Bora Öztürk

Bora Öztürk — Biography

Bora Öztürk was a Turkish striker and later coach, born on 20 May 1955 in Istanbul; some sources give his birth date as 2 May 1955. He began at the amateur side Kulespor, then moved to Sakaryaspor in 1973, Şekerspor in 1974 and Göztepe in 1975, and also played for Altay.

He made his name at Beşiktaş. On loan at Adanaspor in 1980-81 he scored 15 goals to become the league's top scorer. Back at Beşiktaş he was the leading scorer of the side that won the 1981-82 title, and he added a second championship in 1985-86, along with the Presidential Cup and the Super Cup. He had a loan spell at Antalyaspor and finished his playing career at Zonguldakspor and Sümerbank Beykoz. He won one cap for Turkey, in the 3-0 loss to the Soviet Union in 1982 World Cup qualifying on 7 October 1981.

From 1991 he worked with the Turkish Football Federation's youth national teams, and in 1994 the under-16 side he coached won the European championship. He was diagnosed with cancer of the throat area in the 1990s, treatment failed, and he died in Istanbul on 6 August 1997 at the age of 42.