Tanju Çolak
Tanju Çolak (born 10 November 1963 in Samsun) is a Turkish retired footballer who played as a striker.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tanju Çolak | ||
| Date of birth | 10 November 1963 | ||
| Place of birth | Samsun, Turkey | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Samsun Yolspor | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1982–1987 | Samsunspor | 157 | (123) |
| 1987–1991 | Galatasaray | 124 | (116) |
| 1991–1993 | Fenerbahçe | 54 | (50) |
| 1993–1994 | İstanbulspor | 19 | (17) |
| Total | 354 | (306) | |
| National team | |||
| 1984–1991 | Turkey | 31 | (9) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Club career
He made his debut for Samsun Yolspor. From there he was transferred to Samsunspor in 1981 where he was the top scorer in both the 1985–86 and 1986–87 seasons. Çolak then moved to Galatasaray in the end of 1986–87 season. He was the top scorer in Europe with 39 goals in the 1987–88 season. At the same time, he was awarded the European Golden Boot given by France Football. He is the only Turkish footballer to date to win this award. Çolak became the top scorer again in the 1991–92 season, and transferred to Fenerbahçe at the end of the season.
He had a lifetime total of 240 goals and took over the title of top goal scorer in the Turkish Super League by breaking the legendary record of Metin Oktay. He had scored the most goal with 240 goals at only 9 seasons, which were 1982–83 and between the 1985–93 seasons.[1] His record was broken by Hakan Şükür in 2007–08 season after 17 seasons.
International career
Çolak played for the Turkish national team, where he was capped 31 time, scoring 9 goals.[2]
Çolak earned the Golden Shoe in Europe during his career at Galatasaray and is the only Turkish player to achieve this.
Personal life
Tanju's younger brother, Yücel Çolak also was a professional footballer.[3]
In January 1994, he began a prison sentence of four years and eight months for illegally smuggling a Mercedes-Benz car into Ankara.[4]
He was deputy candidate of Beylikdüzü municipality for Nationalist Movement Party (Turkish: Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, abbreviated MHP) in 2009, but wasn't elected.
He was a Justice and Development Party (Turkish: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, abbreviated AKP) candidate to the Turkish Parliament elections which was held in June 12th, 2011[5]
Honours
Other career achievements
- Lifetime goal total (240 in 252 matches) which was a Turkish league record for highest goals scored by a single player in the league. On 3 September 2007, this record was broken by Hakan Şükür.
- Most goals in a season (39 in 1987–1988 at Galatasaray);
- Most goals in a match (6 in 1992–1993 at Fenerbahçe);
- 5 times top league scorer (1985–1986, 1986–1987, at Samsunspor – 1987–1988, 1990–1991 at Galatasaray – 1992–1993 at Fenerbahçe);
- European top scorer 3rd place (33 goals in 1985–1986 at Samsunspor);
- European top scorer 1st place (39 goals in 1987–1988 at Galatasaray);
- European top scorer 2nd place (31 goals in 1990–1991 at Galatasaray).
References
- "TANJU ÇOLAK". TFF. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
- Mamrud, Roberto (16 July 2009). "Turkey – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
- "Çengelköyspor'da Yücel Çolak dönemi - Amatör Lig Net - Amatör Futbol - Süper Amatör Lig - Bölgesel Amatör Lig - Futbol Sahalarının Yıldızı". 12 October 2016.
- Tanju Çolak, Yeni Ansiklopedi
- http://www.milliyet.com.tr/ak-parti-den-ikinci-futbolcu-transferi/siyaset/sondakika/21.03.2011/1367225/default.htm
- "IFFHS announce the 48 football legend players". IFFHS. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.