Nihat Bekdik

Nihat Bekdik
Personal information
Full name	Nihat Asım Bekdik
Date of birth	1902
Place of birth	Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Date of death	21 June 1972 (aged 70)
Place of death	Istanbul, Turkey
Position(s)	Centre back
Youth career
1914–1916	Galatasaray SK
Senior career*
Years	Team
1916–1936	Galatasaray SK
International career
1923–1932	Turkey
Managerial career
1929	Galatasaray SK
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

"Aslan" Nihat Asım Bekdik (1902 – 21 June 1972) was a Turkish professional footballer. He spent the entirety of his career with his hometown club, Galatasaray.^[2] He also represented Turkey on 21 occasions, captaining them 10 times, and played for Turkey at the 1924 Summer Olympics and the 1928 Summer Olympics.^[3]

Sporting career

Football

Nihat was born in Istanbul and played his entire career as a defense player for Galatasaray SK, playing 268 games between 1916 and 1936. Like many other Galatasaray SK players at that time, he was a student of the Galatasaray High School and started playing football at the Grand Cour of the Galatasaray High School at the age of 10. He was selected to Galatasaray A2 team when he was 12. Two years later he started to do athletics for the next four years. He won the Istanbul Football League sixth times as captain of the team in 1928 and 1936.

Other sports

He was also a very good triple jumper and high jumper. In 1923 he set new Turkish records at triple jump (11.92m) and high jump (1.58m). After his football career he continued doing sports in equestrian, rowing and swimming. With his Boat "Aslan" he won numerous cups.

Political career

Between 1957 and 1960 he was in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as a member of the Democratic Party.

Aslan

Because of a lion badge at his sweat suit and his fabulous performances on the pitch, the spectators called him "Aslan" which means "Lion" in Turkish. Later "Aslan" became the nickname of the club Galatasaray SK.

Career statistics

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	14 October 1927	Istanbul, Turkey	Bulgaria	3–1	3–1	Friendly

Honours

As player

Galatasaray SK
- Istanbul Football League: 6
  - 1921–1922, 1924–1925, 1925–1926, 1926–1927, 1928–1929, 1930–1931
- Istanbul Cup (football): 1
  - 1933

As manager

Galatasaray SK
- Istanbul Football League: 1
  - 1928–1929

References

^ "Tarihte Bugün". Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Nihat Bekdik". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.

External links

Profile at Sports-reference

[1] "Tarihte Bugün". Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2021.

[2] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[3] "Nihat Bekdik". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.

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