Lefter Küçükandonyadis


Lefter Küçükandonyadis was a Turkish football player of Greek descent, who played as a forward. He is often recognized as one of the greatest strikers to play for Fenerbahçe and Turkey. Having won several regional and national championship titles with Fenerbahçe and becoming Turkish top scorer twice in his career, he left an imprint on the history of the club. Lefter is one of a few players whose names are included in the Fenerbahçe Anthem.

Early life and club career

Lefter started his footballing career in Büyükada but professionally played first with Taksim SK, a club based in the European part of Istanbul. He transferred to Fenerbahçe in 1947, achieving instant success. He won the National Division championship in 1950, his first nationwide championship title with the club, becoming the Turkish top scorer in the same edition. He was one of the first Turkish footballers to play abroad, playing during 1951–1953 for ACF Fiorentina in Italy and OGC Nice in France. Returning to Fenerbahçe, he won two Istanbul League titles and later, after the start of the Turkish Super League, three Turkish League titles. In the 1947–48 and 1953–54 seasons, he became the leading goalscorer of the Istanbul League. Overall, he scored a total of 423 goals in 615 games for Fenerbahçe. After ending his career in Turkey in 1964, he played a single season in Greece with AEK Athens. He participated in five games in the 1965 season scoring two goals before an injury in the match against Iraklis forced his retirement.

International career

Küçükandonyadis was capped 46 times for the Turkish national football team, 9 of which as the captain. He also played at the 1954 FIFA World Cup netting in two goals, one against West Germany and the other against South Korea. He scored 21 goals for the national team and was the top scorer for Turkey until overtaken by Hakan Şükür. He was the first Turkish football player to receive the "Golden Honor Medal" from the Turkish Football Federation, for having played for the national selection in 50 international matches.

After active football

Lefter coached Egaleo F.C. in Greece and Johannesburg in South Africa. He later returned to Turkey and coached Samsunspor, Orduspor, Mersin İdmanyurdu, and Boluspor.
He was also known as "Ordinaryüs" in Turkey. His statue was erected next to the Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium in 2009.
He was buried in the Greek Orthodox cemetery on his native island.

Personal life

Lefter was born as the son of Christofis Antoniadis, a fisherman and Argyro Antoniadi on the island of Büyükada in Istanbul. He grew up with ten other brothers and sisters, and was of Greek descent. One of his brothers, Panagis Antoniadis played for Pera Club. His family took part in the exodus of ethnic Greeks from Turkey during his childhood - except for his father. Due to his small stature, the Turks gave him the nickname Küçük, Turkish for and Lefter added it to his surname, Küçükandonyadis, meaning. He was married to a fellow Greek woman, Stavriani Bekiari and they had three children.

Honours

Club

Fenerbahçe
Individual