Onur Kaya

Onur Kaya

Personal information
Date of birth	(1986-04-20) 20 April 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth	Brussels, Belgium
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	FC Kosova Schaerbeek
Youth career
1993–2002	Anderlecht
2002–2005	Vitesse
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2010	Vitesse	76	(7)
2010–2014	Charleroi	100	(10)
2014–2015	Lokeren	20	(0)
2015–2018	Zulte Waregem	131	(12)
2018–2022	Mechelen	85	(5)
2022–	FC Kosova Schaerbeek	0	(0)
International career
2002	Belgium U17	5	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Onur Kaya (born 20 April 1986) is a Belgian professional footballer of Turkish descent who plays as an attacking midfielder for FC Kosova Schaerbeek.

Career

Kaya, who has dual Belgian-Turkish nationality, was born and raised in Brussels, but moved to the youth academy of Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse in 2002.^[2] There, he made his professional debut on 11 February 2006 in the away game against Heerenveen.^[3] In May 2006, a few months after his debut, Kaya signed a contract four-year contract extension with Vitesse until the summer of 2010.^[4] He played a key role for the team in the following years alongside Mads Junker, Theo Janssen and Ruud Knol.^[5][6] However, in the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons, Kaya was mainly used as a substitute.^[7] In the 2009–10 season, he scored twice in the away match against Heracles Almelo and thus won a starting spot in the next games.^[8][9]

Before the start of the 2010–11 season, Kaya moved to Charleroi.^[10] He immediately suffered relegation to the Belgian Second Division with the club in his first season.^[11] After one season in the second tier, Charleroi immediately promoted back to the Belgian First Division A.^[12] In the 2012–13 season, he grew out to become the main force in midfield for the club.^[13]

In January 2014, Kaya signed with Lokeren. There, however, manager Peter Maes preferred other players in midfield and, partly due to the emerging talent Hans Vanaken, Kaya never won a place in the starting eleven.^[14][15]

On 8 January 2015, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Zulte Waregem.^[16] On 18 March 2017, the club won the Belgian Cup, beating Oostende in the final. A penalty shootout after a match with extra time (2–2 after regular time, 3–3 after 120 min) resulted in the second cup win in club history.^[17] With this result, Zulte Waregem qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. There, Kaya played his former team Vitesse.^[3]

On 24 July 2018, Kaya joined Mechelen on a three-year deal after four seasons with Zulte Waregem.^[18] He grew into a team captain at the club.^[19]

On 24 August 2022, Kaya came out of retirement and joined FC Kosova Schaerbeek in the Belgian sixth tier league.^[20]

Career statistics

As of match played on 17 April 2018^[21]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Vitesse	2005–06	Eredivisie	9	0	0	0	—				9	0
	2006–07		29	3	0	0	—				29	3
	2007–08		12	0	0	0	—				12	0
	2008–09		7	0	0	0	—				7	0
	2009–10		19	4	1	1	—				20	5
	Total		76	7	1	1	0	0	0	0	77	8
Sporting Charleroi	2010–11	Belgian Pro League	29	2	1	0	—				30	2
	2011–12	Belgian Second Division	19	3	1	0	—				20	3
	2012–13	Belgian Pro League	34	4	2	0	—				36	4
	2013–14		18	1	0	0	—				18	1
	Total		100	10	4	0	0	0	0	0	104	10
Lokeren	2013–14	Belgian Pro League	12	0	4	0	—				16	0
	2014–15		8	0	1	0	—		1	0	10	0
	Total		20	0	5	0	0	0	1	0	26	0
Zulte Waregem	2014–15	Belgian Pro League	13	2	1	0	—				14	2
	2015–16		38	1	2	1	—				40	2
	2016–17	Belgian First Division A	40	4	4	0	—				44	4
	2017–18		28	3	1	0	—		10	1	39	4
	Total		119	10	8	1	0	0	10	1	137	12
Career totals			315	27	18	2	0	0	11	1	344	30

International career

Kaya was a youth international for Belgium, at the U19 level.^[22]

Honours

Lokeren

• Belgian Cup: 2013–14^[23]

Zulte Waregem

• Belgian Cup: 2016-17^[24]

Individual

• Belgian Pro League top assist provider: 2015–16

References

1. "Kaya Official Profile on Vitesse.nl". Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
2. "Onur Kaya (20) is bij Vitesse de Kleine Tovenaar uit Brussel". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 7 March 2007.
3. Lammers, Lex (18 October 2017). "Vitesse zit voor altijd in hart Onur Kaya". De Gelderlander (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
4. "Vitesse wil contract talent Kaya verlengen". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 28 March 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
5. "'Hij rookte en trok zich nergens wat van aan'". www.soccernews.nl (in Dutch). 12 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
6. "'Ze noemden mij de Tovenaar uit Brussel'". De Morgen (in Dutch). 19 October 2017.
7. "'De Mos zal ik nooit meer een hand geven, ben niet de enige die er zo over denkt'". www.voetbalprimeur.nl (in Dutch). 13 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
8. Dam, Erik van (23 January 2010). "Vitesse zorgt voor stunt tegen Heracles en wint in Almelo". Voetbalzone (in Dutch).
9. "Vitesse wint bij Heracles". nos.nl (in Dutch). 23 January 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
10. "Onur Kaya naar Sporting Charleroi". Het Belang van Limburg (in Flemish). 23 May 2010.
11. "Charleroi degradeert naar tweede klasse". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 23 April 2011.
12. "Van Wijk promoveert met Charleroi". NU (in Dutch). 14 April 2012.
13. "Onur Kaya krijgt geen afscheidswedstrijd bij Charleroi". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 25 December 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2021. De Belg van Turkse origine is al enkele jaren een boegbeeld bij Charleroi en wou tegen Genk graag op gepaste wijze afscheid nemen van de fans.
14. "Kaya blijft doodeerlijk: "Ik heb niet zwaar uitgehaald, Maes leerde me echt niets"". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). 17 November 2016.
15. "Kaya hekelt Peter Maes: 'Zonder mijn familie had ik al lang verkeerde dingen gedaan'". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 17 December 2014.
16. Van Lindt, Aernout (8 January 2015). "Kogel door de kerk: Kaya trekt naar Zulte Waregem". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch).
17. "Herbeleef KV Oostende - Zulte Waregem (Beker van België)". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). 18 March 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
18. "ONUR KAYA EN MATHIEU CORNET TEKENEN CONTRACT" (in Dutch). Mechelen. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
19. Geypen, Diederik (6 February 2021). "KV Mechelen-aanvoerder Onur Kaya (34) schikt zich in nieuwe rol als invaller en wil dat ook na dit seizoen blijven doen". Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
20. "Onur Kaya sort de sa retraite et signe au FC Kosova, club de P1 à Bruxelles" (in French). FC Kosova Schaerbeek. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
21. Onur Kaya at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
22. uefa.com. "Onur Kaya – UEFA.com". Uefa.com.
23. "Lokeren remporte sa deuxième Coupe de Belgique". rtbf.be. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
24. "Zulte Waregem win second Belgian Cup". uefa.com. 18 March 2017.

External links

• Onur Kaya – UEFA competition record (archive)
• Onur Kaya at Soccerway