Football league season named after Turkish-Greek legend

ISTANBUL

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced on July 4 that the Spor Toto Super League’s 2018-19 season would be dedicated to Lefter Küçükandonyadis, the iconic Fenerbahçe player who was the son of a father of Greek descent and a Turkish mother. 

“A legendary player of the Turkish national team and Fenerbahçe, Lefter Küçükandonyadis was dubbed the ‘Football Professor’ and won the hearts of all sports lovers with the unforgettable contribution he made to Turkish football,” the TFF said in a statement. 

One of the most important players in the country’s football history, Lefter had many records to his name.

Known for his classy dribbling and scoring ability, he scored 423 goals in 615 matches during two separate spells at Fenerbahçe between 1947 and 1951, as well as in another stint from 1953 to 1964.

His transfer to Italian heavyweight Fiorentina in 1951 was the first time an international team paid a Turkish club to sign a Turkish footballer.

Lefter was the first player to win 50 caps for the Turkish national football team and held the record for the most goals for 33 years.

He died from heart failure at the age of 86 on Jan. 13, 2012, to the sorrow of millions of football fans in the country.