Ahmet Suat Özyazıcı

Ahmet Suat Özyazıcı — Biography

Ahmet Suat Özyazıcı was the manager who won Trabzonspor its first league title and showed that a club from Anatolia could reach the top of Turkish football outside the big Istanbul three. Fans and commentators nicknamed him "the Brazilian" for his tactical skill, and he was also known as "master of the cups". He died in 2023 at the age of 86, and Trabzonspor commemorates him at his grave every year on the anniversary of his death.

He started at 17 with Trabzon Yolspor, then played for İdmanocağı, one of the city's most popular sides, and wore Trabzonspor's shirt once the local clubs merged. A defender, he was part of the national squad at the 1960 Rome Olympics. After retiring as a player he became assistant coach at Trabzonspor in 1970 and youth-team coach in 1971, then took over the first team in the second half of 1972-73. The team missed promotion that season on goal average but went up the following year as second-division champions.

His defining era began in 1975-76: Trabzonspor won the title in 1976, the first team from Anatolia to do so. He was in charge for four of the six league titles the club won in the 1970s and 1980s, and for 18 cups in total. He also coached Sarıyer and Vanspor, and his last spell at Trabzonspor came in 1999.