Yusuf Şimşek

Yusuf Şimşek — Biography

Yusuf Şimşek is a former attacking midfielder, known for his close control and for the titles he won in the 2000s with Denizlispor, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, who later moved into coaching. He is also remembered as the coach who took Antalyaspor up to the Süper Lig through the 2015 play-off final.

He was born in the Elmalı district of Antalya, began at 16 with Demrespor, turned professional with Kemerspor and moved to Denizlispor in 1996. There he became one of Ersun Yanal's most trusted players and made more than 200 appearances, among the most in the club's history. He joined Fenerbahçe in 2000 and won league titles in 2000-01 and 2003-04 but struggled to win a regular place; on loan at Gaziantepspor he stood out with a goal against AS Roma in the UEFA Cup. After returning to Denizlispor and joining Bursaspor, he moved to Beşiktaş and, under Mustafa Denizli, contributed to the league and Turkish Cup titles of 2008-09, scoring against Fenerbahçe in the cup final. He was first called up to the national team at 32. Ariel Ortega once said of him that he could get past a man even in a phone booth.

He began coaching as a player-coach at Turgutluspor in 2011-12, then worked at Denizlispor and Karşıyaka after retiring; in 2015 he beat Samsunspor on penalties in the play-off final with Antalyaspor to take the team up to the Süper Lig. He has also coached Altay and Altınordu, and he is an honorary board member of Demrespor, where he started.