Being one of the legendary names of Turkish football, İstanbulspor and Fenerbahçe, Alpaslan Eratlı achieved many championships and several cups in his 15-year career. Being the 3-year-captain of Fenerbahçe, for which he played for 10 years, Alpaslan Eratlı ended his football career bowing out following the Season 1982-83. He played for national team for 29 times and u-21 national team for 4 times.
Can you introduce yourself to us?
In 1948, I was born in İstanbul and grew up in Cerrahpaşa. My school life was highly problematic since my primary school was at least five kilometers away from our house. At that time, going to one place from another was so difficult and I had a hard time of it. Then, I changed my school and enrolled in Deneme Primary School in Aksaray. Afterwards, I continued my education in Pertevniyal High School. Upon finishing high-school, I studied in Chemistry Faculty of Galatasaray University until 3rd grade. Yet, my love for football took precedence over my academic education and since the transportation to the places of away games was rare, I did not go on studying, unfortunately.
Can you talk about how you met with football?
As you may know, we used to play football in empty fields years ago since there were no pitches just like today. I and my younger
brother had an empty field in our garden and we used to play football matches there. This is my story of how I met with football.
I used to play wearing my grandmother’s heels. These shoes were low-heeled and I thought as if they had been crampons. There were many fields where we could play football. There was a place called sandy and I improved my playing there. It was a pitch with 30-meter-width and 10-meter-length between two buildings. We were playing football three by three. Other kids from other neighborhoods used to come and we used to hold tournaments there. It was impossible to play in big fields because there were big brothers who did not let us.
How did you come to İstanbulspor?
It was a sheer coincidence. You may remember İbrahim Toker, former İstanbulspor player. I was going to be transferred to somewhere else out of İstanbul. I wanted them to pay my five-yearschool expenditures as the price of the transfer but İbrahim Toker wanted me to be in front of their eyes and stay in İstanbul, which was very good news for me. I did not go out of İstanbul. In 1968, İbrahim Toker brought me to İstanbulspor trials. We were late and I could not play. After 15-20 minutes, they included me in the game. But the ball came for two or three times. They called me back, but I did not leave. I was mad at the situation. Yet, it turned out that they regarded me as adequate and called me to play in the team. I learnt it after some time. I began footballing in İstanbulspor and played for 5 years. And then I was transferred to Fenerbahçe.
You were transferred from İstanbulspor to Fenerbahçe. The game you played at that time fascinated everyone. Can you talk about your football career in Fenerbahçe?
In 1970, when I was chosen for national team, I was 21. I was playing in İstanbulspor. It was not a piece of cake for young players to be in national team at that time. And I was playing in İstanbulspor in addition to being a young one. Players were generally taken from Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. And I can also mention Cemil Turan apart from me. We were in İstanbulspor-Trabzonspor match in İnönü Stadium. There was no centre forward in the team. I played as the centre forward and kicked 2 goals. This was the first match where Şenol Güneş played for Trabzonspor. My performance during this match was appreciated so much. I was transferred to Fenerbahçe in 1973, which would last for 10 years. We became champion four times and won several cups during this period. By the way, I got injured, my cross-links were ruptured. This lasted for 4 years from 1977 to 1981. I had an operation in Germany. Doctor of German National Team operated on me and told something like that: ‘I’m performing this operation but I don’t promise you can play football again.’ Then, I began riding again, which had made him really happy. In 1982-1983, I bowed out and quit football after league and cup championship of Fenerbahçe.
Do you have any memory that you cannot forget?
I’ve never forgotten about my first National Team match. We had drawn with West Germany (1-1). We were playing against such a rival that had top ten players across the world. It was fantastic to play with Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Jürgen Grabowksi, Sepp Maier, Jupp Heynckes and Herbert Wimmer. We had played in Cologne. There were many Turks in the tribunes. I was the left back and did not let anyone. They were constantly changing players in that zone. I mean I had achieved a successful match. The deceased Ali Artuner, goalkeeper of Göztepe, said that ‘you made it easier for me’.
