Fatih Terim - Playing Career

Playing Career

In 1969, Terim's professional football career began as a junior player with Adana Demirspor. Because of his financial difficulties, he was the only player in the team who was being paid secretly by the club at the time. Three years later, he became the captain of the team. He recalls his first game with the captain badge. Just before the game, I cheered up my teammates, as a captain has to do, and ran out to the field. As I looked back on the field, no one was behind me. I was so fast that nobody could follow me. I was so excited. Terim played 6 more years with Adana Demirspor. As a successful striker, he joined Galatasaray in 1974. As the team captain, he had to fill in for injured defenders and eventually he ended up playing regularly as a sweeper/defender. Terim played for 11 years for the Istanbul club. However, during his time with Galatasaray, the club was not able to win the championship trophy in the Turkish league. Terim was capped to the Turkish national team 51 times, from 1974 to 1985, and was the national team captain for 35 international games, establishing the national record for both categories at his time. He ended his playing career in Galatasaray in 1985. Abdullah Gegiç, a legendary football coach with Partizan Belgrade (of former Yugoslavia) and Eskişehirspor (of Turkey), knew Terim from his days as a central defender and described Terim as an intelligent defender with Beckenbauer like qualities. Gegiç attributed Terim's successes as a coach to his unique understanding of the game that was developed during his time playing as a central defender.