National football player (B. February 2nd 1936, Izmir – D. September 13th 1991, Istanbul). He was nicknamed as the "Uncrowned King" by the sports public and his fans. He began football at a young age in Izmir, Damlacıkspor, after a short period of time, he was transferred to Yün Mensucatspor and then to İzmirspor. He became the top scorer for the first time in İzmirspor with 17 goals. He stood out with the hard shoots he hit and with head goals in centre forward position. Metin Oktay, who was transferred to İzmirspor from Yün Mensucat team in 1954, proclaimed his kingdom of goals by signing 45 goals he shot in the same season in the Izmir Professional League. Thus, the period of the Metin Oktay’s scorers began. Gündüz Kılıç bounded Metin Oktay to the yellow and red colors (T.N. colors of the Galatasaray Team) by giving a Chevrolet brand car for a 5 year contract.
He played in Galatasaray from 1955-1961 and returned back to Galatasaray after playing for the Palermo team of Italy from 1961-1962. He was 19 years old when he started playing in Galatasaray. But in spite of her young age, he warmed up quickly with the Galatasaray community and became the king of goals in Istanbul League by scoring 19 goals in his first season. Meanwhile, Metin Oktay played in the Palermo team of Italy in the 1961-62 season and wore the uniform of Galatasaray until 1969.
Metin Oktay, became the top scorer for 10 times throughout his football life. (1 time in Izmir, 4 times in Istanbul professional league and 5 times in the league of Turkey). The record he broke with 38 goals in 1962-1963 season, has not been able to be broken for many years. After having quitted football in 1969, he did coaching in Galatasaray and Bursaspor for two years. Wearing the uniform of the national team for 37 times, Metin Oktay participated in Galatasaray that won the Turkey Cup for 4 times and in the teams that won the Istanbul professional league twice and Turkey league championship for three times. He served as a board member of Galatasaray. He was a sports writer in the Milliyet newspaper in his last years.
The legendary player, who is referred as the 'Uncrowned King’, broke many records in the Turkish football history: Top scorer (632), The player who scored the most nonstop for a few seasons (11), The player who scored the most goals in a single season (38), The Turkish player who scored the most goals in an international match (19).
Metin Oktay, who died in 1991 as a result of a traffic accident, is one of the legendary scorers of Galatasaray Sports Club. His name is given to the Galatasaray Sports Club Florya facilities after his death.
