Legendary Fenerbahçe Coach Christoph Daum Passed Away at 70
Christoph Daum, who previously coached Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş, and Bursaspor in Turkiye, has passed away. The news of Daum's death was announced by his former player and Fenerbahçe captain Ümit Özat on social media.
Former Fenerbahçe captain Ümit Özat announced that his former coach Christoph Daum, who had previously managed Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, has passed away.
In a post on his social media account, Özat shared, “I just received the news of my coach Daum’s passing. I don’t know what to say. Thank you for everything you gave me. May your soul rest in peace; may you rest in light.”
The 70-year-old Daum had been undergoing cancer treatment for a long time.
CHRISTOPH DAUM’S FENERBAHÇE CAREER
Returning to Turkey for the 2003-04 season, the coach took charge of Fenerbahçe. He had a very poor start to the season, losing 3-0 to İstanbulspor in the first match. However, with their rivals Beşiktaş experiencing a significant decline, especially in the second half of the season, Daum’s Fenerbahçe later displayed a highly successful performance and secured his first league title with Fenerbahçe, finishing with 76 points.
In the 2004-05 season, Fenerbahçe competed in the UEFA Champions League group stage and finished third. In the league, they once again claimed the championship with an impressive performance. They also reached the final of the Turkish Cup but were defeated 5-1 by their arch-rivals Galatasaray, failing to end the team’s cup drought.
In the following season, they competed in three Cups. First, they exited the UEFA Champions League group stage with only one win. Later, they lost to Beşiktaş in extra time in the Turkish Cup final, despite eliminating Galatasaray in the quarterfinals, finishing as runners-up. In the league, they had a fierce competition with Galatasaray. They entered the final week tied on points with Galatasaray but with a +11 better goal difference. A win against Denizlispor in Denizli would have secured them the championship once again. However, in a controversial match, Denizlispor took the lead in the 89th minute through Mustafa Keçeli. Fenerbahçe equalized a minute later through Tuncay Şanlı, but despite 16 minutes of added time, Fenerbahçe failed to find the winning goal, missing out on becoming champions for the third consecutive time in the club’s history. Daum had to leave the team at the end of the season for treatment.
Fenerbahçe’s president, Aziz Yıldırım, brought Daum back for a second spell as the team’s coach for the 2009-10 season, as someone familiar with the club. They started the season on August 2, 2009, by winning the Turkish Super Cup with a 2-0 victory over Beşiktaş. The team had a strong start to the season, winning all of their first 8 league matches. They also performed well in the UEFA Cup group stage, advancing with 5 wins in 6 matches. Additionally, they progressed from the group stage in the Turkish Cup. However, they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup in February. Then, on May 5, 2010, they lost the Turkish Cup final for the third time under Daum, with a 3-1 defeat to Trabzonspor. Although they entered the final week of the league 1 point ahead of their closest rivals Bursaspor, they drew 1-1 with Trabzonspor at Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, dropping points. In the other match, Bursaspor defeated Beşiktaş 2-1, overtaking Fenerbahçe by 1 point and winning their first-ever Süper Lig title. At the end of the season, there was talk of Daum being replaced by sporting director Aykut Kocaman, but Daum announced that he would remain in charge and did not resign. His contract was later terminated for 2.3 million euros.
