Güvenç Kurtar

Güvenç Kurtar — Biography

Güvenç Kurtar was born on 25 July 1960 in Uşak, though some sources give his birth year as 1950, and went on to become a Turkish football manager and former forward. As a player he appeared for Beşiktaş, Altay, Mersin İdmanyurdu, Bursaspor, Kocaelispor and Düzcespor; with Kocaelispor, alongside teammates such as Ceyhun Güray and Mustafa Çapanoğlu, he won the second-tier league title in the 1979-80 season to secure promotion and also finished as that season's top scorer.

After retiring as a player he went on to manage numerous Anatolian clubs. His biggest success in Turkish football came in the 1991-92 season, when he led Kocaelispor up from the second tier, and the following season the club finished fourth in the top flight and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Over his coaching career he also managed Darıca Gençlerbirliği, Sarıyer, Eskişehirspor, Diyarbakırspor, Çaykur Rizespor, Denizlispor, Bursaspor and Adana Demirspor; he resigned from Diyarbakırspor, left Denizlispor early in the 2011-12 season after a poor run of results, and in 2015 had a brief spell at Adanaspor, winning three of his nine matches in charge. In 2014 he took his only post abroad, taking charge of Ravan Baku in the Azerbaijan Premier League. He most recently coached Gümüşhanespor.

In 2017 he lost his wife, Gülay Kurtar. In recent years he has also become a familiar voice as a football pundit, commenting on current football topics on Turkish television.