Aykut Yiğit

Aykut Yiğit — Biography

Aykut Yiğit was a striker remembered as the scoring face of Sakaryaspor in the 1980s, and a Turkish top-flight scoring champion. He came through Sakarya's youth system to become the club's star, and died in 2002 in a bus accident while serving as its technical manager. His name lives on today at a middle school in Sakarya.

He began in Sakaryaspor's youth system, played for Eskişehirspor, then returned in 1982 to the club that raised him. His goals in the mid-1980s helped Sakaryaspor finish high in the table and beat the big clubs in important matches. Because a younger Aykut, Aykut Kocaman, was in the squad, he was known as Büyük Aykut, or Big Aykut. In 1986 he moved to Fenerbahçe at Branko Stanković's request; after failing to score in the first six games he was loaned to Bakırköyspor, and his contract was ended by mutual consent at the season's close. He also played for Altay, spent 1990-93 at Ayvalıkgücü and joined Balıkesirspor in 1993, retiring in 1994. He won his first senior cap against Bulgaria on 16 October 1984 and was capped three times in all.

After playing he worked in club management and coaching: he held a role at third-division Yeni Bornovaspor in 1997-98, then returned to his first club Sakaryaspor as technical manager. On 7 September 2002 he died, aged 42, when the bus carrying the team went off the road near Sivas. A middle school in his hometown was named after him.