sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Mustafa Kemal "Muzzy" Izzet (/ˈɪzɪt/; Turkish: İzzet; born 31 October 1974) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Chelsea, Leicester City, Birmingham City. Born in England, he represented the Turkey national team internationally.

Muzzy Izzet

Izzet in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Mustafa Kemal Izzet[1]
Date of birth	(1974-10-31) 31 October 1974 (age 48)[1]
Place of birth	Mile End, London, England[1]
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Senrab
	Charlton Athletic
	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1996	Chelsea	0	(0)
1996	→ Leicester City (loan)	9	(1)
1996–2004	Leicester City	260	(37)
2004–2006	Birmingham City	26	(1)
2009	Thurmaston Town	1	(0)
Total		296	(39)
National team
2000–2004	Turkey	9	(0)
Honours FIFA World Cup 2002
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

His father is a Turkish Cypriot who came to England as a small boy, and his mother is English.[3] His younger brother, Kemal, also became a professional footballer.

Club career

Leicester City

Izzet signed as a schoolboy for Chelsea, but never made a first team appearance during three years at the London club. He moved to Leicester City in March 1996 on loan for the rest of the season. He became a regular in the side, scoring one goal. When Leicester beat Crystal Palace in the play-offs, Izzet was able to make his move permanent for a fee of £800,000.[4] He kept his place in the side for their Premier League season, which was successful for City. They came 9th in the Premier League, and won the League Cup. Izzet formed a partnership in midfield with Neil Lennon, which proved vital for Leicester. ^{[citation needed]}

In the 1998–99 season, Leicester came 10th in league, and reaching the League Cup final again, but lost out to Tottenham Hotspur. The following season, Leicester came 8th, and again got to the League Cup Final, this time coming up against Tranmere Rovers, of Division One. This year they won 2–1, with Matt Elliott getting both goals. Izzet had been a regular in the side through all of this time. After Martin O'Neill left, Izzet remained a Leicester player. His time at Leicester drew interest from West Ham and Middlesbrough, but he did not leave the club.

The following season started with a 5–0 home defeat to newly promoted Bolton Wanderers. Despite pledging to stay at Leicester during pre-season,[6] Izzet handed in a transfer request in autumn of 2001,[7] prior to the club's relegation, but he rejected a move to Middlesbrough as he did not want to be seen to be "jumping ship".[8] He did issue a plea to O'Neill, who was now manager of Scottish Premier League side Celtic, to sign him in May 2002, remarking that "only an idiot wouldn't consider joining Celtic."[9] Following their relegation at the end of the 2001–02 season, Izzet was again strongly touted for a move to Boro.[10] However, Leicester insisted they would not accept a reduced offer from Middlesbrough for Izzet, who was priced at £6 million, and no deal came to fruition.[11] He withdrew his transfer request in March 2003,[12] after the club achieved automatic promotion by finishing in second place. In January 2004, Leicester rejected £500,000 bids from Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers for Izzet.[13] At the end of the 2003–04 season, Leicester were again relegated.[14] Izzet was Leicester's standout player during the season, assisting on 14 of the club's 48 goals, or 29% of the goals the Foxes scored.[15] Unable to afford Izzet's £30,000 per week wages,[16] the club admitted he was leaving.[5]

Birmingham City

Izzet joined Birmingham City in June 2004 on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal.[17] Injury plagued his first season, with him making only a handful of appearances, though he did score his first league goal for Birmingham, an equaliser against Bolton Wanderers.[18] His second season was worse, with a knee injury keeping him out for a long period of time. Izzet announced his retirement from football on 27 June 2006.[19]

Thurmaston Town

On 28 November 2009, Izzet made a shock last minute return to Saturday football with Leicestershire Senior League side Thurmaston Town. However, he admitted days later that his knee was still very sore and was quoted saying "whether I can turn out for Thurmaston every week is another thing."[20] He never played for them again.

International career

Izzet qualified for the Turkey national side through his Turkish-Cypriot father.[21] He was included in the Turkey squad for Euro 2000, making his debut and sole appearance in the tournament in the group stage as Turkey drew 0–0 with Sweden.[22] He was also part of the squad for the 2002 World Cup, featuring again just once, as a substitute in the 1–0 semi-final defeat to Brazil.[23]

In total, Izzet made nine appearances for the national side.[24][25]

Later career

Izzet now runs a football academy with fellow former professional footballer and former Leicester teammate Steve Walsh.[26] In September 2015 Izzet's autobiography was published, titled Muzzy: My Story. The autobiography was co-written with Leicester Mercury writer Lee Marlow.[27]

Izzet is an ambassador for Dorothy Goodman School, a Special Educational Needs school in Hinckley, Leicestershire.[28]

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[24][25]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Turkey	2000	4	0
	2002	4	0
	2004	1	0
Total		9	0

Honours

Leicester City

• Football League Cup: 1996–97,[29] 1999–2000;[30] runner-up: 1998–99[31]
• Football League First Division play-offs: 1996

Turkey

• FIFA World Cup third place: 2002[32][33][34]

Individual

• Premier League Player of the Month: September 1999[2]
• Most assists in the Premier League: 2003–04[35]
• PFA Team of the Year: 2002–03 First Division[36]

References

External links

• Muzzy Izzet – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Muzzy Izzet at National-Football-Teams.com
• Muzzy Izzet at Soccerbase

На других языках

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[de] Muzzy Izzet

Mustafa Kemal İzzet (* 31. Oktober 1974 in Mile End, London), insbesondere in England meist kurz Muzzy Izzet genannt, ist ein ehemaliger türkisch-englischer Fußballspieler.

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- [en] Muzzy Izzet

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[fr] Muzzy İzzet

Mustafa Kemal İzzet dit Muzzy İzzet (né le 31 octobre 1974 à Mile End) est un footballeur anglais et turc des années 1990 et 2000.

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[it] Muzzy İzzet

Mustafa Kemal İzzet detto Muzzy (Londra, 31 ottobre 1974) è un ex calciatore turco con cittadinanza inglese, di ruolo centrocampista.

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[ru] Иззет, Мустафа Кемаль

Мустафа Кемаль (Маззи) Иззет (англ. Mustafa Kemal "Muzzy" Izzet; тур. Mustafa Kemal İzzet; род. 31 октября 1974[1][2], Майл-Энд[d], Большой Лондон) — английский и турецкий футболист, полузащитник. Поскольку родился, вырос и провёл всю свою карьеру в Англии, выступал за клубы «Лестер Сити» и «Бирмингем Сити», а также за национальную сборную Турции.

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