CAN BARTU
The name Can Bartu takes it's place in both Fenerbahce's football and basketball history. He is the first and only athlete to have worn both the Football National Team and the Basketball National Team's jersey.
Can Bartu was born in Istanbul on the 30th January 1936. He began his sporting career with basketball at Fenerbahce. Thanks to Fikret Arican, he moved to football where he had many successful performances with Fenerbahce.
In 1961 he transferred to Italy's Fiorentina. He later played at Venezia and Lazio. He mesmerised with his technique and elegant style of play. In 1967 he returned to Fenerbahce. He played a total of 326 games with the Yellow Canaries and scored 162 goals. He has even played in goal for the national team, when keeper Turgay was injured in the last few minutes of the Turkey-Romania game in 1958 he went in goal. He is also the first Turkish player to have played in a European up final (Fiorentina-Glasgow Rangers, 1.1.1961).
After being capped at international level 26 times, Can Bartu retired from professional football in 1970. He still kept himself within football by becoming a sports writer. Known amongst his Italian fans as 'Sinyor Bartu" for his classy dress sense he has established himself as one of the all time greats. He is currently an active Sports Columnist at Sabah newspaper. (taken from a fenerbahce site..)
