Kennedy Bakircioglu

Kennedy Bakircioglu

Bakircioglu in 2013
Personal information
Full name Kennedy Bakircioglu
Date of birth (1980-11-02) 2 November 1980
Place of birth Södertälje, Sweden
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Hammarby IF
Number 10
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Assyriska 34 (10)
1999–2003 Hammarby IF 127 (38)
2003–2005 Iraklis 24 (4)
2005–2007 Twente 66 (23)
2007–2010 Ajax 35 (6)
2010–2012 Racing Santander 39 (6)
2012– Hammarby IF 99 (38)
National team
1999–2001 Sweden U21 14 (1)
2001–2008 Sweden 14 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 September 2016.


Kennedy Bakircioglu (Turkish: Bakırcıoğlu; Turkish pronunciation: [baˈkirt͡ʃoːɫʊ];[1] born 2 November 1980) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Hammarby.

He spent most of his career with Hammarby, first joining in 1999 then returning for a second spell in 2012. He also competed professionally in Greece, the Netherlands (with both Twente and Ajax) and Spain.

Bakircioglu was a Swedish international for seven years.

Early life

Bakircioglu's family is ethnic Assyrian, followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church.[2] The family arrived in Sweden in 1972 from Midyat, Turkey.

Born in Södertälje, Bakircioglu was named after United States president John F. Kennedy.[3] His father, Benjamin, was one of the first to play for newly founded Assyriska Föreningen, a club established by the Assyrian diaspora.[4]

Club career

Sweden/Greece

Bakircioglu started off his professional career with Assyriska in 1996, playing three seasons with the team. During this timeframe, he had a trial with Manchester United, but did not do enough to secure a contract with the English club.[5]

In the summer of 1999, Bakircioglu joined Hammarby IF, and remained there for the next five years. In 2001, he scored eight goals in 26 games to lead the team to its first Allsvenskan championship and, four years later, was voted the club's fourth greatest player of all time in an online poll held on its website.

In January 2004, Bakircioglu moved abroad to play in Greece for Iraklis Thessaloniki FC, being sparingly used in his only full campaign in the Super League.

Netherlands

Bakircioglu playing for Ajax.

Bakircioglu moved teams and countries again in the 2005 off-season, signing with FC Twente in the Netherlands and impressing manager Fred Rutten straight away to become a first-team regular. In 2006–07, he scored a career-best 15 goals in the Eredivisie as the Enschede side finished fourth and qualified to the UEFA Cup. His efforts did not go unnoticed and, on 5 May 2007, newspaper De Telegraaf announced that the player had reached an agreement with fellow league side AFC Ajax.[6] He was officially signed ten days later, and scored on his official debut, an 8–1 away routing of De Graafschap.[7][8]

In August 2008, new Ajax manager Marco van Basten deemed Bakircioglu surplus to requirements,[9] but the player decided to stay,[10] being restricted to only 17 league games in two seasons combined. He did score, however, a crucial club for the Amsterdam team, in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, in a 1–0 away win against ACF Fiorentina in the round-of-32 (2–1 aggregate success).[11][12]

Spain

Bakircioglu left Ajax in June 2010, signing for Spain's Racing de Santander early in the following month.[13][14] He started in all but two games he appeared in his first season, as the Cantabrians retained their La Liga status; three of his league goals came in the last month of competition, against RCD Mallorca (2–0 home win),[15] Atlético Madrid (2–1, home)[16] and Athletic Bilbao (1–2 home loss).[17]

Bakircioglu spent the vast majority of 2011–12 nursing an achilles tendon injury,[18] and Racing would also return to Segunda División after one full decade.

Back in Sweden

At the end of August 2012, Bakircioglu returned to Hammarby as the club was now in the Superettan.[19] In 2014, whilst also acting as team captain, he led all scorers with 17 goals and contributed with seven assists, helping to a return to the top flight.[20]

International career

Bakircioglu gained 14 caps for Sweden, after appearing in as many games for the under-21s. His debut came in 2001 whilst at Hammarby, but he never appeared in a major international tournament.

Club statistics

As of 7 September 2016[21][22]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Assyriska 1996 10
1997 81
1998 259
Total 3410
Hammarby 1999 252
2000 265
2001 268
2002 2511
2003 2512
Total 12738
Iraklis 2003–04 72
2004–05 172
Total 244
Twente 2005–06 328
2006–07 3415
Total 6623
Ajax 2007–08 183
2008–09 81
2009–10 92
Total 356
Racing Santander 2010–11 326
2011–12 70
Total 396
Hammarby 2012 95
2013 237
2014 2817
2015 22441
2016 175
Total 9938
Career total 407119

Honours

Club

Hammarby
Ajax

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Bakırcıoğlu pronunciation in Turkish". Forvo. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Zweedse Assyriër in Twente" [Swedish-Assyrian in Twente]. De Pers (in Dutch). 9 March 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Mittfältare: Kennedy Bakircioglü – karriär" [Midfielder: Kennedy Bakircioglü – career] (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Assyrian-Swedish Kennedy for Fenerbahçe?". Fenerbahçe S.K. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  5. ↑ "Kennedy Bakircioglu". Toronto Winged Bull. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Bakircioglu kiest Ajax". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 5 May 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "De Graafschap 1–8 Ajax Amsterdam". ESPN Soccernet. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "De Graafschap 1–8 Ajax" (in Dutch). De Graafschap Doetinchem. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Bakirçioglu ziet geen toekomst meer bij Ajax" [Bakirçioglu sees no future at Ajax] (in Dutch). Goal.com. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Van Basten verrast met Bakircioglu" [Van Basten surprised at Bakircioglu]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 15 February 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Bakircioglü wins it for Ajax in Florence". UEFA.com. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "Mythe Van Basten leeft voort in Italië" [Van Basten myth lives on in Italy]. NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 20 February 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "Bakircioglü naar Racing Santander" [Bakircioglü to Racing Santander] (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  14. ↑ "El internacional sueco Kennedy Bakircioglü, tercer fichaje del Racing 2010/11" [Swedish international Kennedy Bakircioglü, third Racing signing for 2010/11] (in Spanish). Racing Santander. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  15. ↑ "Santander bank on safety". ESPN Soccernet. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  16. ↑ "Racing secure survival". ESPN Soccernet. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  17. ↑ "Bilbao end on a high". ESPN Soccernet. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  18. ↑ Fernández, Pedro (20 October 2011). "Kennedy pone fin a los rumores sobre su lesión" [Kennedy ends rumours about his injury]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  19. ↑ "Den som inte spelat här vet inte vad det innebär" [Those who haven't played here don't know what it means]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 28 August 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  20. ↑ "Kennedy sköt upp Bajen till allsvenskan" [A Kennedy strike promoted Bajen to Allsvenskan]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 2 November 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  21. ↑ "K. Bakircioglu". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "Kennedy Bakircioglü". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
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