Levent Kartop

Levent Kartop — Biography

Levent Kartop is a midfielder-turned-coach closely tied to Denizlispor. He served the club of his native Denizli both as a player and as a head of the technical staff, and has since coached at clubs including 1922 Konyaspor and Eskişehirspor.

He began in the Denizlispor youth system, reached the first team in 1997 and played his first Süper Lig match against Trabzonspor on 11 May 1997. He was loaned to Muğlaspor and Nevşehirspor for experience, took a place in the side on his return in 1999-00, and was among its key players for five seasons, contributing to the UEFA Cup run under Rıza Çalımbay in 2002-03. In 2004 he moved to Konyaspor and scored nine goals in 29 matches before returning to Denizlispor for the second half of the following season. He later played for Antalyaspor, Kocaelispor and Altay, went back to Denizlispor in 2010-11 and joined Akhisar Belediyespor in 2011-12. He wound down his career at Eyüpspor and made three appearances for Turkey's under-21s.

As a coach he led Denizlispor's fight to stay in the Süper Lig in July 2020 and agreed a deal with Diyarbekirspor the same month. At 1922 Konyaspor he took over until the end of the season after Erol Mıngır's departure. He took charge of Kuşadasıspor in 2023 and of Eskişehirspor in December 2023.