Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (also referred to as Galatasaray SK, Galatasaray AS or simply Galatasaray) is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul, famous for its football section. Galatasaray S.K. was founded in 1905, by Ali Sami Yen and his fellows from the prestigious Galatasaray High School. Galatasaray is the most successful club in the history of Turkish football, having won more trophies than any other Turkish club.^[3]

Galatasaray holds the best international record by a Turkish team as well. They became the first Turkish club to capture a major European title, beating Arsenal of England in UEFA Cup final during the 1999–2000 season. They lifted another prestige trophy when they beat Los Galácticos, the UEFA Champions League winner Real Madrid, in the Super Cup same year.^[4] Galatasaray topped the world club ranking to be named "Best Football Club in the World" in January 2001.^[5]

The club also operates amateur sport teams that compete at Athletics, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Volleyball, Water polo, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, Judo and Motorsports (Superleague Formula). These include Galatasaray Café Crown and Galatasaray S.K. Voleybol. There are other now-defunct branches that used to represent the club with success, including the inspirational season in 1987, when Galatasaray won titles in 16 different sports.^[6]

Recently, Galatasaray has won the 2007-2008 Turkish Super League title and will be one of the two teams representing Turkey in the 2008-2009 Champions League

 

Galatasaray's finishing positions in Turkish League since 1959

 

HISTORY

 

Galatasaray was founded in the autumn of 1905, by Galatasaray Lisesi students as a football club. Galatasaray's first president was Ali Sami Yen. Their first match was against Kadýköy Faure School and they won this match 2–0.^[7] There were discussions about the clubs name, in which some suggested Gloria (victory) and others Audace (courage), but it was decided that its name would be Galatasaray.^[8]

According to researcher Cem Atabeyoðlu, Galatasaray took its name from one of its first matches. In that match, Galatasaray won 2–0 over Rûm club and the spectators called them "Galata Sarayý efendileri" (in English: Gentlemen of Galata Palace), and, after this event, they adopted that name and started to call their club "Galata Sarayý". In 1905, during the era of the Ottoman Empire, there were no laws for associations so the club could not be registered officially, but, after the 1912 Law of Association, the club registered legally.^[9]

This was how the first Turkish football club was founded. Among with the founder Ali Sami Yen, the co-founders were the ones who were keen to do this sport, such as Asim Tevfik Sonumut, Reþat Þirvani, Cevdet Kalpakçýoðlu, Abidin Daver and Kamil.

At first, the colors of the Galatasaray Sports Club were red and white. These are the colors in Turkish flag. However, Turkish Republic was not founded at that time. Therefore, this inspiration caused repressive administration of the day feel uncomfortable and the administration hounded the footballers. For this reason, the colors were changed.

New colors were chosen as red and yellow. Ali Sami Yen stated, "We were imagining brightness of yellow - red fire over our team and thinking that it would carry us from one victory to another."^[9] It eventually did.

Since there were not any Turkish teams, Galatasaray joined the Istanbul League that was consisting of English and Greek teams in the season of 1905–1906. With their first championship title they won in 1907–1908, they heralded the beginning of Turkish football history.^[10]

While the football in Turkey began to fully develop, Galatasaray won ten more Istanbul League titles, six Sunday League titles and three Friday League titles until 1952. Upon recognition of professional football in 1952, the first professional but nonnational league of Turkey, Istanbul Professional League played between 1952 and 1959. Galatasaray won three of these seven titles.

Türkiye Profesyonel 1. Ligi (today it is organized with the name Turkcell Super League) formed in 1959. This is the top-flight professional league in Turkish nationwide football, and the most popular sporting competition in the country. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 17 league titles since then.^[11]

The Turkish Football Federation starts to organize "Turkish Cup" (today it is organized with the name Fortis Turkey Cup) in the 1962–63 season for Turkish clubs to qualify for the UEFA competitions. This is the only national cup competition in Turkey. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 14 trophies since then.^[12]

Probably the greatest record that club holds is winning national championships in 15 different sport branches in 1986–87 season.^[6]

 

Galatasaray's most successful era came in late 1990s, when the club won the UEFA Cup and European Super Cup and becoming the first Turkish football club ever to win a European trophy. They were aided in this by one of Turkey's best generation of home grown footballers who went on to finish third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and played quarter finals of UEFA Euro 2000. Besides the talented players, visiting teams also disliked traveling into Ali Sami Yen Stadium which is literally called "Hell" by the supporters of Galatasaray due to the intimidating atmosphere provided by the fans including chants and riots in the crowds.^[13]

Galatasaray is the only team to have won the Turkish League title, the Turkish Cup, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in the same season. Galatasaray holds the record of winning four consecutive Turkish league titles, which all of these came under the coaching of Fatih Terim and the visionary club president Faruk Süren.

