Game changer: how Altinordu aims to dominate Turkish football with homegrown players

The Izmir-based club feel they have an obligation to develop players on and off the field and the president aims to have a completely homegrown side in the Super Lig by 2019-20

Altinordu is not your average Turkish football club. While many top-flight clubs continue their short-term thinking and chase big-name foreign signings Altinordu, currently fourth in the second division, have a completely different approach – and one that could completely transform Turkish football.

Seyit Mehmet Ozkan, president of the Izmir-based club, envisages a team comprised of academy raised players only and if that dream become reality it would be unprecedented in Turkey. “Our goal is to have a completely homegrown side competing in the Super Lig by the 2019-20 season,” he tells the Guardian. “We aim to have a completely homegrown side competing in European competition by 2023-24, export our players abroad and [for them] to benefit the national team.”

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