Ergun Öztuna

Ergun Öztuna — Biography

Ergun Öztuna went down in Fenerbahçe history as the player who scored the club's first goal in the league. Fans gave him the nickname "Puşkaş", a nod to the Hungarian star Ferenc Puskás, for his technique; after playing he also joined the coaching staff around Fenerbahçe and the national team. He died on 24 May 2023 at the age of 85 and was laid to rest the next day.

He started out in Akhisar; when his family moved to İzmir he joined Karşıyaka. After a match against Hungary in İzmir, Puskás said he liked him, which made him known nationwide. In 1956, aged just 17, he joined Fenerbahçe, was named the most gentlemanly player of his first season there and in 1959 scored the club's first goal in the professional league. With Fenerbahçe he won two Istanbul League titles and one Turkish League title. In 1963 he also scored Bursaspor's first goal in the top division. Before returning to Fenerbahçe in 1964 he also played for Austria Klagenfurt, Karşıyaka and Nazillispor, and was loaned to Rizespor. He scored 79 goals in 219 matches for Fenerbahçe and, after injuries and serious meniscus operations, ended his career there in 1971.

After playing he worked as an assistant coach with the Turkish national team and was an assistant coach in Fenerbahçe's 103-goal championship of 1988-89. In 1980-81 he led Çengelköy to its first title. He was a member of Fenerbahçe's High Advisory Board, and in 2010 his shirt and that of Alex de Souza, who scored the club's 3000th league goal, went to the Fenerbahçe Museum in a ceremony.