Turkish football club Fenerbahçe has appointed İsmail Kartal as head coach of its men’s first team, marking his fourth tenure at the İstanbul club, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Club official Cihan Kamer announced the appointment during a live broadcast on FB TV on Thursday, saying Fenerbahçe had also reached an agreement with former player Oğuz Çetin to serve as football director.
Fenerbahçe later confirmed in a filing with Turkey’s Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) that Kartal had signed a one-year contract.
Yuvana hoş geldin İsmail Kartal. 💛💙#Şampiyonlukİçin pic.twitter.com/YUPW07BqJR
— Fenerbahçe SK (@Fenerbahce) June 18, 2026
Kartal, 65, thanked club president Aziz Yıldırım and Çetin after the announcement, saying he was happy to return to Fenerbahçe.
“Returning home again makes me very happy,” Kartal said on FB TV. “Even having our president call me and ask how I was doing was very emotional for me. We have very special memories together from the past.”
Kartal said he was excited to begin his fourth term at the club but added that emotion alone would not be enough.
“Emotions can only take us so far; we have to face reality,” he said. “In the new season, my staff and I will overcome every challenge both in Turkey and in Europe.”
Kartal said Fenerbahçe owed its supporters a league title and pledged to do his best not to disappoint the club’s management or fans.
Former Fenerbahçe player Dirk Kuyt will serve as one of Kartal’s assistant coaches, the club said.
The appointment comes less than two weeks after Yıldırım, Fenerbahçe’s longest-serving former president, was elected president again, returning to the top post at one of Turkey’s biggest sports clubs after an eight-year absence.
Yıldırım, 73, defeated businessman Hakan Safi by a wide margin in an extraordinary general assembly held on June 7.
He will serve for one year because Fenerbahçe must hold its next regular election in May or June 2027 under the club’s bylaws.
During the campaign Yıldırım promised to put Çetin in charge of football operations, sign two leading strikers and end the club’s long wait for a Süper Lig title.
Fenerbahçe has not won Turkey’s top-flight title since the 2013-2014 season, a drought that has increased pressure on the club’s presidents, coaches and players.
Kartal is one of the club’s familiar figures. He played for Fenerbahçe for a decade between 1983 and 1993 and was part of the team that won the league title in the 1988-1989 season, when Fenerbahçe scored a record 103 goals.
He later worked as a coach at several Turkish clubs and previously managed Fenerbahçe in three separate periods.
Kartal first took charge in 2014 and began that tenure by winning the Turkish Super Cup against Galatasaray. Fenerbahçe finished the 2014-2015 Süper Lig season in second place under his management.
He returned in January 2022 after the departure of Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira and helped the team recover during the second half of the season. Fenerbahçe finished second and qualified for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.
Kartal’s best period came in the 2023-2024 season, when Fenerbahçe finished the league with 99 points, losing only once in 38 matches.
The club still finished second behind Galatasaray but set a club points record and reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
He was replaced at the end of that season by José Mourinho. Fenerbahçe later changed coaches again but failed to end its title drought.
Kartal most recently worked at Iranian club Persepolis, although his time there was brief.
His return will put Fenerbahçe’s transfer plans under close scrutiny as the club tries to build a squad that can compete for the Süper Lig title and in Europe.