Bülent Eken

Bülent Eken — Biography

Bülent Eken was one of Galatasaray's versatile defenders of the 1940s and later a coach at several clubs, spending a spell in charge of the Turkey national team. His brothers Danyal Vuran and Reha Eken also played for Galatasaray, and the Turkish Football Federation remembers him on the anniversaries of his death in 2016.

He began in Galatasaray's first team in 1942. He played right-back, left-back, centre-back, winger and midfield, and went in goal in one match; he captained the side in his final seasons and won the Istanbul League in 1948-49. In 1950 he moved to Italy to play for Salernitana and then for one season for Palermo, returned to Galatasaray in 1953 and retired a year later. He won 13 caps, was in the squads for the 1948 London Olympics and the 1954 World Cup, and scored once in a 7-0 win over Syria in qualifying for the 1954 World Cup. He was also in the side that finished runner-up in the 1949 Mediterranean Cup.

After retiring he took coaching courses in Italy. He managed the Turkish national team in 1963 and was a Galatasaray assistant coach in 1967. He also coached Karagümrük, İzmirspor, Karşıyaka, Altay, Göztepe, Vefa, Orduspor, Rizespor and Adanaspor, with whom he topped the First League in 1970-71 and won promotion to the Süper Lig.