İsmail Kartal
Turkish footballer and manager
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
İsmail Kartal (born 15 June 1961), colloquially known by the given nickname "Arap İsmail" due to his tanned skin,[1] is a Turkish professional football manager and former player who recently was the manager of Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis.
|
Kartal with Persepolis in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 15 June 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Istanbul, Turkey | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Right back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1981 | Sarıyer | 0 | (0) |
| 1981–1983 | Gaziantepspor | 59 | (2) |
| 1983–1993 | Fenerbahçe | 236 | (15) |
| 1993–1994 | Denizlispor | 32 | (12) |
| 1994–1995 | Adanaspor | 7 | (1) |
| Total | 334 | (30) | |
| International career | |||
| 1982–1984 | Turkey U21 | 2 | (1) |
| 1982–1985 | Turkey | 6 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2000–2001 | Karabükspor | ||
| 2004–2005 | Sivasspor | ||
| 2005–2006 | Mardinspor | ||
| 2006 | Altay | ||
| 2006 | Mardinspor | ||
| 2006–2007 | Malatyaspor | ||
| 2008 | Orduspor | ||
| 2008–2009 | Konya Şeker | ||
| 2014–2015 | Fenerbahçe | ||
| 2015 | Eskişehirspor | ||
| 2016 | Gaziantepspor | ||
| 2017–2018 | Ankaragücü | ||
| 2019–2020 | Çaykur Rizespor | ||
| 2020–2021 | Konyaspor | ||
| 2022 | Fenerbahçe | ||
| 2023–2024 | Fenerbahçe | ||
| 2025 | Persepolis | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Kartal began his football career at Sarıyer. He later transferred to Gaziantepspor. After two years at the club, he transferred to Fenerbahce and played there from 1983 to 1993, playing 235 matches and scoring 15 goals, nine of which came from penalties. He won two national league titles with Fenerbahce in 1984–85 and 1988–89 seasons.
He enjoyed the most productive period of his playing career with Denizlispor in the 1993–1994 season, scoring 12 goals in 32 matches. After playing for Adanaspor in the 1994–1995 season, he retired from active football. Kartal played twelve seasons from 1981 to 1993 in the Turkish Süper Lig.
International career
Kartal two appearances for the senior Turkey U21 national football team from 1982 through 1984 and made six appearances for the senior Turkey national football team from 1982 through 1985.[2]
Managerial career
After his retirement as a professional football player, worked in the Fenerbahçe Academy between 1997 and 1999. He made his first professional managerial debut at Karabükspor in the TFF First League. He then took over at Sivasspor, leading the Yiğidolar to the TFF First League championship at the end of the season and into the Süper Lig for the first time in their history.[3][4] He also managed Mardinspor, Altay, Malatyaspor, Orduspor and Konya Anadolu Selçukspor.
He led Ankaragücü to became second of TFF First League and promoted to the Süper Lig in 2018.[5]
Fenerbahçe
Between 2010 and 2014, he was the assistant coach at Fenerbahce.
First era (2014–15 season)
After Ersun Yanal's resignation, Kartal took over as manager.[6][7]
At the end of the 2014–15 Süper Lig season, he officially announced his resignation as manager of Fenerbahçe, though it was clear beforehand that he would not be manager for the next season.[8]
Second era (2021–22 season)
On 12 January 2022, following the departure of Vitor Pereira, Kartal signed with Fenerbahçe for the rest of the season.[9] At the end of the season, Fenerbahçe finished in second place, by eight points behind Trabzonspor. Kartal finished with a record of twelve wins, five draws and four losses in 21 matches.
Third era (2023–24 season)
On 28 June 2023, Kartal signed a one-year contract with Fenerbahçe for his third managerial spell at the club.[10] In the 2023–24 season, he led the club to achieve 99 points in the Süper Lig, yet they finished second behind their rivals Galatasaray with 102 points.[11] Upon the conclusion of the season, he left the club on 31 May 2024.[12]
Persepolis
On 24 January 2025, Persepolis signed Kartal to a 18-month contract for the rest of the 2024–25 season.[13][14][15]
In June 2025, following the outbreak of the Twelve-Day War, İsmail Kartal terminated his contract with Persepolis F.C. and left the club by mutual agreement.[16]
Honours
Player
Sarıyer
- TFF First League: 1981–82
Fenerbahçe
- Süper Lig: 1984–85, 1988–89
- Turkish Super Cup: 1984, 1985, 1990
- Prime Minister's Cup: 1989
Assistant Manager
Fenerbahçe
- Süper Lig: 2010–11, 2013–14
- Turkish Cup: 2011–12, 2012–13
Manager
Sivasspor
Fenerbahçe
Managerial statistics
- As of 15 May 2025
| Team | Nat | League | From | To | Record | PPM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
| Karabükspor |  |
TFF First League | 16 November 2000 | 31 January 2001 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 50.00 | 1.50 |
| Sivasspor | |
25 August 2004 | 30 June 2005 | 35 | 23 | 5 | 7 | 65.71 | 2.11 | |
| Mardinspor | |
19 October 2005 | 24 January 2006 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 33.33 | 1.33 | |
| Altay | |
24 January 2006 | 27 March 2006 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 45.45 | 1.80 | |
| Mardinspor | |
4 August 2006 | 26 October 2006 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 33.33 | 1.36 | |
| Malatyaspor | |
9 November 2006 | 21 May 2007 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 54.55 | 1.82 | |
| Orduspor | |
17 January 2008 | 30 June 2008 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 31.25 | 1.50 | |
| Konya Şeker | |
31 October 2008 | 23 October 2009 | 40 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 45.00 | 1.70 | |
| Fenerbahçe | |
Süper Lig | 12 August 2014 | 30 May 2015 | 46 | 29 | 11 | 6 | 63.04 | 2.17 |
| Eskişehirspor | |
14 October 2015 | 13 November 2015 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Gaziantepspor | |
21 July 2016 | 7 December 2016 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 31.25 | 1.06 | |
| Ankaragücü | |
TFF First League | 21 June 2017 | 17 December 2018 | 34 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 52.94 | 1.62 |
|
Süper Lig | 19 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 36.84 | ||||
| Çaykur Rizespor | |
3 June 2019 | 3 March 2020 | 28 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 32.14 | 1.14 | |
| Konyaspor | |
15 September 2020 | 8 February 2021 | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 37.50 | 1.38 | |
| Fenerbahçe | |
12 January 2022 | 2 June 2022 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 57.14 | 1.95 | |
|
28 June 2023 | 31 May 2024 | 58 | 45 | 6 | 7 | 77.59 | 2.40 | ||
| Persepolis |  |
Persian Gulf Pro League | 24 January 2025 | 4 July 2025 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 50.00 | 1.75 |
| Total | 415 | 214 | 92 | 109 | 51.57 | 1.56 | ||||