There are many successful footballers played for Galatasaray and made their mark on Turkish football history. Few examples may be 1930s national hero Eþfak Aykaç,^[14] Boduri who died aged 21,^[15] Mehmet Leblebi who scored a domestic record of 14 goals in a single match,^[16] Gündüz Kýlýç nicknamed Baba (father) who was the coach but also the player of his team in 1950s with great success on both,^[17] Bülent-Reha Eken brothers, Suat Mamat who made a hat-trick in 1954 FIFA World Cup,^[18] Coþkun Özarý a life devoted to Galatasaray,^[19] Turgay Þeren the heroic goalkeeper that called "the Panther of Berlin",^[20] Fatih Terim the team captain of Galatasaray and Turkish National Football team for years and the current coach,^[21] Metin Oktay the legendary six time top scorer of the Turkish league,^[22] Zoran Simović another skilled goalkeeper known for his penalty saves,^[23] Cüneyt Tanman who played a record of 342 games for Galatasaray,^[24] Tanju Çolak an extraordinary goalscorer and European Golden Boot 1988 winner with Galatasaray,^[25] Cevad Prekazi an Albanian teammate of Tanju specializing in free kicks,^[26] Taffarel the world cup winner goalkeeper of Brazil,^[27] Gheorghe Hagi Romanian football hero that still described as the best foreign player ever to play in Turkey,^[28] and last but not least, Hakan Þükür, the player who scored most goals in the first division of Turkish football history (249 goals) and still scoring.

 

Season Achievement Manager Notes   European Super Cup Winners: 1 ----- Appearances: 1 2000 Champion Mircea Lucescu won after defeating Real Madrid 2–1   Champions League Winners: 0 ----- Appearances: 19 1962–63 Quarter Final Gündüz Kýlýç eliminated by AC Milan 1–3 in Istanbul, 0–5 in Italy 1969–70 Quarter Final Toma Kaloperović eliminated by Legia Warszawa 1–1 in Istanbul, 0–2 in Poland 1988–89 Semi Final Mustafa Denizli eliminated by FC Steaua Bucureþti 1–1 in Ýzmir, 0–4 in Romania 1993–94 Last Eight Reiner Hollmann eliminated Manchester United in 2. round 2000–01 Quarter Final Mircea Lucescu eliminated by Real Madrid 3–2 in Istanbul, 0-3 in Spain 2001–02 Second Group Mircea Lucescu eliminated in a group with FC Barcelona, Liverpool and AS Roma   UEFA Cup Winners: 1 ----- Appearances: 10 2000 Champion Fatih Terim final was won after defeating Arsenal 4–1 on penalties   Cup Winners Cup Winners: 0 ----- Appearances: 8 1991–92 Quarter Final Mustafa Denizli eliminated by Werder Bremen 2–1 in Germany, 0–0 in Istanbul

 

The UEFA Cup 2000 season was won by Galatasaray of Turkey, who defeated Arsenal F.C. of England in the final. It is the first time a Turkish side has won a European club football trophy, prompting wild celebrations on the streets of Istanbul.

Galatasaray entered the competition through the back door - as one of the third-placed teams in the first group stage of the UEFA Champions League. Even then they had to beat AC Milan in their last game to qualify. But win they did, and that victory was the start of a run which took the Cimbom from the UEFA Cup Third Round, past Bologna FC, BV Borussia Dortmund, RCD Mallorca and Leeds United AFC, to the final at the Parken Stadium.^[29]

The game was scoreless through the first ninety minutes and stayed that way through thirty minutes of extra time. In the ensuing penalty shoot-out, Patrick Vieira and Davor Šuker missed for Arsenal F.C. Galatasaray's Ergun Penbe, Hakan Þükür, Umit Davala all gave David Seaman no chance with their spot-kicks before Gheorghe Popescu, scored the winning kick to win the cup.

Galatasaray had won an impressive treble that season, after claiming Turkish league title, as well as the Turkish Cup.

