Phillip Buckley

Hakan Sukur is an icon at Galatasaray, a living legend idolised by the Aslan faithful, but this season will be his last. Sukur has taken the decision to retire from professional football at the conclusion of this campaign. At the age of 36 with over 20 seasons behind him, Sukur’s announcement can hardly come as a surprise, but it’s worth noting that even at this late stage of his career Hakan has still remained an integral player at Galatasaray, being the captain and talisman no less.

The name of Hakan Sukur probably outweighs what he has actually accomplished in his career, at least in a broader European sense. Yes, there have been Turkish titles aplenty (7 in total), but because Sukur has done something that is still relatively rare for Turkish players, and that is to play abroad, many more of us have heard of him. Had Hakan never ventured beyond the land of Ataturk, perhaps many of us would have never had reason to recall his name so readily. Then again, as the Turkish national team’s highest ever goalscorer (51 goals) and the record for the quickest ever goal in a World Cup (Sukur scored against the South Koreans after just 10.8 seconds in 2002) maybe a fair few of us would still admire the “Bull of the Bosphorus”.

He cut his teeth at provincial side Sakaryaspor in front of the Tatangalar fanatics who still consider him one of their favourite sons. As is so often the case in football, smaller teams cannot really stop the talent drain to larger clubs in their respective league, and so it is in Turkey too as Sukur headed for the bright lights of Istanbul to sign for legendary side Galatasaray SK in 1992.

Hakan’s first season at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium provided him with the Turkish title straight away and he firmly established himself as a fan favourite. Sukur has always been fantastically strong in the air, powering home headers and terrorising defenders. Galatasaray had the perfect target man and to top it off Hakan was pretty useful on the ground, too.  

In 8 years in Istanbul Sukur notched up a mammoth 173 goals and it was here he picked up the nickname “Bull of the Bosphorus”. To top it all off Sukur helped Galatasaray become the first Turkish team to ever win a European trophy as a vital part of Fatih Terim’s team that defeated Arsenal in the UEFA Cup final in 2000.

The UEFA Cup victory marked a changing of eras for Galatasaray and Terim departed along with various other players including Sukur. Hakan followed his coach in heading for Italy and Serie A, but while Terim’s destination was Fiorentina, Sukur arrived at the altogether more pressured environment of the San Siro with Inter Milan.

Sukur had already, in a sense, tried his hand abroad with an unhappy short-lived stint at another Italian side, Torino. A homesick Hakan made just 5 appearances in the burgundy of the Turin team notching just one goal before returning back to the comfort of Galatasaray.

The decision to return to Italy could not have been taken lightly and perhaps it should be considered as the ultimate example of Sukur’s determination to never be beaten, he would try his best to conquer Serie A.

Whether Hakan never truly settled or not in Italy is a matter of great debate. Many feel that Sukur never fully adapted to the Italian lifestyle or football in general, looking clumsy next to the hardnosed defenders of Serie A. Sukur would tell you a different story however, arguing Inter never fully had faith in him. “At Inter they didn’t give me a chance even when I was in good form” complained Sukur.

After that one poor season with Inter though, Sukur did not give up on his mission to succeed in Italy and when Parma came in for the Turkish forward an opportunity for third time lucky presented itself.

Only Parma was anything but third time lucky, more like third time stung, and despite being one of the club’s main forwards, Sukur made just 15 starts scoring 3 times.

A brief cameo in English football with Blackburn Rovers under Turk-friendly boss Graeme Souness did not yield any more successful results, but this time Sukur clearly was unlucky. When he did play he looked a threat and Blackburn fans and pundits alike thought Hakan had what it took to be successful in English football. However, fate intervened and it was not to be as a training ground accident ended in a broken leg and a spell of several months on the sidelines.

Back to Turkey was the order of the day and a move to Galatasaray was not unexpected. Given the extent to which Sukur is a Galatasaray icon a move to bitter rivals Fenerbahce, or the third Istanbul team Besikitas was unthinkable, and luckily ‘his’ club felt the same way.

From 2003 Hakan has been back where he has always been happiest and another 119 appearances have brought 52 more goals for the “Bull from the Bosphorus”. Another record has come the striker’s way too as in February of this year (2008) he struck the goal that made him the highest ever goal scorer in Turkey’s top flight with an amazing 246 goals. Just think what the figure might be had Sukur not wasted 3 ½ seasons abroad.

Last summer he was again targeted by foreign clubs, Sydney United were desperate to take him to Australia whilst numerous Middle Eastern clubs also made known their willingness to pay big bucks for the forward. These big money moves were all rejected so Hakan could enjoy another year with Galatasaray, refreshing loyalty displayed yet again.

Sukur can retire happy, with over 100 caps for his country, a cabinet full of medals, the captaincy of the club he loves and the admiration of legions of Aslan supporters. He surely had the potential to make a bigger splash in European football and though his achievements in leagues outside Turkey have been small, does this make his triumphs in his home country worth any less? Turkish football fans would tell you no, and with Sukur a true legend (even his wedding was featured live on national TV) in the country of his birth, who are we to disagree?

Farewell “Bull from the Bosphorus” it was quite a ride!