Serdar Kulbilge

Serdar Kulbilge — Biography

Serdar Kulbilge was born on 7 July 1980 in Hayrabolu, Tekirdağ, and is a Turkish former international footballer and coach who played as a goalkeeper. He came up through Bursaspor's youth ranks, made his professional debut in the Turkish third tier with Bursa Merinosspor in the 1998-99 season, and then returned to Bursaspor, where he spent six seasons. He moved to Fenerbahçe before the 2005-06 season and took over the goalkeeping job after an injury to Rüştü Reçber and a loss of form by Volkan Demirel, becoming a first-team regular; he won his first senior cap against Romania on 22 August 2007, and in 2006-07 he won the Süper Lig and the Süper Kupa with Fenerbahçe.

After leaving Fenerbahçe he went on to play for Kocaelispor, Gençlerbirliği, a brief, unsuccessful spell at Ankaragücü, Boluspor, Gaziantepspor, Adana Demirspor, Kayserispor and finally Sarıyer. In July 2011 he was detained over match-fixing allegations connected to a Gençlerbirliği-Fenerbahçe game; he was acquitted by Istanbul's 16th Heavy Penal Court, a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court's 5th Criminal Chamber. The Turkish federation's disciplinary board separately handed him a two-year ban for "attempting to influence a match result," but on appeal the federation's arbitration board lifted that penalty and imposed a three-match ban for "conduct contrary to sportsmanship" instead. Kulbilge retired from playing in September 2018 and moved into coaching, opening a goalkeeping academy and serving as goalkeeping coach at Gençlerbirliği and Adana Demirspor; his son, Bartu Kulbilge, also became a footballer.