| Lev Yalcin | |
| Fullname: | Levent Yalcin[1] |
| Birth Date: | 25 March 1985 |
| Birth Place: | Middlesbrough, England |
| Position: | Midfielder / Striker |
| Youthclubs1: | Newcastle United |
| Youthyears2: | –2002 |
| Youthclubs2: | York City |
| Years1: | 2002–2006 |
| Clubs1: | York City |
| Caps1: | 62 |
| Goals1: | 2 |
| Years2: | 2006 |
| Clubs2: | Whitby Town |
| Caps2: | 12 |
| Goals2: | 1 |
| Years3: | 2006–2007 |
| Clubs3: | Bishop Auckland |
| Years4: | 2007 |
| Clubs4: | Billingham Synthonia |
| Years5: | 2007–2011 |
| Clubs5: | Stokesley Sports Club |
| Years6: | 2011 |
| Clubs6: | Spennymoor Town |
| Years7: | 2011–2012 |
| Clubs7: | Norton & Stockton Ancients |
| Years8: | 2012–2014 |
| Clubs8: | Marske United |
| Nationalyears1: | 2002 |
| Nationalteam1: | Turkey U18 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 9 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 4 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2002–2004 |
| Nationalteam2: | Turkey U19 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 1 |
Levent "Lev" Yalcin (Turkish: Yalçın; born 25 March 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or striker. Born in England, he is a former youth international for Turkey.
Yalcin was born in Middlesbrough, Cleveland.[1] He began his career at Newcastle United's centre of excellence before joining York City's youth system.[2] He was called up for North East schools in July 2000, along with teammates Chris Hogg and Graeme Law, which served as a trial for England schools.[3] He was offered a three-year scholarship with York in March 2001, starting for the 2001–02 season.[4] He made his first-team debut as an 84th-minute substitute for Graham Potter in a 1–0 away defeat to Sheffield United in the League Cup first round on 10 September 2002.[5] Aged 17 years and 173 days, he became the eighth-youngest debutant in York's history.[6]
Yalcin agreed to sign his first professional contract with York in March 2004, for the 2004–05 season.[7] He attracted interest from abroad, training with Antalyaspor and Denizlespor for a period in 2004, and Royal Antwerp were also believed to be ready to give him a trial.[8] He was reported to have joined Darlington on a one-month loan in September 2004,[9] but it was later revealed that the deal, which saw David McGurk join York on loan, was only one way and Yalcin had not moved.[10] He went on to score his first goal for York against Morecambe in October 2004.[11] He had a trial at Yeovil Town in January 2005.[12] He signed a new contract with York in June 2005.[13]
Yalcin was signed by Northern Premier League Premier Division team Whitby Town on 10 February 2006 after he left York by mutual consent.[14] Just days after joining Whitby, Yalcin went on a two-week trial with Hartlepool United.[15] He made his debut in Whitby's 3–2 away win over Wakefield-Emley on 18 March 2006, before scoring his first goal in a 2–0 home win over Frickley Athletic on 26 April. Yalcin finished the 2005–06 season with 12 appearances and one goal for Whitby. He played for Conference North team Scarborough in a pre-season friendly in August 2006, against Whitby, who he played for the previous season.[16] Later that month he signed for Bishop Auckland of the Northern League Division One.[17] Yalcin went on trial with Scunthorpe United of League One in April 2007[18] before joining Northern League Division One club Billingham Synthonia in August.[19]
Yalcin had moved to Northern League Division Two club Stokesley Sports Club by late 2007.[20] In the 2009–10 season he scored 28 goals from 38 matches for Stokesley, helping them to promotion to Northern League Division One for the first time in their history[21] as Division Two champions.[22] During his time at Stokesley he worked on oil rigs in the North Sea.[6] He signed for Northern League Division One club Spennymoor Town on 5 June 2011[23] but having not been involved in any fixtures signed for their divisional rivals Norton & Stockton Ancients on 15 September 2011.[24] Yalcin signed for another Northern League Division One club, Marske United, on 23 October 2012,[25] making his debut as a substitute at Bishop Auckland on 17 November.[26] He scored with a powerful low shot in their 2–1 extra time win over Whitley Bay in the 2014 Northern League Challenge Cup final, played at St James' Park on 6 May 2014.[27]
Yalcin was eligible to represent Turkey at international level as his father is Turkish.[2] He made his debut for the Turkey national under-18 team when starting their 0–0 away draw with the Netherlands in a friendly on 6 March 2002.[28] He scored his first goal for them in his following appearance, a 1–1 draw away to Germany in a friendly on 2 April 2002.[28] Yalcin made three appearances at the 2002 Balkan Youth Championship, scoring in Turkey's 1–1 draw with Bulgaria on 7 July 2002 and their 2–0 win over Greece on 9 July.[28] Shortly after the tournament he scored on his debut for the under-19 team, in their 3–1 home victory over Israel on 29 July 2002.[28] In total Yalcin earned nine caps and scored four goals for the under-18s (in 2002) and earned three caps and scored one goal for the under-19s (from 2002 to 2004).[28]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| York City | 2001–02[29] | Third Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002–03[30] | Third Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04[31] | Third Division | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05[32] | Conference National | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[33] | 0 | 33 | 2 | |||
| 2005–06[34] | Conference National | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |||
| Total | 62 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 67 | 2 | |||
| Whitby Town | 2005–06[35] | NPL Premier Division | 12 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 74 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 3 | |||
Stokesley Sports Club
Marske United