# Bülent Korkmaz

Bülent Korkmaz (born 24 November 1968), colloquially known by his given nicknames "Büyük Kaptan" (lit. 'Great Captain') and "Cengaver" (lit. 'Warrior'), is a Turkish former professional footballer and current manager of TFF 1. Lig club Esenler Erokspor.
Korkmaz was a one club man during his club career, playing as a centre-back for Galatasaray for his whole career for 18 consecutive seasons between 1987 and 2005, winning 8 Süper Lig, 6 Turkish Cup, 5 Turkish Super Cup,1 UEFA Cup and 1 UEFA Super Cup titles.
He is the 13th player in history to make over 100 appearances across European club competitions.
Korkmaz has got 102 senior caps for Turkey national football team.

## Club career

Korkmaz started his career at Galatasaray Futbol Akademisi as a goalkeeper in 1979. He changed his field role to become a defender following the advice from his youth coach. He was offered a professional contract by German club Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 16 but he chose to stay at Galatasaray and he was eventually promoted to senior squad in 1987.
Korkmaz was a part of squad reaching semi-finals of 1988–89 edition of UEFA European Cup. During the 2000 UEFA Cup Final between Galatasaray and Arsenal, he dislocated his shoulder but he declined to quit the game, continued the game until the end following in-field physio treatment where Galatasaray won the cup after extra time. However, the injury caused Korkmaz eventually to miss UEFA Euro 2000 competition.
Korkmaz was invited to play at "FIFA XI" squad against the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosts "Japan & Korea XI" at World Dream soccer exhibition, held at Yokohama International Stadium on 3 January 2001.

## International career

Korkmaz was part of the Turkey national team that finished third at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and, in 2003, had the same finishing position at the FIFA Confederations Cup. Korkmaz also represented Turkey in EURO 96.

## Coaching career

On 30 August 2005, Korkmaz was appointed as the assistant manager at Gençlerbirliği S.K., and resigned during the same season. In January 2007, he signed in Kayseri Erciyesspor as head coach while the team were sitting at the bottom of the ladder. Under Korkmaz's management, Kayseri Erciyesspor reached the final of 2006–07 Turkish Cup, losing 0–1 to Beşiktaş J.K., however; spotting 17th position, they relegated at the end of the season.
On 23 February 2009, after the departure of Michael Skibbe, Korkmaz was appointed as the head coach of Galatasaray. Putting a performance of 7 wins out of 15 official games, his was sacked by the club in June 2009.
On 8 November 2011, after the resignation of Yücel İldiz, Korkmaz joined Karabükspor as the head coach. Taking the team over from 16th position of standings, he managed the team to finish the season at 12th place, for a safe avoiding the relegation. In same season, Karabükspor reached semi-finals at 2011–12 Turkish Cup, for the first time at club's history.
On 13 November 2012, Korkmaz replaced Carlos Carvalhal at İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. His contract was mutually terminated after his team got relegated as of 30 May 2013.

## Style of play and reception

Korkmaz was described as "an aggressive and powerful defender" by Bleacher Report, in 2014. Ozan Kabak, another home-grown Galatasaray player, expressed that he idolised Korkmaz, in 2020.

## Personal life

Korkmaz was born in Malatya in 1968. His younger brother, Mert Korkmaz (born 1971) is also a former professional footballer, played also for Galatasaray and holds 5 caps for Turkey. Korkmaz is married with 2 daughters.

