Trabzonspor Head Coach Fatih Tekke Resigns After European Exit

Trabzonspor have accepted the resignation of head coach Fatih Tekke, drawing a sudden line under an 18‑month spell that had blended silverware, progress and a brutal European exit.

Tekke, who guided the club to third place in the Super Lig last season and delivered the Turkish Cup, stepped down after Trabzonspor were dismantled 5‑0 on aggregate by Ferencvaros in the Europa League play‑off round. The defeat to the Hungarian side cut deep. Tekke offered his resignation in the immediate aftermath.

At first, the club tried to hold the line. On Friday, Trabzonspor rejected his request, framing the decision as one taken under the “intense emotional impact” of the European collapse. They attempted to cool the situation, to keep a coach who had restored a measure of stability and pride.

That stance did not last long.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the club confirmed they had now reached a “mutual understanding” with the 48‑year‑old and agreed to part ways “in line with Trabzonspor’s interests and long‑term objectives”.

The tone of the message underlined how highly Tekke is still regarded in Trabzon. The club stressed that over his “approximately 18‑month tenure” he had “brought significant value to Trabzonspor”, highlighting both “important sporting and financial gains” and his role in developing players brought into the squad during his time in charge.

Most notably, he ended a wait for major silverware by “bringing the Turkish Cup back to our museum”, a triumph the club said ensured he “once again wrote his name into Trabzonspor’s history”.

The parting, though, was framed as an act of protection rather than rupture. Trabzonspor said they had reached agreement with a coach “who stated he would never allow his presence to harm Trabzonspor in any way” and accepted that “drawing a new roadmap, prioritising the club’s interests above all else, had become unavoidable”.

Their final words to Tekke were simple: thanks for “his efforts, his dedicated work, the successes he delivered, and the value he added to Trabzonspor”.

Now the club must prove that this emotional break can be the start of that new roadmap, not the first crack in last season’s revival.