Eşfak Aykaç

Eşfak Aykaç — Biography

Eşfak Aykaç was a right-back in Galatasaray's history who stayed in football as a coach and a journalist. Galatasaray's supporters count him among the club's important players, and in 1956 he was the sole selector of the Turkey side that beat Hungary's "Golden Team" 3-1.

Born on Kınalıada, he was the son of the writer, poet and politician Fazıl Ahmet Aykaç. He boarded at Galatasaray High School for 12 years, shared a desk with Gündüz Kılıç and began playing football there. At 18 he started wearing the yellow-and-red shirt, played at right-back until he stopped in the mid-1940s and never turned out for another club. In his first match he scored against the Hungarian side Újpest, giving Galatasaray a 1-0 win.

After retiring he coached Beykoz, Feriköy, Galatasaray and Altınordu. In the match against Hungary on 19 February 1956, against a side built around players such as Ferenc Puskás, Aykaç was sole selector; the team he picked was run by Giovanni Varglien. In periods when he was not coaching he worked as a journalist from 1948, writing for Hürriyet, Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, Akşam, Zafer, Yeni İstanbul and Son Havadis, and he was also a sports commentator. He died in Istanbul on 21 November 2003 and was buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.