Kadir Akbulut

Kadir Akbulut — Biography

Kadir Akbulut was born on 8 May 1960 in the Çivril district of Denizli. He started playing football in 1976 in the Denizlispor youth setup and moved up to the club's first team two years later. In 1980 he transferred to Beşiktaş, where he spent the rest of his professional career. From his third season on he became the undisputed left back, wearing the black-and-white shirt for 14 years before retiring in 1994 with a testimonial match against Trabzonspor.

At Beşiktaş he won several league titles, three Turkish Cups, four Presidential Cups, one Prime Minister's Cup and six TSYD Cups. He made 348 Süper Lig appearances, which made him the club's fourth most-capped league player after Rıza Çalımbay, Ulvi Güveneroğlu and Mehmet Özdilek. He started in the match of 15 October 1989 in which Beşiktaş beat Adana Demirspor 10-0, the widest margin in Turkish professional league history, and he provided two assists. He earned four caps for Turkey, one with the senior side and three with the Olympic team.

After retiring as a player he worked as an agent and a sports columnist. He began coaching in the 2010-11 season with Silivrispor and joined Çatalcaspor in 2011. He took the team up to the Regional Amateur League and, in 2013-14, led it into the 3. Lig for the first time in its history.