İsmail Kartal

İsmail Kartal (born 15 June 1961), colloquially known by the given nickname "Arap İsmail" due to his tanned skin,^[1] is a Turkish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Persian Gulf Pro League club Persepolis.

İsmail Kartal

Kartal with Persepolis in 2025
Personal information
Date of birth	(1961-06-15) 15 June 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth	Istanbul, Turkey
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Right back
Team information
Current team	Persepolis (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1982	Sarıyer	0	(0)
1982–1983	Gaziantepspor	59	(2)
1983–1993	Fenerbahçe	236	(15)
1993–1994	Denizlispor	32	(12)
1994–1995	Adanaspor	7	(1)
Total		334	(30)
International career
1982–1985	Turkey	6	(0)
1982–1984	Turkey U21	3	(1)
Managerial career
2000–2001	Karabükspor
2004–2005	Sivasspor
2005–2006	Mardinspor
2006	Altay
2006	Mardinspor
2006–2007	Malatyaspor
2008	Orduspor
2008–2009	Konya Şeker
2010–2014	Fenerbahçe (assistant)
2014–2015	Fenerbahçe
2015	Eskişehirspor
2016	Gaziantepspor
2017–2018	Ankaragücü
2019–2020	Çaykur Rizespor
2020–2021	Konyaspor
2022	Fenerbahçe
2023–2024	Fenerbahçe
2025–	Persepolis
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Kartal played eleven seasons in the Turkish Süper Lig. He won two national league titles with Fenerbahce in 1984–85 and 1988–89 seasons. He played for Denizlispor and Adanaspor at the end of his football player career. Kartal made six appearances for the senior Turkey national football team from 1982 through 1985.^[2]

Managerial career

After his retirement, he started his management career and coached Karabükspor, Sivasspor, Mardinspor, Altay, Malatyaspor, Orduspor and Konya Anadolu Selçukspor. He led Sivasspor to win TFF First League title for the first time in club's history.^[3] Between 1997 and 1999 and 2010 to 2014, he was the assistant coach at Fenerbahce. After Ersun Yanal's resignation, Kartal took over as manager.^[4][5] 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.^[6] He led Ankaragücü to win TFF First League title in 2018.^[7]

On 12 January 2022, following the departure of Vitor Pereira, Kartal signed with Fenerbahçe for the rest of the season.^[8] 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.

On 28 June 2023, Kartal signed a one-year contract with Fenerbahçe for his third managerial spell at the club.^[9] 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.^[10] Upon the conclusion of the season, he left the club on 31 May 2024.^[11]

Persepolis

On 24 January 2025, Persepolis signed Kartal to a 18-month contract for the rest of the 2024–25 season.^[12][13][14]

In his first match in charge, he led Persepolis to a 2-0 victory over league leaders Tractor, despite his team being reduced to 10 men.^[15]

Managerial statistics

As of 18 April 2025

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Karabükspor		16 November 2000	31 January 2001	4	2	0	2	050.00
Sivasspor		25 August 2004	30 June 2005	35	23	5	7	065.71
Mardinspor		19 October 2005	24 January 2006	9	3	3	3	033.33
Altay		24 January 2006	27 March 2006	11	5	3	3	045.45
Mardinspor		4 August 2006	26 October 2006	12	4	4	4	033.33
Malatyaspor		9 November 2006	21 May 2007	22	12	4	6	054.55
Orduspor		17 January 2008	30 June 2008	16	5	9	2	031.25
Konya Şeker		31 October 2008	23 October 2009	40	18	14	8	045.00
Fenerbahçe		12 August 2014	30 May 2015	46	29	11	6	063.04
Eskişehirspor		14 October 2015	13 November 2015	4	0	0	4	000.00
Gaziantepspor		21 July 2016	7 December 2016	16	5	2	9	031.25
Ankaragücü		21 June 2017	17 December 2018	53	25	11	17	047.17
Çaykur Rizespor		3 June 2019	3 March 2020	28	9	5	14	032.14
Konyaspor		15 September 2020	8 February 2021	24	9	6	9	037.50
Fenerbahçe		12 January 2022	2 June 2022	21	12	5	4	057.14
Fenerbahçe		28 June 2023	31 May 2024	58	45	6	7	077.59
Persepolis		24 January 2025	present	13	5	4	4	038.46
Total				412	212	92	108	051.46

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