Ersen Martin

Ersen Martin — Biography

Ersen Martin was a German-born centre forward, 1.96 meters tall, who spent most of his career in Turkey. Over 12 seasons in the Süper Lig he played 256 games and scored 73 goals for ten different clubs, is counted among the important names in Denizlispor's history and won three caps for the national team. He died in İzmir on 19 March 2024, aged 44, and the Turkish Football Federation and Trabzonspor mark the anniversary.

He started in the youth ranks of 1. FC Nürnberg, played 20 minutes of Bundesliga football away at Freiburg in 1998-99, then moved to Turkey and joined Beşiktaş. Short of chances there, he played for Siirtspor and Göztepe. His breakthrough came at Denizlispor, where he scored important goals in more than 100 games; in the 2002-03 UEFA Cup the side knocked out Sparta Prague, Lorient and Lyon, and he scored against Porto in a 2-2 draw. After Ankaraspor he joined Trabzonspor in 2006-07, finishing as the league's eighth-best scorer as the team took fourth place and a UEFA Cup spot. He spent two years at Recreativo Huelva, and in 2009 scored Sivasspor's first ever Champions League goal against Anderlecht. After Manisaspor, Kasımpaşa and Gençlerbirliği he finished at Eyüpspor.

He shared the 2004-05 Turkish Cup top-scorer title and won his first cap on 18 August 2004 against Belarus. His brother Erkan Martin was also a footballer.