Feti Okuroğlu

Feti Okuroğlu — Biography

Feti Okuroğlu is a former Turkish international footballer and coach who played as a centre-back and is associated above all with Bursaspor and Galatasaray. A great career was predicted for him early on, but frequent, long-lasting injuries kept him from fully living up to that promise. Because of his dangerous forward runs from defence, he was compared with Ronald Koeman, the Dutch defender who was very popular at the time.

He made his name at Bursaspor and finished as Turkish Cup runner-up with the club in 1991-92. His move from Bursaspor to Galatasaray is remembered as a first for its time, as he arrived at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium by helicopter. At Galatasaray injuries followed him and he got very little playing time; he then went to Trabzonspor and ended his career at İzmirspor.

He was called up to the national teams 46 times in all, playing for Turkey at under-18, under-21 and under-23 level and making one appearance for the senior side. He was in the squad that won the 1993 Mediterranean Games and had finished second in the same competition in 1991. After retiring he worked as a coach and was often called up to Galatasaray's veterans side for charity matches. Called "Torbalı's pride" in the local press, he took part in the launch of the Galatasaray football school opened in Torbalı in 2010.