Raşit Çetiner

Raşit Çetiner — Biography

Raşit Çetiner is a former Turkey international and coach who rose to captain Galatasaray, was called "Baba Raşit" and "Aslan Yürekli" (Lion-Hearted) by the club's fans and later spent many years in charge of the Turkey under-21 national team. Because of his self-sacrificing style he is remembered as one of six Turkish footballers nicknamed "Baba".

He started out at İstanbulspor in 1973 and also played for Göztepe and Kocaelispor; while at Kocaelispor he was the First League's top scorer in 1977-78 with 17 goals and was named player of the year. He played for Fenerbahçe from 1978 to 1981 and Galatasaray from 1981 to 1988, winning the Turkish Cup with Galatasaray in 1982 and 1985 and the league in 1987 and 1988. As a teenager he was in the side that finished fourth at the 1975 European Under-18 Championship, and he captained the senior national team as well. A serious injury against Samsunspor in 1986-87 led him to retire in 1988.

He began coaching at Beylerbeyi, Galatasaray's third-division side, and worked at Gaziantepspor, Altay, Çanakkale Dardanelspor and Denizlispor. In 1998 he took over the Turkey under-21 team and led it to the 2000 European Championship finals, a first in Turkish football history. He took Bursaspor up to the Süper Lig, then worked at Antalyaspor, Konyaspor and Çaykur Rizespor. In February 2010 he was appointed to the under-21 job for a second time and left in December 2011. In 2020 he agreed terms with Şanlıurfaspor. He is married with two sons.