Lefter Küçükandonyadis

Club career

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. 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. 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. He participated in only five games in the season, as an injury in the match against Iraklis forced his retirement.

International career

Küçükandonyadis was capped 46 times for the Turkey national team, 9 as the captain. He also played at the 1948 Summer Olympics, 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.

Managerial career Lefter coached Egaleo in Greece and Johannesburg in South Africa. He later returned to Turkey to coach clubs, mostly Samsunspor, Orduspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, and Boluspor. Personal life

Both of his parents were of Greek origin, and forced to migrate to Greece. His father was spared because he had no property. Attackers tried to enter his house in order to kill him and his family while they were hiding in the basement, but did not manage to break in. When İsmet İnönü was asked whether or not he likes Lefter, he replied: "I like Lefter, but I don't like Lefter's kind", referring to Greeks.

Career statisticsScores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lefter goal.''

Honours Fenerbahçe Süper Lig: 1959, 1960–61, 1963–64 National Division: 1950 Prime Minister's Cup: 1950 Istanbul Football League: 1947–48, 1956–57, 1958–59 Atatürk Cup: 1963–64

Individual Turkish League top scorer: 1950, 1957–58 Istanbul League top scorer: 1947–48, 1953–54 Turkish Footballer of the Year: 1955