992–2003, and the 2008–09 seasons. Their best finish was in the 1992–93 season, w ...

, Demirel took over as starting goalkeeper. Demirel signed a four-year contract extension at the end of the 2008–09 season.

International career

Demirel was called up to the Turkey U-20 squad in 2001, being capped four times. He was capped by the Turkey U21 national team 21 times between 2001 and 2003, and earned his first call up to the Turkey national team in 2004. He made his debut for the national team on 28 April 2004 in a friendly against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Demirel came on as a substitute in the second half.BELÇİKA 2–3 TÜRKİYE
tff.org , accessed 24 August 2010 Demirel was the starting goalkeeper for the Turkey national team at the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

championships, reaching the semi-finals for the first time in team history. He started all three group stages matches, but was suspended for two matches after receiving a red card against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

for viciously pushing

Jan Koller Jan Koller (; born 30 March 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was noted for his height, strong physique and heading ability. He began his career at Sparta Prague, then moved to Belgium, where he beca ...

to the ground after Jan for unknown reasons ran and shouted at him.Volkan Suspended For Two Games, Turkey Fined
goal.com , accessed 24 August 2010 In 2014, just before the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Kazakhstan, Volkan Demirel left the Turkey national team after a dispute with a fan. After Demirel's refusal to play with the national team,

Volkan Babacan Volkan Babacan (; born 11 August 1988) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for İstanbul Başakşehir. Babacan was a star at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, taking Turkey to 3rd place. He made his full internat ...

took over as the starter for the UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifiers.

Managerial career

On 2 September 2019, Fenerbahçe announced that Demirel was retired and would continue his career as an assistant coach in the team. He worked under

Ersun Yanal Kazım Ersun Yanal (, born 17 December 1961) is a Turkish football manager and former player. His style has always been attacking football doubled up with tactics unprecedented in Turkish football. He enjoys a very respectable place amongst Turki ...

, Tahir Karapınar,

Erol Bulut Erol Bulut (; born 30 January 1975) is a Turkish professional football manager and former player. He most recently managed EFL Championship club Cardiff City. Club career Football Born in Bad Schwalbach, West Germany, During his career as a footb ...

and

Emre Belözoğlu Emre Belözoğlu (, born 7 September 1980), simply known as Emre, is a Turkish football manager and former professional player who is currently serving as the head coach of Antalyaspor. A midfielder, usually in a playmaker role, Belözoğlu cam ...

respectively. On 14 July 2021, it was announced that he ended his assistant coaching career at Fenerbahçe in a press conference he held with Fenerbahçe president

Ali Koç Yıldırım Ali Koç (born 2 April 1967) is a Turkish businessman. He is a third-generation member of Turkey's wealthiest Koç family and the youngest son of Rahmi Koç. In June 2018, he became the 37th president of Fenerbahçe Sports Club. B ...

Fatih Karagümrük

On 17 December 2021, Demirel signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with

Fatih Karagümrük Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

His first match as manager was a 1–0 away win over Göztepe on 19 December.

Hatayspor

On 21 September 2022, Demirel signed with

Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...

for one season with an option to extend.

Bodrum

On 30 October 2024,

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

appointed Demirel as the new head coach, following the departure of

İsmet Taşdemir İsmet Taşdemir (born 1 January 1974) is a Turkish football manager of Kurdish ethnicity. Managerial career On 25 December 2024 Kocaelispor signed a 1.5-year contract with Taşdemir for the position of head coach. References Externa ...

. On 3 February 2025, Bodrum parted ways with Demirel by mutual agreement.

Personal life

Volkan Demirel is married to former

Miss Belgium Miss Belgium is a national beauty pageant in Belgium. The winner of Miss Belgium automatically represents her country at the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants if the dates do not overlap. History Queen of the Beach The first contest looking ...

Zeynep Sever Zeynep Kübra Sever Demirel (born 9 July 1989) is a Turkish-Belgian volleyball player and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Belgium 2009 and also she represented Belgium at Miss Universe 2009, where she was placed among the Top 1 ...

. They have two daughters named Yade (born in February 2014) and Yeda (born in September 2017).

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial

Honours

Fenerbahçe *

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 ...

: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2013–14 *

: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Turkey *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

bronze medalist:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

* *
Profile at Fenerbahce.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demirel, Volkan 1981 births Living people Footballers from Istanbul Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers Turkey men's under-21 international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players Kartal S.K. footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) non-playing staff Turkish football managers Fatih Karagümrük S.K. managers Hatayspor managers Bodrum F.K. managers Süper Lig managers 21st-century Turkish sportsmen