Varol Ürkmez

Varol Ürkmez — Biography

Varol Ürkmez was one of the more colourful goalkeepers in Turkish football history. He took over the Beşiktaş goal at a young age, earned the nickname "Madrid Panteri" (the Panther of Madrid) for his performance against Real Madrid in 1958, played for years at Altay and also wore the Galatasaray shirt. He died in Istanbul in January 2021.

He began at Selimiye Spor in 1950 and passed Beşiktaş's trials in 1953. In 1956-57, aged only 19, he became the first-choice goalkeeper and won the Federation Cup in two successive seasons. In the 1958-59 European Champion Clubs' Cup he earned a place in the squad that travelled to Madrid, and his display against Alfredo di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás was praised until he was injured after the second goal and went off. He reached an agreement with Real Madrid, but family problems stopped the transfer, and the newspaper Milliyet named him sportsman of 1958. After losing his place at Beşiktaş he moved to Altay in 1960 and guarded their goal for eight years, winning the Turkish Cup in 1966-67. In 1968 he joined Galatasaray and won his second league title that season; he later played for Manisaspor and Tekelspor and held a testimonial match in 1975.

For the national team he made his debut against Czechoslovakia on 18 December 1958 and won four caps between 1958 and 1965. He entered cinema in 1963 with Kavgasız Yaşayalım and appeared in five films, among them Şekerli Misin Vay Vay, Aklın Durur and Tavan Arası.