İsmail Kartal (born 15 June 1961), colloquially known by the given nickname "Arap İsmail" due to his tanned skin, is a Turkish professional football manager of the Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe.
Playing career Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Kartal began his football career at Sarıyer. He later transferred to Gaziantepspor. After two years at the club, he transferred to Fenerbahce and played there from 1983 to 1993, playing 235 matches and scoring 15 goals, nine of which came from penalties. He won two national league titles with Fenerbahce in 1984–85 and 1988–89 seasons.
He enjoyed the most productive period of his playing career with Denizlispor in the 1993–1994 season, scoring 12 goals in 32 matches. After playing for Adanaspor in the 1994–1995 season, he retired from active football. Kartal played twelve seasons from 1981 to 1993 in the Turkish Süper Lig.
International career Kartal two appearances for the senior Turkey U21 national football team from 1982 through 1984 and made six appearances for the senior Turkey national football team from 1982 through 1985.
Managerial career After his retirement as a professional football player, worked in the Fenerbahçe Academy between 1997 and 1999. He made his first professional managerial debut at Karabükspor in the TFF First League. He then took over at Sivasspor, leading the Yiğidolar to the TFF First League championship at the end of the season and into the Süper Lig for the first time in their history. He also managed Mardinspor, Altay, Malatyaspor, Orduspor and Konya Anadolu Selçukspor.
He led Ankaragücü to became second of TFF First League and promoted to the Süper Lig in 2018.
Fenerbahçe Between 2010 and 2014, he was the assistant coach at Fenerbahce.
First era (2014–15 season) After Ersun Yanal's resignation, Kartal took over as manager.
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.
Second era (2021–22 season) On 12 January 2022, following the departure of Vitor Pereira, Kartal signed with Fenerbahçe for the rest of the season. 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.
Third era (2023–24 season) On 28 June 2023, Kartal signed a one-year contract with Fenerbahçe for his third managerial spell at the club. 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. Upon the conclusion of the season, he left the club on 31 May 2024.
Persepolis
On 24 January 2025, Persepolis signed Kartal to a 18-month contract for the rest of the 2024–25 season.
In June 2025, following the outbreak of the Twelve-Day War, İsmail Kartal terminated his contract with Persepolis and left the club by mutual agreement.
Fourth term with Fenerbahçe On 18 June 2026, Kartal signed a one-year contract with Fenerbahçe for his fourth managerial spell at the club, after two years.
For the first time after 18 years since the 2008-2009 season, on 26 August 2026, Kartal took Fenerbahçe to the Champions League league phase after passing 3 UEFA elimination rounds against Górnik Zabrze, SK Sturm Graz, and Olympique Lyonnais, beating them on aggregate 1-2, 0-3, and 2-3 respectively.
On 10 September 2026, Kartal announced his immediate resignation from the club following a 1–1 draw against Roma in the Champions League league phase due to negative press and fans throwing water bottles at him. However, club president Aziz Yıldırım stated that Kartal would remain in charge. Although Kartal stated in the post-game press conference that he would not return, Fenerbahçe officials convinced him to stay on as manager and made an official announcement that he was still the manager.
Honours
Player Sarıyer TFF First League: 1981–82
Fenerbahçe Süper Lig: 1984–85, 1988–89 Turkish Super Cup: 1984, 1985, 1990 Prime Minister's Cup: 1989
Assistant Manager Fenerbahçe Süper Lig: 2010–11, 2013–14 Turkish Cup: 2011–12, 2012–13
Manager Sivasspor TFF First League: 2004–05
Fenerbahçe Turkish Super Cup: 2014
Managerial statistics
TeamNatLeagueFromToRecordPPM KarabüksporTFF First League16 November 200031 January 20011.50Sivasspor25 August 200430 June 20052.11Mardinspor19 October 200524 January 20061.33 Altay24 January 200627 March 20061.80Mardinspor4 August 200626 October 20061.36Malatyaspor9 November 200621 May 20071.82Orduspor17 January 200830 June 20081.50Konya Şeker31 October 200823 October 20091.70FenerbahçeSüper Lig12 August 201430 May 20152.17Eskişehirspor14 October 201513 November 20150.00Gaziantepspor21 July 20167 December 20161.06AnkaragücüTFF First League21 June 201717 December 20181.62Süper LigÇaykur Rizespor3 June 20193 March 20201.14Konyaspor15 September 20208 February 20211.38Fenerbahçe12 January 20222 June 20221.9528 June 202331 May 20242.40PersepolisPersian Gulf Pro League24 January 20254 July 20251.75FenerbahçeSüper Lig21 July 20261.73Total1.77
References
External links
İsmail Kartal at Mackolik