Melih Kotanca

Melih Kotanca — Biography

Melih Kotanca was born in 1915 in Balıkesir and began playing football in his home city. He joined Güneş in 1936, stood out as a goalscorer and played a major part in the club's 1937-38 Istanbul League and 1938 National Division titles. When Güneş closed that year, he moved to Fenerbahçe.

At Fenerbahçe he spent ten seasons, 1938 to 1948, scoring 205 goals in 185 matches and winning three Istanbul League titles, four National Division titles, a Turkish Championship and several cups. On 25 February 1940 he scored eight goals in a 14-0 league win over Topkapıspor, a single-match club record he shared with Zeki Rıza Sporel until 2009. The national team played no matches between 1937 and 1948 because of the war years, so despite being among the leading scorers of his era he never wore its shirt.

He was also an athlete. Starting in 1936, he competed in sprints, hurdles, javelin and multi-event contests. He took 400 metres silver at the 1937 Balkan Championships and gold in the 200 and 400 metres in 1940, adding a relay gold as the 4x100 anchor. He won over 200 medals with Fenerbahçe's athletics team and worked as a clerk at Denizyolları. He died in Istanbul on 8 June 1986, and a street in Balıkesir's Karesi district carries his name.