İsmail Kartal (born 15 June 1961), colloquially known by the given nickname "Arap İsmail" due to his tanned skin,[1] is a Turkish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Süper LigFenerbahçe.
Playing career
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Kartal played eleven seasons in the Turkish Süper Lig. He won two national league titles with Fenerbahce in 1984–85 and 1988–89 seasons. He played for Denizlispor and Adanaspor at the end of his football player career.
Kartal made six appearances for the senior Turkey national football team from 1982 through 1985.[2]
Managerial career
After his retirement, he started his management career and coached Karabükspor, Sivasspor, Mardinspor, Altay, Malatyaspor, Orduspor and Konya Anadolu Selçukspor. He led Sivasspor to win TFF First League title for the first time in club's history.[3] Between 1997 and 1999 and 2010 to 2014, he was the assistant coach at Fenerbahce. After Ersun Yanal's resignation, Kartal took over as manager.[4][5]
At the end of the 2014–15 Süper Lig season, he officially announced his resignation as manager of Fenerbahçe, though it was clear beforehand that he would not be manager for the next season.[6] He led Ankaragücü to win TFF First League title in 2018.[7]
On 12 January 2022, following the departure of Vitor Pereira, Kartal signed with Fenerbahçe for the rest of the season.[8] At the end of the season, Fenerbahçe finished in second place, by eight points behind Trabzonspor. Kartal finished with a record of twelve wins, five draws and four losses in 21 matches.
On 28 June 2023, Kartal signed a one-year contract with Fenerbahçe for his third managerial spell at the club.[9] In the 2023–24 season, he led the club to achieve 99 points in the Süper Lig, yet they finished second behind their rivals Galatasaray with 102 points.[10] Upon the conclusion of the season, he left the club on 31 May 2024.[11]
