Rıdvan Şimşek

Rıdvan Şimşek — Biography

Rıdvan Şimşek is a Turkish footballer born on 17 January 1991 in the Konak district of İzmir; he was named after Rıdvan Dilmen, a former striker his father admired. He began playing football in Karşıyaka's youth academy at age 12, quickly rose to the club's senior youth side, and broke into the first team in the 2008-09 season, making his league debut against Kasımpaşa in September 2008. He transferred from Karşıyaka to Beşiktaş in June 2009 as a right back, made his debut in black-and-white in the Turkish Super Cup final against Fenerbahçe that August, and won the Turkish Cup with the club in 2010-11; he later described a fibula fracture suffered against Manisaspor in May 2010 as one of the turning points of his career. He also represented Turkey's youth national teams and scored a goal at the 2009 Mediterranean Games.

After loan spells at Karabükspor and Elazığspor, he went on to play for Gaziantepspor, Karşıyaka again, Antalyaspor, Sivasspor, Altay SK and İzmirspor. After retiring from playing, he moved into business by purchasing a football club in 2022; reports in December 2023 said he received a 31-match ban over an assault incident. A cousin of footballer Yusuf Şimşek, he stands 1.73 m tall.