Kemal Serdar

Kemal Serdar — Biography

Kemal Serdar is a defender who played for Trabzonspor from 1983-84 until the end of 1994-95 and captained the club for many years; supporters called him "Kaptan Kemal" and he is also nicknamed "Atmaca". He made 357 Süper Lig appearances in the claret-and-blue shirt, behind only Hami Mandıralı and Turgay Semercioğlu in the club's all-time list.

He began with the amateur side Düzköy SK in Trabzon, rose quickly to the first team at Akçaabat Sebat Gençlik and drew Trabzonspor's attention there. After joining in 1983-84 he settled at once and won both the Süper Lig and the Turkish Cup in his first season. He lifted the cup again in 1991-92 and 1994-95, and won the Prime Minister's Cup in 1985 and 1994. He retired after 1994-95, with a testimonial match against Dinamo Batumi on 5 August 1995 as his farewell, and in 1997-98 he briefly returned as an amateur with Erdoğduspor.

He was called up for Turkey's national sides 19 times and played 12 times, twice for the U-21s and ten times for the senior team. His U-21 debut came against Austria on 15 November 1983 and his senior debut against the USSR on 6 September 1984. He moved into coaching in 2001-02, taking charge of Küçükköyspor, who were playing in Istanbul's lower leagues.