Abdulah Gegić

Who was Abdulah Gegić?

Abdulah Gegić was a Yugoslav football coach of Bosniak ethnicity who also had Turkish citizenship. While in Turkey he went by the name Abdullah Gegiç.

As a player he played with OFK Beograd and with FK Mačva Šabac in the Yugoslav First League.

Gegić began his coaching career as coach of Serbian clubs FK Bor and FK Radnički Niš, and later of the Yugoslav u-21 team, and also Yugoslavia national football team. He coached Partizan Belgrade where he reached the Final of the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1966 where he saw a 2-1 defeat against Real Madrid. He was named the second best coach of Europe by France Football magazine. If Gegić had won the final, he would have been named the new coach of Real Madrid.

Gegić then came to Turkey to coach Eskişehirspor, where he became very successful and lead the club to many victories. He also coached Beşiktaş J.K., Fenerbahçe S.K. and the Turkish national football team.

Gegić is nicknamed Futbol Profesörü by the Turkish press. In 1979 he took the Turkish nationality and became a citizen of Turkey. Gegić is still an important figure in Turkish football having mentored most of the top Turkish coaches of today such as Fatih Terim, Mustafa Denizli, Şenol Güneş, and others.