Gürsel Aksel

Gürsel Aksel — Biography

Gürsel Aksel (10 May 1937, Uzunköprü - 13 October 1978, Rize) was a Turkish footballer and manager known by the nickname "Büyük Kaptan" ("The Great Captain"). He joined Göztepe in 1955 alongside his older brother Güler Aksel, the club's first professional player, made his first-team debut in 1959, and stayed with the club until he retired in 1972. He made 390 league appearances for Göztepe, scoring 79 goals, and became the club's all-time record appearance holder; he won the Turkish Cup twice with the club, in 1968-69 and 1969-70.

Aksel was capped three times by the Turkey A national team and also played for Turkey's Army national team. After retiring as a player, he managed Göztepe for the last four weeks of the 1975-76 season, then went on to manage Orduspor, Boluspor and Çaykur Rizespor in turn.

On 13 October 1978, while managing Çaykur Rizespor, he died in an explosion at a petrol station in Rize, survived by his wife and two children. Göztepe's stadium was named after him following his death; after that stadium was demolished in 2015, the new stadium that opened in 2020 also carries the name Gürsel Aksel.