Muzzy Izzet

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 played for 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[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)
International career
2000–2004 Turkey 9 (0)
Medal record
Third placeFIFA 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.

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 to become manager of Scottish club Celtic, Izzet remained a Leicester player. His time at Leicester attracted interest from West Ham and Middlesbrough, but he did not leave the club.

"I love this place – it's just a shame that we couldn't stay up because you never know, I might have been here for longer."

Izzet on Leicester City's relegation from the Premier League in the 2003–04 season.[5]

Despite pledging to stay at Leicester prior to the start of the 2001-02 season,[6] Izzet submitted a transfer request in the autumn of 2001.[7] However, he rejected a move to Middlesbrough as he did not want to be seen to be "jumping ship".[8] He issued a plea to Martin O'Neill to sign him in May 2002, remarking that "only an idiot wouldn't consider joining Celtic."[9]

Following Leicester's relegation and with the club in administration, Izzet was again linked with Middlesbrough.[10] However, Leicester insisted they would not accept a reduced offer for Izzet, who was valued at £6 million.[11] He withdrew his transfer request in March 2003,[12] with the club securing promotion to the Premier League a month later on 19 April.[13] In January 2004, Leicester rejected £500,000 bids from Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers for Izzet.[14] Leicester were relegated at the end of the 2003–04 season.[15] Unable to afford Izzet's £30,000 per week wages,[16] the club admitted he was leaving.[5] Izzet was Leicester's standout player during the season, assisting 14 of the club's 48 goals, or 29% of goals scored by the club.[17]

Birmingham City

Izzet joined Birmingham City in June 2004 on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal.[18] He scored his only goal for Birmingham in September; an equaliser against Bolton Wanderers.[19] The following match, Izzet suffered a knee injury following a challenge from Newcastle's Olivier Bernard on 3 October 2004.[20] This injury plagued the remainder of Izzet's season and he was able to make only two further appearances. The knee problems continued into the following season and he featured sporadically throughout his time at the club, until he was forced to announce his retirement from football in June 2006.[21]

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."[22] He never played for them again.

International career

Izzet qualified for the Turkey national side through his Turkish-Cypriot father.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25]

In total, Izzet made nine appearances for the national side.[26][27]

Later career

Izzet now runs a football academy with fellow former professional footballer and former Leicester teammate Steve Walsh.[28] In September 2015 Izzet's autobiography was published, titled Muzzy: My Story. The autobiography was co-written with Leicester Mercury writer Lee Marlow.[29]

Izzet is an ambassador for Dorothy Goodman School, a Special Educational Needs school in Hinckley, Leicestershire.[30]

Career statistics

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[26][27]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Turkey 200040
200240
200410
Total90

Honours

Leicester City

Turkey

Individual

References
  1. "Muzzy Izzet". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  2. "Muzzy Izzet: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  3. Barclay, Patrick (9 June 2000). "Izzet finds delight with Turkey". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  4. "Remembering Muzzy Izzet's Triumphant Leicester Spell". www.lcfc.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  5. "Adams confirms Izzet exit". BBC Sport. 8 May 2004. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  6. "Izzet: I'm staying at Leicester". BBC Sport. 11 July 2001. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  7. "Izzet in no rush". BBC Sport. 5 November 2001. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  8. "Izzet uncertain over future". BBC Sport. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  9. "Izzet wants Celtic switch". BBC Sport. 16 May 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  10. Webster, Rupert. "FOX TO FLEE RELEGATION". Sky Sports.
  11. "Leicester's Izzet warning". BBC Sport. 5 July 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  12. "Izzet withdraws transfer request". BBC Sport. 6 March 2003. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
  13. @LCFC (19 April 2022). "Promotion, confirmed" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. "Izzet could leave Foxes". BBC Sport. 4 January 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  15. "Adams accepts Izzet loss". BBC Sport. 5 May 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  16. "Izzet set for Birmingham". BBC Sport. 8 May 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  17. "The Muzzy Izzet stat that proves De Bruyne is nothing special". Football365. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  18. "Birmingham sign Izzet". BBC Sport. 3 June 2004. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
  19. "Bolton 1–1 Birmingham". BBC. 25 September 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
  20. "Birmingham 2-2 Newcastle". 3 October 2004. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  21. "Knee injury forces Izzet to quit". BBC Sport. 27 June 2006. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
  22. "Comeback may be short-lived, says former Leicester City star Muzzy Izzet". Leicester Mercury. 3 December 2009. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  23. UEFA.com (6 October 2003). "Nothing ventured or gained for Sweden or Turkey in EURO 2000 Group B". UEFA.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  24. "Izzet finds delight with Turkey". The Daily Telegraph. 9 June 2000. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  25. FIFA.com. "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan ™ - Matches - Brazil - Turkey - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  26. "Player details: Mustafa Kemal İzzet". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  27. "Muzzy İzzet". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  28. "Steve Walsh & Muzzy Izzet Soccer Academy - information - Leicester". Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  29. "Muzzy Izzet's story – it certainly beats what Lee Marlow is having for his tea". Leicester Mercury. 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  30. "Muzzy Izzet Leicester City (1996-2004) | Dorothy Goodman School". www.dorothygoodman.co.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  31. "Claridge's five-star silver service". Independent. 16 April 1997. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  32. "Leicester triumph at Wembley". BBC. 27 February 200. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  33. "Nielsen nicks it for Spurs". BBC. 22 March 1999. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  34. Crouch, Terry (2002). The World Cup - The Complete History. Great Britain: Aurum Press Ltd. p. 548. ISBN 1845131495.
  35. "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™". FIFA. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  36. "Korea Republic 2 – 3 Turkey". FIFA. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  37. "Premier League Player Stats - Assists". premierleague.com. Retrieved 1 June 2022. Select season in the "Filter by season" drop-down menu.
  38. McKechnie, David (28 April 2003). "Henry lands PFA award". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
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