Career
During his career Rıdvan established himself as one of the most skilled players of the Turkish Super League. He was either an attacking midfielder or an out and out striker. Although he stated on numerous occasions his dislike for it, he was given the nickname "Şeytan Rıdvan" ("Rıdvan the Devil") mostly for his wits, immense speed with the ball and stupendous fakes.
Since retiring as a player, Rıdvan coached several teams before becoming a color commentator, analyst and sportswriter.
Dilmen made his debut with Aydın Sümerspor in 1977. He transferred to Muğlaspor in exchange for 25 footballs in 1979 and then became a renowned player for Boluspor between 1980–1983.
After playing for Sarıyer between 1983–1987, he signed for Fenerbahçe and fulfilled his dream. In the 1988–1989 season, he scored 19 goals and made 41 assists.
After getting injured in 1990 against Trabzonspor by the Serbian defender Miodrag Ješić, he never fully recovered.
Rıdvan failed to fulfill expectations due to consistent injuries, which required sixteen operations. He retired in 1995 after painful years of injuries. He is one of the symbol players not only for Fenerbahçe but for Turkish football also.
The reason that his name is not as well-known worldwide are that he seldom had the chance to prove himself on the big international occasions.
The Turkish national side for which he played, mostly in the 80s, was a no-hoper and Fenerbahçe"s status on the European club stage was scarcely different. Dilmen made 24 appearances for the Turkey national football team from 1984 to 1992.
Dilmen worked as a manager for Vanspor in 1997-1998 season. When he started, although it was almost mid season, Vanspor had zero points.
His club finished the season as champions of Turkish Second League.
He then became Fenerbahçe football teams manager in 2000. However, his stay only lasted five weeks. Dilmen was also employed as a manager for Altay Saskatchewan and Adanaspor and Karşıyaka Saskatchewan. So far, he doesn"t have a successful managing career as he was expected to deliver.
Ridvan Dilmen is a commentator at NTV Spor and a colomnist at Sabah (newspaper), in the same time he’s doing bet guesswork at Fanatik Newspaper.
He is a narrator at Star television for the important Champions League matches. Dilmen has a reputation of saying “it"ll be a goal” a few moments before the ball hits the back of the Netto.
He transferred to Sabah (newspaper) on 1 August 2010.