Lefter Küçükandonyadis

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Lore & Background

Lefter started his footballing career on Büyükada but professionally played first with Taksim SK. He transferred to Fenerbahçe in 1947, achieving instant success. He won the National Division championship in 1950, his first nationwide championship title with the club, becoming the Turkish top scorer in the same edition. He was one of the first Turkish footballers to play abroad, playing during 1951–1953 for ACF Fiorentina in Italy and OGC Nice in France. Returning to Fenerbahçe, he won two Istanbul League titles and later, after the start of the Turkish Super League, three Turkish League (1959, 1961 and 1964) titles. In the 1947–48 and 1953–54 seasons, he became the leading goalscorer of the Istanbul League. Overall, he scored a total of 423 goals in 615 games for Fenerbahçe. After ending his career in Turkey in 1964, he played a single season in Greece with AEK Athens at the age of 39. He scored twice in an away 7–1 victory against Apollon Smyrnis and became the eldest goalscorer in the history of the club. These goals also made him the eldest goalscorer in the history of Greek Championship, until he was surpassed by Tasos Mitropoulos in 1997. He participated in only five games in the season, as an injury in the match against Iraklis forced his retirement.

In Their Own Story

Lefter faced a lot of discrimination in Turkey as a Greek. In 1942, his relatives were targeted by the discriminatory Varlik Vergisi ("Wealth Tax") and forced to migrate to Greece. His father was spared because he had no property. In 1955, Lefter's house was stoned and splashed with paint during the Istanbul pogrom. Attackers tried to enter his house in order to kill him and his family while they were hiding in the basement, but did not manage to break in. Lefter knew the attackers, who were his neighbors and even youth he had given pocket money to, but refused to name them, claiming he did not see them. During the mass expulsions of Greeks from Istanbul in 1964, he left for Greece. When İsmet İnönü was asked whether or not he likes Lefter, he replied: "I like Lefter, but I don't like Lefter's kind", referring to Greeks. Although he returned to Turkey in 1966 to coach Samsunspor, he got attacked again in 1974 after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. During a visit to the Büyükada Police Station due to a property sale the police officer proceeded to slap Lefter and tell him "We drove you out of Anatolia, we threw you into the sea in İzmir, and we'll throw you out of here too!" Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit subsequently criticized the action of the police officer.

Reader's Guide

Lefter coached Egaleo in Greece and Johannesburg in South Africa. He later returned to Turkey to coach clubs, mostly Samsunspor, Orduspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, and Boluspor.

Did You Know?

• Lefter was capped 46 times for the Turkey national team, 9 as captain, and played at the 1948 Summer Olympics and the 1954 FIFA World Cup, scoring two goals (one against West Germany, one against South Korea).
• He scored 21 goals for the national team and was the top scorer for Turkey until overtaken by Hakan Şükür.
• He was the first Turkish football player to receive the 'Golden Honor Medal' from the Turkish Football Federation for having played for the national selection in 50 international matches.
• Both of his parents were of Greek origin, and he had a Greek Orthodox upbringing.
• A Netflix film about his life, titled 'Lefter: Bir Ordinaryüs Hikayesi', was released in 2015.