Şenol Güneş

Şenol Güneş is a Turkish football manager and former goalkeeper. ¹ Born in Trabzon in 1952, he kept goal for Trabzonspor for twelve years, winning six league titles and setting the Süper Lig clean-sheet record, and as a manager he took Turkey to third place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup — their best-ever finish — and won two Süper Lig titles with Beşiktaş. ¹ None of the sources read for this record states a religion for him, so his data record leaves his faith as unknown. ¹²

Güneş was born on 1 June 1952 in Trabzon and began as an amateur goalkeeper before joining Trabzonspor, where he played from 1975 to 1987. ¹ In those twelve years the club won six of the seven Süper Lig titles in its history, and in 1978–79 Güneş set the league's clean-sheet record by going 1,110 minutes without conceding. ¹ He was part of the side the Turkish press called "the Legend of Trabzonspor", and earned 31 caps for Turkey, captaining the team in five games. ¹ Alongside football he graduated from Karadeniz Technical University and taught at a Trabzon middle school between 1978 and 1983. ¹

Güneş began managing at Trabzonspor, losing the 1995–96 league title only at the end of a season his team had led throughout, then took charge of the national team in 2000. ¹ At the 2002 FIFA World Cup his Turkey finished third — the country's best-ever result — and he was named UEFA Coach of the Year for 2002. ¹ After Turkey failed to reach Euro 2004 he was dismissed, and he later worked at Trabzonspor again, at FC Seoul in South Korea and at Bursaspor. ¹

In June 2015 Güneş signed for Beşiktaş and led them to the 2015–16 Süper Lig title — the club's first since 2009 and his first as a manager — and to a second consecutive title in 2017. ¹ He returned to the national team in 2019 for a second spell, came back to Beşiktaş in October 2022, and in September 2024 signed once more for his hometown club Trabzonspor. ¹

The sources read for this record say nothing about Güneş's religion. The English article, read in full — its personal-life section covers only his Trabzon birth, his university studies, his teaching years and his family — makes no statement of his religion. ¹ The Arabic article likewise makes none, and Wikidata carries no religion value for him at all. ³² Turkey's Hanafi tradition is a national milieu rather than a personal attestation, so the data record leaves his faith as unknown.