Turgay Bahadır

Turgay Bahadır — Biography

Turgay Bahadır was born on 15 January 1984 in Vienna and held an Austrian passport despite representing Turkey at international level; standing 1.90 m, he played mainly as a striker, sometimes as an attacking midfielder. He began his career in First Vienna FC's youth system before joining Rapid Wien, where he signed his first professional contract in 2000 and spent three seasons; he later played for Austria Lustenau and SC Schwanenstadt.

In 2007 he moved to Kayserispor, winning the Turkish Cup with the club in 2008, though Kayserispor terminated his contract in 2009 over financial problems. He signed for Bursaspor the same year, played as a striker, and scored a combined ten goals in the league and cup during the 2009-10 season, in which Bursaspor won the club's first-ever Süper Lig title; over four seasons there he made 113 appearances and scored 28 goals. Capped for Austria's U21 side, he later switched allegiance to Turkey and featured in Guus Hiddink's squad for a 2010 friendly against the Czech Republic.

He went on to play for İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor in 2012, Kayseri Erciyesspor in 2013, and then Kardemir Karabükspor and Gaziantep Büyükşehir Belediyespor, with injuries repeatedly interrupting this later stretch of his career. In 2019 he received a fair play award from the Turkish Football Federation and married in Vienna; after a long injury layoff he returned to play in 2020 before retiring. He is a cousin of footballers Cem Tosun and Cemil Tosun.