Uğur Köken

Uğur Köken — Biography

Uğur Köken is a former Turkish international who spent his whole career at Galatasaray, on the left flank. He played as a left winger or left-back and, when he retired with 296 league matches, he held the club's record for league appearances; he now stands 8th on that list.

He began in Galatasaray's youth ranks in 1955, aged 18, and was promoted to the senior squad in 1959-60. He sat mostly on the bench for two seasons, then became a regular starter from the third. In the 1960s he won the league in 1961-62, 1962-63 and 1968-69 alongside Metin Oktay, Turgay Şeren and Kadri Aytaç. In the early 1970s, with Muzaffer Sipahi, Bülent Ünder and Metin Kurt, he was part of the first Galatasaray side to win three consecutive titles, in 1971, 1972 and 1973, and captained the club for two seasons after Metin Oktay recommended him. In all he won six league titles and five Turkish Cups. He retired with a testimonial match on 30 August 1973.

He was capped 13 times in total: once for the amateur side, once for the U21s and twelve times for the senior team, debuting on 10 October 1962 in a friendly against Ethiopia in Samsun. At the 1960 Summer Olympics he played two matches for the amateur team and scored once, and he was in the senior squad that finished runner-up in the 1965 RCD Cup. Coach Brian Birch, on hearing he would retire, called him the Bobby Charlton of Turkish football. He later worked as a coach.