Suat Kaya

Turkish footballer and manager
Suat Kaya the Turkish footballer

Suat Kaya (born 26 August 1967) is a Turkish football manager and former player who most recently managed Tuzlaspor. His career was all but associated with Galatasaray, with which he won major titles including and the 2000 UEFA Cup. Over the course of 16 seasons, he amassed Süper Lig totals of 353 games and 44 goals.

Born in Istanbul, Suat started playing professionally with Turkish first division powerhouse Galatasaray SK, making his first team debuts at age 19. In the following five years, he represented Konyaspor. Returned in 1992, Suat only played eight times in his first season in his second spell, as Gala won the league. He proceeded to become an essential midfield figure in the following years, notably scoring a career best eight goals in two consecutive seasons – 1993 to 1995 – helping the Istanbul side to five leagues and two cups (this included two consecutive doubles). Aged nearly 33, in 2000, Suat appeared, as a starter, in both of Galatasaray's European conquests, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. In June 2003, he retired from football, starting a coaching career in the following year, with Galatasaray's reserves. In the next seasons, he managed several clubs, namely second division's Gaziantep Büyükşehir Belediyespor (two spells).

Suat gained 15 caps for Turkey during seven years, and participated at UEFA Euro 2000. In the final stages in Belgium and the Netherlands, he played in three out of four matches for the national side, assisting Hakan Şükür in the second goal of the 2–0 group stage win against co hosts Belgium, on 19 June.