İlhan Cavcav facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
İlhan Cavcav
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İlhan Cavcav, 2012
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| Chairman of Gençlerbirliği S.K. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1978 – 22 January 2017 |
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| Preceded by | Hasan Şengel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Murat Cavcav | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 October 1935 Ankara, Turkey |
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| Died | 22 January 2017 (aged 81) Ankara, Turkey |
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| Resting place | Cebeci Asri Cemetery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Nazan Cavcav
(m. 1962; |
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| Children | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Tayyar Cavcav (uncle) Erdal Beşikçioğlu (nephew) |
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| Occupation | Footballer Businessman Football administrator |
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Association football career
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İlhan Cavcav (born October 4, 1935 – died January 22, 2017) was a very important person in Turkish football. He was the chairman of the Gençlerbirliği football club in Ankara, Turkey. He led the club for almost 40 years until he passed away.
Cavcav was known for being very smart when making deals with bigger clubs in Turkey. He was also great at finding new football talent, especially players from Africa.
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About İlhan Cavcav's Life
İlhan Cavcav came from a family with roots in Pristina, Kosovo. His father had a large family with many children. They owned a flour mill and a small bakery.
İlhan started working at a young age to help his family. He left school at 14 to work as a cashier in his father's mill. Later, in 1960, he started his own business. By 1969, he opened his own modern flour mill in Ankara.
His Early Days Playing Football
When İlhan was 16, he started playing football for a local team called Mamak Maskespor. At 19, he moved to another Ankara team, PTT.
Cavcav said that PTT wanted him to play professionally. But he couldn't because he was busy working at his father's flour mill. He briefly joined another local team, Bahçeli Gençlik Spor. After that, he stopped playing football for a while. Years later, he would return to the sport, but this time as a chairman.
Leading a Football Club
İlhan Cavcav first tried being a chairman in 1976 for a team called Hacettepe Kulübü. He left after that team moved down a league. In 1977, he joined Gençlerbirliği as a board member.
In 1978, he became the chairman of Gençlerbirliği. At that time, the team was in the Turkish Second League. They went down to the Third League in 1979. However, in 1980, the Second and Third Leagues were combined. This meant Gençlerbirliği automatically moved back up to the Second League.
In 1983, under Cavcav's leadership, Gençlerbirliği was promoted to the Turkish First League. The team stayed in the First League for many years, except for the 1988–89 season.
Over the years, some fans felt that the club focused too much on making money. They thought the club was not trying hard enough to win big in the Turkish League or in European games. Fans were also sometimes unhappy because the team's best players often left. Cavcav would often accept offers from bigger teams for these players.
In November 2014, Cavcav made a surprising announcement. He said he would fine players who had beards. He believed beards were a bad example for young people. He even criticized UEFA for not banning beards in all their competitions.
His Passing
İlhan Cavcav had an accident where he fell and hit his head. This caused bleeding in his brain. He was taken to the hospital and kept in intensive care. Sadly, he passed away the next day, on January 22, 2017. He was buried on January 23 at the Cebeci Asri Cemetery in Ankara.
His Achievements
- When İlhan Cavcav became chairman in 1978, Gençlerbirliği S.K. had no proper training facilities. By the time he passed away, the team had one of the biggest youth programs in Turkey. They also had 50 acres (200,000 m2) of modern training facilities in Ankara.
- He was the longest-serving professional football club chairman in Turkey. He held the position from 1978 until 2017.
Interesting Facts
- İlhan Cavcav had two sons. Both of them are part of the Gençlerbirliği board today.
- He often traveled to African countries himself to find new football players.
- Before Cavcav, Gençlerbirliği had 22 chairmen in 54 years. But for the last 29 years of that period, he was the only person in charge.
- The famous actor Erdal Beşikçioğlu is İlhan Cavcav's nephew. He is also a big fan of Gençlerbirliği.
