Basri Dirimlili

Basri Dirimlili — Biography

Basri Dirimlili, known as "Mehmetçik Basri", was a Turkish international who spent many years in Fenerbahçe's defence. Fenerbahçe supporters count him among the club's legendary players; his combative, self-sacrificing play also earned him the nicknames "Cengaver Basri" and "Asker Basri". The nickname dates from a friendly in Adana against Adana Demirspor in which he kept playing despite a broken jaw.

He was born in Silistra and moved to Turkey with his family as a child, settling in Eskişehir, where he started in the Eskişehir Demirspor youth system. He was part of the first Turkey football team to go to the Olympic Games, in 1952, and of the squad at the 1954 FIFA World Cup finals, winning 26 or 27 senior caps. He ended his playing days at Karşıyaka.

As a coach he worked at Feriköy in 1965-66, was put in charge of Turkey's amateur and under-21 teams in August 1966, and managed Vefa in 1966-67. At Fenerbahçe he worked alongside Ignác Molnár, Didi, Traian Ionescu and Branko Stanković, and is said to have had a large share in the team's five trophies in a single season under Molnár. He won the Spor Toto Cup with İstanbulspor in 1970-71 and took over Karabükspor at the start of 1973-74. He died in Istanbul on 14 September 1997 and is commemorated each year at his grave in Karacaahmet Cemetery.