Halit Deringör

Halit Deringör — Biography

Halit Deringör was a Turkish footballer who came up through Fenerbahçe's youth ranks and spent his entire playing life in the yellow-and-navy shirt. Through his love of the game and his sportsmanship he is counted among the emblematic names in the club's history. After football he also spent years in the sport as a coach, club official and newspaper writer.

He began playing at ten and joined Fenerbahçe's youth side at 15. He first wore the senior shirt on 1 May 1942 against Rapid Bucharest; in a cup match against Galatasaray on 13 December that year, his goal tore through the net and the ball flew out of the stadium. Over ten years, without playing for any other club, he scored 107 goals in 330 official matches, won five trophies in the Millî Küme and the Turkish Championship, and said goodbye on 24 August 1952 in a match against Bakırköyspor. He earned five caps for Turkey: his first match was the 3-1 win over Greece on 23 April 1948, and he scored his first goal in a 6-1 win over Iran on 28 May 1950. He was in the squad for the 1948 London Olympics but did not play in the tournament.

After leaving the pitch he coached Bursa Acar İdman Yurdu for nine years and led the side to the 1955 Turkish Amateur Football Championship; in 1961-62 he took on the technical responsibility at Fenerbahçe. In 1964 he was elected to the board under chairman İsmet Uluğ and served for about a year. The same year he began writing about sport for the newspapers Cumhuriyet and Aydınlık. He died in Istanbul on 14 March 2018, aged 95.