• Turkish Super League Championships:
  • Winners (17): 1961–62, 1962–63, 1967–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08
• Turkish Cup:
  • Winners (14): 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1973, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2005
• Turkish Super Cup / President Cup:
  • Winners (10): 1966, 1969, 1972, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997
• Chancellor Cup:
  • Winners (5): 1975, 1979, 1986, 1990, 1995
• TSYD Cup:
  • Winners (12): 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999

Note that there were no professional leagues nor developed football organizations in Turkey before 1960s. These competitions below are not recognized by Turkish Football Federation.

• Turkish Football Championship:
  • Winners (9): 1931–32, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1950–51
• Istanbul Football League:
  • Winners (16): 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1913–14, 1917–18, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1937–38, 1948–49, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1957–58
• Istanbul Football Cup:
  • Winners (2): 1942, 1943
• Istanbul Shield:
  • Winners (1): 1933

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe		Manager
1996/97	TS	1	34	25	7	2	90	30	82		UCWC	2nd round	Fatih Terim
1997/98	TS	1	34	23	6	5	86	43	75		UCL	group stage	Fatih Terim
1998/99	TS	1	34	23	9	2	85	30	78	winner	UCL	group stage	Fatih Terim
1999/00	TS	1	34	24	7	3	77	23	79	winner	UC1	winner	Fatih Terim
2000/01	TS	2	34	23	4	7	77	35	73		UCL	quarter-final	Mircea Lucescu
2001/02	TS	1	34	24	6	4	75	31	78		UCL	last 16	Mircea Lucescu
2002/03	TS	2	34	24	5	5	61	27	77		UCL	group stage	Fatih Terim
2003/04	TS	6	34	15	9	10	56	47	54		UC1	3rd round	Fatih Terim
2004/05	TS	3	34	24	4	6	64	25	76	winner			Gheorghe Hagi
2005/06	TS	1	34	26	5	3	82	34	83		UC	1st round	Eric Gerets
2006/07	TS	3	34	15	11	8	58	37	56		UCL	group stage	Eric Gerets
2007/08	TS	1	34	24	7	3	64	23	79		UC	3rd round	Feldkamp & Güler

Main article: Ali Sami Yen Stadium

Ali Sami Yen

Galatasaray played its first years in different fields, since there were not any stadiums in Istanbul. In 1921, the first stadium, Taksim Stadium opened.^[30] Galatasaray played there until 1940. When historic Taksim Stadium was demolished, Galatasaray decided to build a large, modern stadium. Due to difficulties stemming from World War II, construction was delayed for over two decades. In this period, they played in Ýnönü Stadium.

On 20 December 1964, Ali Sami Yen Stadium opened.^[31] It is named after the founder of the club, Ali Sami Yen. It is in Mecidiyeköy quarter of the Þiþli district at the center of the city. In 1964, the stadium had capacity over 35,000. Today, due to improvements in security and prohibition of non-seater spectators, it has an all-seater capacity of 24,990.^[32]

After 2002, when Atatürk Olympic Stadium built for Istanbul's Olympic Games bid, Galatasaray started to play European Cup matches there. The attendance record among Turkish stadiums was broken there, in Galatasaray–Olympiacos match played in front of 82,000 spectators. Yet, Ali Sami Yen Stadium has historic importance for Galatasaray fans although it is smaller and older.^[33]

Stadium Anthem

Since 1998, after every goal scored by Galatasaray, the last part of the song I Will Survive by the Hermes House Band played. Although the song is in English, the part used has no lyrics except "la la la la". This makes it easy for fans to participate.

In addition, before every game the Florida State Warchant is played accompanied by what the fans call a "scarf show" where fans display and wave their Galatasaray scarves, banners and flags.^[34]

Main article: Aslantepe ArenA

In recent years, numerous proposals have been put forward to demolish the current stadium and build a larger one on the same location, but this is impossible due to the lack of space. Finally, the club's ground, Ali Sami Yen Stadyumu, is going to be replaced with a new ground in Seyrantepe, near Maslak financial district. The multi-purpose sports complex is scheduled to be completed in 2009, with fully retractable roof and a seating capacity for 52,000 spectators. ^[35]

Main article: Ultraslan

There had been self-organized fans within different groups, but the unity and coordination come out when ultrAslan founded in 2001. Galatasaray is the most supported team in Turkey, so that made ultrAslan the greatest football supporters' federation just after foundation.^[36] The smaller groups unified to form one large group, and they choose the name ultrAslan (ultras merged aslan), which means Ultras Lions. Unlike some other Ultras groups, ultrAslan, are apolitical. Their symbol is a Lion, specially designed for them, and their name is always written with the same font on their banners. Since 2003, fan group obtained the right to sell products carrying the ultrAslan logo, and ultrAslan became a registered trademark.^[37]

