Mehmet Leblebi

Mehmet Leblebi — Biography

Mehmet Leblebi (1908, Pınarhisar – 25 February 1972, Istanbul) was one of the leading Turkish footballers of the early republican era, spending his entire playing career with Galatasaray. He took up football at Galatasaray High School, joined the club's youth ranks while still a boy, and was promoted to the first team at just 15. His small stature earned him the nickname "Leblebi" (chickpea), which he later adopted as his legal surname in place of his birth name, Pınar.

Playing on the right wing, Leblebi was known for his remarkable pace and made his debut for the Turkish national team at age 16, at the 1924 Paris Olympics. In a 20-0 rout of Vefa on 25 November 1925, he scored 14 goals in a single match, a feat that remains part of Turkish football lore. Over 12 seasons at Galatasaray he won five Istanbul League titles, and between 1924 and 1932 he earned 16 caps for the national team, scoring twice.

He retired from playing in 1935 and went on to serve Galatasaray in administrative and management roles, remaining associated with the club's dominant championship-winning generation of the 1920s.