Şükrü Ersoy

Şükrü Ersoy — Biography

Şükrü Ersoy is a goalkeeper closely identified with Fenerbahçe, the man who kept goal for Turkey at the 1954 FIFA World Cup and who became a coach after retiring as a player. Club and supporter pages count him among the most important players in Fenerbahçe's history. In June 2026 the Turkish Football Federation welcomed him at the national team's camp in Riva as its "living legend"; as the last surviving member of the 1954 squad, he was greeted by the current players one by one with a kiss on the hand.

Born in Kadıköy, Ersoy began playing youth football for Fenerbahçe in 1946 at the age of 15 and stayed in the club's youth sides until 1949. After keeping goal for Vefa from 1949 to 1952 he returned to Fenerbahçe, where he won two Istanbul League titles and two Turkish League titles. At the 1954 World Cup he played in goal in Turkey's second match against Germany. He was capped ten times in all: eight times for the senior side, once for the B team and once for the under-21s. He finished his playing career in Austria with Salzburg.

Ersoy studied coaching in Cologne and received his licence in 1967. His first coaching job came in 1967–68 at Balıkesirspor; he then coached Fenerbahçe, Trabzonspor, Altay and Denizlispor, and took over Sakaryaspor at the start of 1977–78. As a manager he won the Turkish Cup twice.