Internal subdivisions developed within ultrAslan, to organize Galatasaray fans in different cities of Turkey. Besides geographic based divisions, ultrAslan-UNI was launched to organize all Galatasaray fan groups in Turkish universities and ultrAslan-BH is the youth section of the group, mostly made up of college students. ultrAslan-EUROPE,^[38] established in 2004, has coordinators in nearly every European country and followed by uA-America,^[39] uA-Asia, uA-Africa and uA-Australia.^[40]

If having an active hooligan scene is a pre-requisite to joining the EU then Turkey should be a shoe-in.^[41] The two other successful clubs of Istanbul, Beþiktaþ J.K. and Fenerbahçe S.K. have a long history of rivalry with Cimbom. There is not any religion or class based difference between the fans but every match produces its own drama. The tension and the excitement are building and building weeks before match days. Unfortunately, sometimes this cause extremist fans to create violence and harm themselves, their own clubs, as well as opponents and the Police on match days. Fans also attach high importance to UEFA competitions.^[42]

Torches, smoke, drums, flags and giant posters used to create visual grandeur and apply psychological pressure on visiting teams, which fans call welcoming them to hell.^[43]

 

First-team squad

As of 15 May 2008, according to official website.^[44]

No.   Position Player 1 GK Aykut Erçetin 2 DF Emre Güngör 4 DF Rigobert Song 6 MF Tobias Linderoth 7 MF Okan Buruk 8 MF Barýþ Özbek 9 FW Hakan Þükür (captain) 10 MF Cassio Lincoln 11 MF Hasan Þaþ (vice-captain) 14 MF Mehmet Topal 15 MF Ahmed Barusso 16 MF Marcelo Carrusca 18 MF Ayhan Akman 19 DF Ismael Bouzid

No.   Position Player 20 FW Shabani Nonda 22 DF Hakan Balta 30 FW Çaðrý Yarkýn 33 DF Uður Uçar 54 GK Orkun Uþak 55 MF Sabri Sarýoðlu 61 FW Serkan Çalýk 66 MF Arda Turan 74 DF Volkan Yaman 76 DF Servet Çetin 87 MF Mehmet Güven 88 GK Fýrat Kocaoðlu 99 FW Ümit Karan

 

Players out on loan

No.   Position Player -- MF Volkan Bekçi (at Altay S.K. until June 2008) -- DF Emre Aþýk (at Ankaraspor until June 2008) -- DF Orhan Ak (at Ankaraspor until June 2008) -- MF Uður Demirok (at Ýstanbulspor until June 2008) -- MF Ýlker Erbay (at Kocaelispor until June 2008) -- MF Erkan Ferin (at Orduspor until June 2008) -- FW Cafercan Aksu (at Orduspor until June 2008) -- FW Özgürcan Özcan (at Gaziantepspor until June 2008) -- FW Necati Ateþ (at Ýstanbul Büyükþehir Belediyespor until June 2008)

No.   Position Player -- MF Uður Erdoðan (at Orduspor until June 2008) -- DF Uður Akdemir (at Orduspor until June 2008) -- DF Cihan Can (at Orduspor until June 2008) -- FW Mülayim Erdem (at Orduspor until June 2008) -- MF Zafer Þakar (at Samsunspor until June 2008) -- MF Oðuz Sabankay (at Manisaspor until June 2008) -- MF Aydýn Yýlmaz (at Ýstanbul Büyükþehir Belediyespor until June 2008) -- DF Anýl Karaer (at Çaykur Rizespor until June 2008)

Youth Facilities

Galatasaray has the most successful youth facilities in Turkey.^[47] Gündüz Kýlýç Youth Facilities in Florya is the center of the department. Club has been supporting and serving Turkish Football since the Republican Period has given more than 300 footballers to the National team.

The goal is to raise footballers who are loyal to Galatasaray traditions who can develop creative ideas, have a high Standard of capturing strategical points, fast, technical, powerful, determined, loyal to fair play principles and have respect for the arbitrager, rival and supporters.

Galatasaray Star Team became Champion in Europe recently, and Galatasaray S.K. PAF are the champions of last three years in Turkish Youth League.^[48]

Football Schools

Galatasaray football schools train children between seven and fifteen. This organization is open for the whole year and gives education on technical and strategical areas in football by giving an opportunity to kids to pract