Trabzonspor Ends Fatih Tekke Era After Europa League Exit

Trabzonspor have drawn a line under the Fatih Tekke era, accepting the head coach’s “emotional” resignation days after initially trying to keep him in place.

Tekke, who guided the club to a third-place finish in the Super Lig last season and delivered the Turkish Cup, stepped down in the wake of a bruising Europa League exit. Trabzonspor were dismantled 5-0 on aggregate by Hungarian side Ferencvaros in the play-off round, a defeat that shook the club and its coach.

Reeling from that setback, the 48-year-old offered his resignation, only for the board to push back on Friday. At that stage, Trabzonspor publicly framed his decision as one made under the “intense emotional impact” of the European collapse and hinted they wanted him to stay.

The mood has shifted quickly.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the club confirmed they had now reached a “mutual understanding” with Tekke and agreed to part ways “in line with Trabzonspor’s interests and long-term objectives”.

The message carried a clear note of respect for a coach who had become a significant figure over his year and a half in charge. Trabzonspor underlined that Tekke “brought significant value” during his approximately 18-month tenure, highlighting both “important sporting and financial gains” and his role in developing the players brought into the squad.

The Turkish Cup triumph, which “brought the trophy back to our museum”, was singled out as a defining moment, a success that “once again wrote his name into Trabzonspor’s history”.

The club also stressed Tekke’s stance in the final discussions, noting that he had made it clear he “would never allow his presence to harm Trabzonspor in any way”. From there, both sides accepted that “drawing a new roadmap, prioritising the club’s interests above all else, had become unavoidable”.

Trabzonspor closed their statement with a simple message of gratitude: “We thank our coach for his efforts, his dedicated work, the successes he delivered, and the value he added to Trabzonspor.”

Now the club must answer the only question that matters next: who picks up that roadmap and leads them into the rest of the season?