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Lefter Küçükandonyadis
	Lefter in 1958
Personal information
Date of birth	22 December 1924
Place of birth	Büyükada, Istanbul, Turkey
Date of death	13 January 2012 (aged 87)
Place of death	Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Inside left
Youth career
1938–1941	Taksim
Senior career*
Years	Team
1941–1943	Taksim
1947–1951	Fenerbahçe
1951–1952	Fiorentina
1952–1953	Nice
1953–1964	Fenerbahçe
1964	AEK Athens
1967–1968	Boluspor
Total
International career
1943	Turkey U21
1947	Turkey B
1948–1963	Turkey
Managerial career
1965	Egaleo
1965–1966	Johannesburg
1966–1967	Samsunspor
1967–1968	Orduspor
1968–1969	Mersin İdman Yurdu
1969–1970	Boluspor
1970	Samsunspor
1970–1971	Sivasspor
1972	Samsunspor
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lefter Küçükandonyadis (Greek: Λευτέρης Αντωνιάδης, Lefteris Antoniadis;^[7] 22 December 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish professional footballer of Greek descent,^[7]^[3] who played as a forward. He is often recognized as one of the greatest strikers to play for Fenerbahçe and Turkey.^[8] 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. He was also known as "Ordinaryüs" (professor of professors) in Turkey.^[9]

Club career

Lefter started his footballing career on Büyükada (an island in Istanbul) 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.^[10] 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 (1959, 1961 and 1964) titles. In the 1947–48 and 1953–54 seasons, he became the leading goalscorer of the Istanbul League.^[11] 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 at the age of 39. He scored twice in an away 7–1 victory against Apollon Smyrnis and became the eldest goalscorer in the history of the club. These goals also made his the eldest goalscorer in the history of Greek Championship, until he was surpassed by Tasos Mitropoulos in 1997.^[12] He participated in only five games in the season, as an injury in the match against Iraklis forced his retirement.

International career

Küçükandonyadis was capped 46 times for the Turkey national team, 9 as the captain. He also played at the 1948 Summer Olympics,^[13] and 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.^[14]

Managerial career

Lefter coached Egaleo in Greece and Johannesburg in South Africa.^[15] He later returned to Turkey to coach clubs, mostly Samsunspor, Orduspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, and Boluspor.

After football

Statue of Lefter Küçükandonyadis at Yoğurtçu Park, close to Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, in Kadıköy, Istanbul

His statue was erected next to the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in 2009.^[15] He was buried in the Greek Orthodox cemetery on his native island.^[7]

Personal life

Both of his parents were of Greek origin,^[7] Christofis Antoniadis, a fisherman, and Argyro Antoniadis, a tailor, who had immigrated from Ottoman Albania to the island of Büyükada in Istanbul in the early 20th century.^[16]^[3] He grew up with ten brothers and sisters, and had a Greek Orthodox upbringing. 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 "The Small", and Lefter added it to his surname – Küçükandonyadis, meaning "The Small Antoniadis". He was married to a fellow Greek woman, Stavriani Bekiari, and they had three children.^[7]^[3]

Career statistics

International goals

Turkey score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lefter goal.

List of international goals scored by Lefter
No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	23 April 1948	Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Athens, Greece	1	Greece	2–0	3–1	Friendly
2	2 August 1948	Green Pond Road Stadium, Walthamstow, England	3	Republic of China	4–0	4–0	1948 Summer Olympics
3	20 November 1949	19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey	7	Syria	5–0	7–0	1950 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	28 May 1950	Dolmabahçe Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	8	Iran	5–1	6–1	Friendly
5	28 May 1950	Dolmabahçe Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	8	Iran	6–1	6–1	Friendly
6	3 December 1950	Dolmabahçe Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	9	Israel	3–2	3–2	Friendly
7	10 June 1951	Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	10	Sweden	1–0	1–3	Friendly
8	20 June 1954	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland	17	South Korea	2–0	7–0	1954 FIFA World Cup
9	23 June 1954	Hardturm Stadium, Zürich, Switzerland	18	West Germany	2–7	2–7	1954 FIFA World Cup
10	26 June 1955	Stadio Comunale, Trieste, Italy	21	Italy B	1–1	1–1	Mediterranean Games
11	18 December 1955	Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	22	Portugal	1–1	3–1	Friendly
12	19 February 1956	Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	24	Hungary	1–0	3–1	Friendly
13	19 February 1956	Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	24	Hungary	2–0	3–1	Friendly
14	5 April 1957	Al Zamalek Stadium, Cairo, Egypt	28	Egypt	1–0	4–0	Mediterranean Games
15					2–0
16					3–0
17	26 April 1959	Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	37	Romania	1–0	2–0	1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying
18	26 April 1959	Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	37	Romania	2–0	2–0	1960 European Nations' Cup qualifying
19	8 June 1960	19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey	39	Scotland	2–1	4–2	Friendly
20	8 June 1960	19 Mayıs Stadium, Ankara, Turkey	39	Scotland	3–1	4–2	Friendly
21	16 May 1962	Mithatpaşa Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	45	Israel	1–0	1–0	Friendly