Tugay Kerimoğlu
The youngest captain in Galatasaray history, a deep-lying playmaker who won six Turkish League titles and four Turkish Cups before moving to Rangers and Blackburn Rovers.
Tugay Kerimoğlu (born 24 August 1970) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played most notably for Galatasaray, followed by Rangers and Blackburn Rovers. He played for Galatasaray from 1987 to 2000, where he won the Turkish League six times and the Turkish Cup four times. The midfielder was made captain at Galatasaray in the 1992–93 season, making him the youngest captain in the history of his club.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 24 August 1970
- Birthplace
- Trabzon, Turkey
- Height
- 1.76 m / 5 ft 9 in
- Position
- Midfielder
- Total caps
- 554
- Total goals
- 49
Lore & Background
Tugay was born and raised in Istanbul. He started playing football in the youth academy of Trabzonspor. His father, Özkan, was a semi-professional footballer before becoming a bank manager and his brother, Tolgay, was also a football player. He had signed for Scottish club Rangers in the January 2000 mid season transfer window, and joined Blackburn Rovers for the 2001–02 season. Former Galatasaray boss Graeme Souness brought Tugay to Ewood Park from Scottish side Rangers in the summer of 2001 for a £1.3m fee. His debut for Rovers was as a substitute against Sunderland. His first goal came on 14 October 2001 in a 7–1 home thrashing against West Ham United in which he scored with a trademark effort from outside the box, lobbing the keeper. Tugay immediately became a fan favourite at Blackburn, where he was an integral part of the club's success on the field since his first season. He missed Blackburn's League Cup final win in 2002 through suspension. Tugay was named Blackburn's Player of the Year in the 2003–04 campaign. Tugay's final career goal came against Portsmouth in a 3–2 Premier League defeat at Fratton Park on 30 November 2008. He retired from football on 24 May 2009 at the age of 38. His last game was against West Bromwich Albion at home at Ewood Park in front of a crowd of over 28,000 fans, who applauded Tugay during the match when he was substituted in the 85th minute to be replaced by Swedish left back Martin Olsson.
Reader's Guide
Tugay generally keeps himself out of the media spotlight, and even with very good English and an apparent good sense of humour, he rarely gives an interview, even to his previous club's own radio station (Radio Rovers). Tugay was married to Etkin, a former Galatasaray and Turkish international basketball player. He has two children. As a youngster, he was also an extremely promising motor racer, competing as high as a Formula 3 level. Tugay is a Muslim, stating that his religious beliefs are 'something which is in my heart and I don't need to express that to other people'. On 3 June 2009, Tugay began working with his former manager Mark Hughes behind the scenes at Manchester City academy in a coaching role. He was linked for various assistant positions for the Turkey national team after Fatih Terim's departure, then he became the coordinator for the Galatasaray youth academy in February 2010. On 21 October 2010, Galatasaray announced that Tugay was assigned for the position of the new assistant coach for Galatasaray, alongside of Gheorghe Hagi. On 22 March 2011, Hagi was sacked following a string of poor results. Tugay refused to become the head coach until the end of the season, saying it would be wrong to accept the position for the head coach right after the sacking of Hagi. On 4 October 2013, Galatasaray SK announced that Tugay was assigned again for the position of the new assistant coach for Galatasaray, this time alongside of Roberto Mancini. However, after Mancini's dismissal at the end of the 2013–14 season, he left his position. In November 2015, Tugay took over Şanlıurfaspor in the Turkish second division as head coach for. He left in April 2016 by mutual agreement.
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