Emre Balak

Emre Balak — Biography

Emre Balak was born on 11 August 1988 in Merzifon. He started playing football in the youth academy of Merzifonspor, moved to Samsunspor's youth setup after two seasons, and was noticed early by the national youth teams. In 2005 he contributed to Turkey's under-17 team winning the European Under-17 Championship and finishing fourth at the FIFA U-17 World Cup that year; he was called up 54 times across the various youth national teams, appearing in 36 of those matches and scoring one goal.

On the strength of that form he signed a professional contract with Samsunspor in 2005 and was a regular for two seasons. He drew interest from Süper Lig clubs and moved to Gençlerbirliği, making 10 Süper Lig appearances in his first season before being loaned to Gençlerbirliği's feeder club Hacettepe in his second. He returned to Gençlerbirliği for the 2010-11 season and played three matches in the first half of the campaign.

He was part of the Bucaspor squad in 2013 and then spent several seasons with Kocaeli Birlikspor. He played for Bodrumspor and Fethiyespor during the 2018-2019 period, and signed for Aliağa FK in May 2023, continuing his career in the lower divisions of Turkish football.