## Career statistics
### Club

    Source:
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Turkish Cup | Turkish Cup | Other Cup | Other Cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Galatasaray | 1987–88 | 1. Lig | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| Galatasaray | 1988–89 | 1. Lig | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Galatasaray | 1989–90 | 1. Lig | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| Galatasaray | 1990–91 | 1. Lig | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | 1991–92 | 1. Lig | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | 34 | 3 |
| Galatasaray | 1992–93 | 1. Lig | 29 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | 1993–94 | 1. Lig | 30 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 45 | 2 |
| Galatasaray | 1994–95 | 1. Lig | 31 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 46 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | 1995–96 | 1. Lig | 29 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| Galatasaray | 1996–97 | 1. Lig | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 2 |
| Galatasaray | 1997–98 | 1. Lig | 29 | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | 44 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | 1998–99 | 1. Lig | 21 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | 1999–00 | 1. Lig | 22 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 8 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | 2000–01 | 1. Lig | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | 44 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | 2001–02 | Süper Lig | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | 38 | 3 |
| Galatasaray | 2002–03 | Süper Lig | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | 2003–04 | Süper Lig | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| Galatasaray | 2004–05 | Süper Lig | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 428 | 15 | 54 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 101 | 1 | 592 | 18 |
* ↑ Appearances in President Cup and Prime Minister's Cup
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup
* ↑ Named respectively as Milli Lig between 1959–1962, Türkiye 1. Futbol Ligi (1. Lig) between 1962–2000, and Süper Lig from 2001 to present

### International

    Source:
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Turkey | 1990 | 2 | 0 |
| Turkey | 1991 | 8 | 0 |
| Turkey | 1992 | 8 | 0 |
| Turkey | 1993 | 6 | 1 |
| Turkey | 1994 | 7 | 1 |
| Turkey | 1995 | 11 | 0 |
| Turkey | 1996 | 9 | 0 |
| Turkey | 1997 | 4 | 0 |
| Turkey | 1998 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey | 1999 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey | 2000 | 5 | 0 |
| Turkey | 2001 | 4 | 0 |
| Turkey | 2002 | 15 | 1 |
| Turkey | 2003 | 14 | 0 |
| Turkey | 2004 | 7 | 0 |
| Turkey | 2005 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 102 | 3 |

### Managerial statistics

    As of 20 May 2022
Managerial record by team and tenure :
| Team | Nat. | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Ref. |
| Team | Nat. | From | To | G | W | D | L | Win % | Ref. |
| Kayseri Erciyesspor | | 16 January 2006 | 29 May 2007 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 041.18 | |
| Bursaspor | | 27 June 2007 | 22 October 2007 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 011.11 |
| Gençlerbirliği | | 1 November 2007 | 30 January 2008 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 020.00 | |
| Galatasaray | | 25 February 2009 | 30 June 2009 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 050.00 | |
| Baku | | 24 September 2009 | 22 March 2010 | 44 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 036.36 | |
| Karabükspor | | 16 November 2011 | 30 June 2012 | 28 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 050.00 | |
| İstanbul BB | | 14 November 2012 | 30 June 2013 | 23 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 026.09 | |
| Kayseri Erciyesspor | | 30 July 2014 | 25 November 2014 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 009.09 | |
| Mersin İdman Yurdu | | 22 September 2015 | 4 January 2016 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 020.00 | |
| Antalyaspor | | 14 June 2018 | 15 November 2019 | 52 | 20 | 10 | 22 | 038.46 | |
| Konyaspor | | 13 February 2020 | 12 September 2020 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 030.77 | |
| Alanyaspor | | 6 September 2021 | 30 December 2021 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 043.75 | |
| Çaykur Rizespor | | 20 February 2022 | 8 June 2023 | 47 | 21 | 15 | 11 | 044.68 | |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 301 | 110 | 83 | 108 | 036.54 |

## Honours

Turkey
* FIFA World Cup third-place: 2002
* FIFA Confederations Cup third-place: 2003
Galatasaray
* UEFA Cup: 1999–2000
* UEFA Super Cup: 2000
* Süper Lig (8): 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02
* Turkish Cup (6): 1990–91, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2004–05
* Turkish Super Cup: 1988, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997
* Chancellor Cup: 1990, 1995
* TSYD Cup (6): 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000
Order
* Turkish State Medal of Distinguished Service