Yıldıray Baştürk

Yıldıray Baştürk

Personal information
Full name	Yıldıray Baştürk
Date of birth	(1978-12-24) 24 December 1978
Place of birth	Herne, West Germany
Height
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1986–1987	DSC Wanne-Eickel
1987–1996	Wattenscheid 09
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1997	Wattenscheid 09	20	(6)
1997–2001	VfL Bochum	104	(13)
2001–2004	Bayer Leverkusen	73	(8)
2004–2007	Hertha BSC	71	(14)
2007–2010	VfB Stuttgart	31	(4)
2010	Blackburn Rovers	1	(0)
Total		300	(45)
International career
1998–2008	Turkey	49	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Yıldıray Baştürk (Turkish pronunciation: [jɯɫˈdɯˈɾaj baʃˈtyrk], born 24 December 1978) is a retired Turkish footballer who last played for English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers in 2010.

He was capped 49 times for the Turkey national football team, representing the team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup where it finished in third place. In the same year he also appeared for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final.

Club career

Early years, Bochum and Bayer

The son of a miner, Baştürk began his football career at Sportfreunde Wanne-Eickel. As a teenager Baştürk played for SG Wattenscheid 09, and his breakthrough in the Bundesliga came with city rivals VfL Bochum, for whom he even played in the UEFA Cup. After the 2001 transfer to Bayer 04 Leverkusen more success was coming his way. Baştürk and Leverkusen finished second in the German league, the German Cup and the 2002 Champions League Final.

Hertha and Stuttgart

In July 2004 he was transferred to Hertha BSC, where he remained until 2007 when his contract expired. Baştürk agreed to join German champions VfB Stuttgart on a Bosman transfer on 28 May 2007 for the start of the 2007–08 season.

Blackburn Rovers

On 27 January 2010, it was announced that Baştürk had agreed to join Blackburn Rovers from Stuttgart until the end of the season on a free transfer, after his contract with Stuttgart was terminated. Baştürk was handed his first start for Blackburn in the Premier League when he started against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 24 April 2010 at Molineux, however he was substituted at half-time. Baştürk was not offered a contract extension by Rovers.

International career

In 2002 he also played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where the Turkish team came third. Baştürk currently has 49 caps and two goals for Turkey. However, after he was left out of Turkey's 23-man squad for Euro 2008, he said he would never play for the national team as long as Fatih Terim remains as the coach.

International goals

Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	14 November 2001	Ali Sami Yen Stadium, Istanbul	Austria	1–0	5–0	2002 World Cup play-off qualifier
2.	28 April 2004	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels	Belgium	1–1	3–2	Friendly
3.	26 March 2005	BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul	Albania	2–0	2–0	2006 World Cup qualifier

Career statistics

International

National team	Season	Apps	Goals
Turkey	1998	1	0
	1999	0	0
	2000	0	0
	2001	9	1
	2002	14	0
	2003	7	0
	2004	4	1
	2005	7	1
	2006	3	0
	2007	2	0
	2008	2	0
Total		49	3

Honours

Bayer Leverkusen

• UEFA Champions League: Runner-up 2001–02

Turkey

• FIFA World Cup: Third place 2002
• FIFA Confederations Cup: Third place 2003

External links

• Yıldıray Baştürk – FIFA competition record
• Leverkusen who's who (German)
• Yıldıray Baştürk at worldfootball.net
• Yıldıray Baştürk profile at Fussballdaten
• Yıldıray Baştürk at ESPN

Sporting positions
Preceded by Mirko Dickhaut	VfL Bochum captain February 2001 – June 2001	Succeeded by Rein van Duijnhoven