Erhan Önal (3 September 1957 – 16 March 2021) was a Turkish footballer who played as a centre-back.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1957-09-03)3 September 1957 | ||
| Place of birth | İzmir, Turkey | ||
| Date of death | 16 March 2021(2021-03-16) (aged 63)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1975–1976 | Bayern Munich II | ||
| 1976–1977 | Bayern Munich | 18 | (1) |
| 1978–1983 | Standard Liège | 62 | (7) |
| 1981–1982 | → Fenerbahçe (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 1983–1985 | Türkgücü München | ||
| 1985–1992 | Galatasaray | 185 | (12) |
| Total | 272+ | (20+) | |
| National team | |||
| 1979–1987 | Turkey | 12 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Born in İzmir, Önal played for FC Bayern Munich II, FC Bayern Munich, Standard Liège, Fenerbahçe, Türkgücü München and Galatasaray.[2][3]
Önal was the first Turkish immigrant in Germany to play in the Bundesliga.[4]
In 2015, he stated that the mentality when he went on loan to Fenerbahçe was "'Erhan came, he should play, the team should come and sleep".[3] Onal also said that the money he brought was a problem for everybody else and that the facilities were much worse than in Germany.[3]
While playing for Standard Liège, Önal received an offer from Bayer Leverkusen. However, the transfer never happened because Liège kept its transfer fee too high. In response to this, he left for amateur club Türkgücü München, causing some people to assume he had retired.[3]
Despite playing for the Turkey national team, he considered himself to be Bavarian and spoke better German than Turkish.[5]
His daughter Bige Önal is an actress.[6]