Mustafa Kemal "Muzzy" Izzet (born 31 October 1974 in Mile End, London) is a Turkish-English former footballer who played for Chelsea, Leicester City, Birmingham City and the Turkish national team. His father is a Turkish Cypriot, and his younger brother, Kemal Izzet, is also a footballer.

[edit] Early career

Izzet signed as a schoolboy for Chelsea, but never made a first team appearance during three years at the London club.

[edit] Playing Career

Izzet 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. 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. However, when Martin O'Neill left for Celtic, Izzet reportedly wanted to go with him. But the move never happened, and Izzet remained a Leicester player. Peter Taylor was appointed new City boss, and the team started well, being top in October. The team held on to the top four until January, when they slipped out. They were in the European places until March, until they played Wycombe. They lost 2-1 and the club's form started to slip. City ended up coming 13th. West Ham and Middlesbrough both stepped up their interest for Izzet, but he didn't leave Leicester.

The following season started with a 5-0 home defeat to newly-promoted Bolton. In autumn, Izzet handed in a transfer request prior to the club's relegation. During the summer, Middlesbrough stepped up their interest for Izzet. He rejected the move, stating he wanted to help the club climb back into the Premiership. Izzet withdrew his transfer request in March 2003,^[1] and Leicester achieved automatic promotion after finishing in second place.

In 2003/04, Leicester was once again battling relegation. In January 2004, Aston Villa made a bid of £750,000, which was again rejected by Izzet. At the end of the season, Leicester were relegated, and Izzet was out of contract.

Izzet joined Birmingham City in June 2004 on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal.^[2] Injury plagued his first season, with him making only a handful of appearances, though he did score his first league goal for Birmingham, an equaliser against Bolton Wanderers.^[3] His second season was worse, with a knee injury keeping him out for a long period of time. Izzet announced he planned to return to Leicester, but the injury stopped him from doing so, ending his career. He announced his retirement from football on 27 June 2006.^[4]

In late November 2009, Izzet made a surprise return to football with Thurmaston Town. This was a special one off appearance as a 'favour' to Thurmaston's Manager. Izzet stated "I really enjoyed it but that's not what my knee is telling me. I think I've frightened the life out of it".

[edit] Honours

Leicester City

• Winner
  • League Cup: 1997 and 2000
  • Division One: Playoffs 1995-96
• Runner-up
  • League Cup: 1999
  • Division One: 2002-03
• Other
  • Leicester's top scorer in 2000-01 with 11 goals.
  • Premier League's top assister in 2003-04 season.

• Turkey
  • UEFA Euro 2000 Quarter-Finalist
  • FIFA World Cup 2002: 3rd place
    • Member of Turkey's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad that finished 3rd. He played in the semi-final against Brazil and was capped 8 times in total

Leicester City Masters Football

• Winner
  • Masters 2009 Championship:

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Muzzy Izzet at Soccerbase

v • d • e Turkey squad – UEFA Euro 2000 1 Rüştü • 2 Tayfur • 3 Ogün • 4 Fatih • 5 Alpay • 6 Arif • 7 Okan • 8 Tugay • 9 Hakan Şükür • 10 Sergen • 11 Tayfun • 12 Ömer • 13 Osman • 14 Suat • 15 İzzet • 16 Ergün • 17 Oktay • 18 Ayhan • 19 Abdullah • 20 Hakan Ünsal • 21 Fevzi • 22 Ümit Davala • Coach: Denizli

v • d • e Turkey squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Rüştü • 2 Emre Aşık • 3 Bülent • 4 Fatih Akyel • 5 Alpay • 6 Arif • 7 Okan • 8 Tugay • 9 Hakan Şükür • 10 Yıldıray • 11 Hasan Şaş • 12 Ömer • 13 İzzet • 14 Tayfur • 15 Nihat • 16 Ümit Özat • 17 İlhan Mansız • 18 Ergün • 19 Abdullah • 20 Hakan Ünsal • 21 Emre • 22 Ümit Davala • 23 Zafer • Coach: Güneş