Yüksel Yeşilova

Yüksel Yeşilova — Biography

Yüksel Yeşilova was born on October 30, 1968, in Adana. A Turkish football manager and former player, he earned his coaching license in Germany, where he worked in amateur leagues before also coaching in Romania's top division, and took his first job in Turkish football in April 2009 at Giresunspor.

After a season and a half there, he took charge of Mersin İdman Yurdu at the start of 2010-11; that year, during a match against Samsunspor, he was stabbed on the touchline by his own older brother, and poor results saw him dismissed in October 2010. In early 2011 he took over Romania's Sportul Studenţesc, lifting a side fighting relegation to 16 points over the final eight weeks of the season, though he could not keep them up and left the club at season's end. He signed as manager of Ağrı 1970 Spor in December 2021; his best-known spell came with Adanaspor, his hometown club, in 2025-26.

That Adanaspor tenure was overshadowed by financial trouble; after saying the team was "going out to matches in tears" and paying the staff's food bill out of his own pocket, Yeşilova resigned in October 2025. A brief stint at Nazillispor ended in November 2025. In the summer of 2026 he moved into Kosovan football, first agreeing terms with KF Liria Prizren in June 2026 before taking charge of KF Rilindja 1974 in July.