- Nihat Bekdik
-
Nihat Bekdik 
Personal information Full name "Aslan" Nihat Bekdik Date of birth 1902 Place of birth Istanbul, Turkey Date of death 21 June 1972 (aged 70) Place of death Istanbul, Turkey Playing position Centre back Youth career 1914-1920 Galatasaray SK Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1920–1936 Galatasaray SK 268 National team 1923–1932 Turkey 21 (1) Teams managed 1929 Galatasaray SK * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals)."Aslan" Nihat Bekdik (1902 – 21 June 1972) was a Turkish professional footballer. He spent the entirety of his career with his hometown club, Galatasaray SK.[1] He also represented Turkey on 21 occasions, captaining them 10 times.
Contents
Sporting career
Football
Nihat Bekdik - 1926
Nihat was born in Istanbul and played his entire career as a defense player for Galatasaray SK, playing 268 games between 1920 and 1936. Like many other Galatasaray SK players at that time, he was a student of the Galatasaray High School and started playing football at the Grand Cour of the Galatasaray High School at the age of 10. He was selected to Galatasaray A2 team when he was 12. Two years later he quit palying football and just did athletics for the next four years. He returned to football in 1920 and started to play at the A team of Galatasaray SK. He won the Istanbul Football League sixth times as captain of the team in 1928 and 1936.
Nihat Bekdik as Captain of the Galatasaray SK 1930-1931 Champion TeamOther sports
He was also a very good triple jumper and high jumper. In 1923 he set new Turkish records at triple jump (11.92m) and high jump (1.58m). After his football career he continued doing sports in Equestrian, sailing and swimming. With his Boat "Aslan" he won numerous cups.
Political career
Between 1957 and 1960 he was in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as a member of the Democratic Party.
Aslan
Because of a lion badge at his sweat suit and his fabulous performances on the pitch, the spectators called him "Aslan" which means "Lion" in English. Later "Aslan" became the nickname of the club Galatasaray SK.
Career statistics
International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 14 October 1927 Istanbul, Turkey 
Bulgaria3-1 3-1 Friendly Honours
As player
- Galatasaray SK
- Istanbul Football League: 6
- 1921-1922, 1924–1925, 1925–1926, 1926–1927, 1928–1929, 1930–1931
- Istanbul Cup (football): 1
- 1933
- Istanbul Football League: 6
As manager
- Galatasaray SK
- Istanbul Football League: 1
- 1928–1929
- Istanbul Football League: 1
See also
References
External links
Galatasaray S.K. – managers Nikolof (1905–06) · Serdaroğlu (1907) · Armitage (1908–11) · Serdaroğlu (1911–14) · Sadi Bey (1915) · Sami Yen (1916–17) · Şahin (1919–21) · Giray (1922–23) · Kabalski (1923–24) · Hunter (1924–28) · Limbeck (1930–31) · Pagnam (1931–32) · Puddefoot (1933–36) · Baar (1937) · Szabó (1938) · Tandler (1938–39) · Hayman (1939) · Zaharczuk (1939–40) · Begget (1940–45) · Dimitriyadis (1945–46) · Swenk (1947) · Molloy (1947–49) · Lochhead (1950–52) · Kılıç (1952–53) · Székely (1953–54) · Kılıç (1954–57) · Dick (1957–58) · Remondini (1959–61) · Kılıç (1961–63) · Özarı (1963–64) · Kılıç (1964–67) · Aykaç (1967–68) · Kaloperović (1968–70) · Oktay (1970) · Özarı (1970–71) · Birch (1971–74) · Mansell (1974–75) · Howe (1975–76) · Allison (1976–77) · Demircan (1977–78) · Özarı (1978–79) · Şeren (1979–80) · Birch (1980–82) · Sümer (1982–83) · Ivić (1983–84) · Derwall (1984–87) · Denizli (1987–89) · Held (1989–90) · Denizli (1990–92) · Feldkamp (1992–93) · Hollmann (1993–94) · Saftig (1994–95) · Erkasap (1995) · Souness (1995–96) · Terim (1996–2000) · Lucescu (2000–02) · Terim (2002–04) · Hagi (2004–05) · Gerets (2005–07) · Feldkamp (2007–08) · Güler (2008) · Skibbe (2008–09) · Korkmaz (2009) · Rijkaard (2009–10) · Hagi (2010–11) · Ünder (2011) · Terim (2011–)
Categories:- 1902 births
- 1972 deaths
- Turkish footballers
- Turkey international footballers
- Galatasaray S.K. footballers
- Male high jumpers
- Triple jumpers
- Turkish football managers
- Galatasaray football managers
- People from Istanbul
- Galatasaray High School alumni
- Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics
- Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics
- Olympic footballers of Turkey
- Galatasaray SK
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
