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Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (English: Galatasaray Sports Club) is a Turkish association football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club. Galatasaray is one of the most successful Turkish football clubs, holding the joint record for Turkish League titles, and record number of both Turkish Cup and TSYD Cups[citation needed]. They are the only Turkish team to have won the UEFA Cup, and the only Turkish team to reach a European Cup semi-final. The club's colors are yellow and red, and their home stadium is the Ali Sami Yen Stadium which is expected to be replaced by the currently under-construction Türk Telekom Arena stadium in 2010-2011 Süper Lig season.
[edit] HistoryMain article: History of Galatasaray S.K. Galatasaray's finishing positions in Turkish League since 1959. Galatasaray was founded in the autumn of 1905, by Galatasaray Lisesi (an elite high school founded in 1481) students as a football club. Galatasaray's first president was Ali Sami Yen. Their first match was against Kadıköy Faure School and they won this match 2–0.[3] 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.[4] According to researcher Cem Atabeyoğlu, 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 Sarayı efendileri" (in English: Gentlemen of City Palace), and, after this event, they adopted that name and started to call their club "Galata Sarayı". 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.[5]
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, Reşat Şirvani, Cevdet Kalpakçıoğlu, 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 to yellow and dark blue till 1907. In 1908, 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."[5] 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.[6] 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 non-national league of Turkey, Istanbul Professional League played between 1952 and 1959. Galatasaray won three of these seven titles. Türkiye Profesyonel 1. Ligi (Turkcell Super League today) 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.[7] 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.[8] Probably the greatest record that club holds is winning national championships in 15 different sport branches in 1986–87 season.[9] 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.[10] 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 that have played for Galatasaray and made their mark on Turkish football history. Few examples may be 1930s national hero Eşfak Aykaç,[11] Boduri who died aged 21,[12] Mehmet Leblebi who scored a domestic record of 14 goals in a single match,[13] Gündüz Kılıç nicknamed Baba (father) who was the coach but also the player of his team in 1950s with great success on both,[14] Bülent-Reha Eken brothers, Suat Mamat who made a hat-trick in 1954 FIFA World Cup,[15] Coşkun Özarı a life devoted to Galatasaray,[16] Turgay Şeren the heroic goalkeeper that called "the Panther of Berlin",[17] Fatih Terim the team captain of Galatasaray and Turkish National Football team for years and the current coach,[18] Metin Oktay the legendary six time top scorer of the Turkish league,[19] Zoran Simović another skilled goalkeeper known for his penalty saves,[20] Cüneyt Tanman who played a record of 342 games for Galatasaray,[21] Tanju Çolak an extraordinary goalscorer and European Golden Boot 1988 winner with Galatasaray,[22] Cevad Prekazi an Albanian teammate of Tanju specializing in free kicks,[23] Taffarel the world cup winner goalkeeper of Brazil,[24] Gheorghe Hagi Romanian football hero that still described as the best foreign player ever to play in Turkey,[25] Brazilian striker Mário Jardel , who was called Super Mário by the fans and scored Galatasarays only two goals in the European Super Cup Final in 2000 against Real Madrid, and last but not least, Hakan Şükür, the player who scored most goals in the first division of Turkish football history (249 goals). [edit] UEFA Cup 2000 UEFA Cup Final match line-up against Arsenal F.C., 17 May 2000 Galatasaray's greatest success to date was their victory in the UEFA Cup 2000, in which they beat English side Arsenal on penalties in the final. It was the first time a Turkish side had won a UEFA tournament, prompting wild celebrations on the streets of Istanbul.[26] Galatasaray entered the competition as one of the third-placed teams in the first group stage of that year's UEFA Champions League. The Cimbom beat Bologna, Borussia Dortmund, Mallorca and Leeds United to reach the final, played at the Parken Stadium.[27] The final was 0–0 after both full-time and extra time, so the game went to a penalty shoot-out. Patrick Vieira and Davor Šuker missed for Arsenal, whilst Galatasaray's Ergun Penbe, Hakan Şükür, Umit Davala and Gheorghe Popescu all scored, winning the cup for the Turkish side. The win completed a treble for Galatasaray, having already won the Super Lig and Turkish Cup that season. [edit] Stadium[edit] Ali Sami YenMain article: Ali Sami Yen Stadium Main article: Türk Telekom Arena Galatasaray played its first years in different fields, since there were not any stadiums in Istanbul. In 1921, the first stadium, Taksim Stadium opened.[28] 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 İnönü Stadium. On 20 December 1964, Ali Sami Yen Stadium opened.[29] It is named after the founder of the club, Ali Sami Yen. It is in Mecidiyeköy quarter of the Şişli 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.[30] After 2002, when Atatürk Olympic Stadium was 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.[31] The new Türk Telekom Arena stadium is set to open October 2009 and will be the new home ground for Galatasaray S.K., replacing the old Ali Sami Yen Stadium. The new stadium will be a capacity of 52,647 seats and 61,000 people (standing). The stadium will also be the first part of Ali Sami Yen Complex at Aslantepe, İstanbul. The Complex will also include a 15,500 seating multi-purpose sports hall, an Arena Complex (shopping-entertainment-business center) and a cineplex.[32] [edit] Stadium AnthemSince 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.A lot of people call stadium 'Cehennem' (hell) because of stadium anthem[33] [edit] Supporters and rivalries[edit] European matchesGalatasaray fans attach high importance to European competitions, and Galatasaray is known as the Conquerors of Europe by their fans. This nickname underlines the importance of the UEFA Cup and Super Cup Galatasaray managed to get during the 1999-2000 season. Galatasaray fans also have a reputation in Europe as being one of the fiercest in the world. Ryan Giggs once said I've never experienced anything like Galatasaray. Two hours before kick-off, we went out to have a look at the pitch and the stadium was packed! The chanting was brilliant: one side starts, then the other, then quiet, then all of them chanting! The players really enjoyed it. Before it was good, after it wasn't!' [edit] ultrAslanMain article: ultrAslan There have been various different organized supporters groups, and in 2001 an ultras group, ultrAslan was founded. Unlike some other ultras groups, ultrAslan, are apolitical. Their symbol is a specially designed lion, and their name is always written in the same font on banners. Since 2003, UltrAslan obtained the right to sell products carrying the groups logo, and became a registered trademark.[34] ultrAslan has various subdivisions, with fans in different cities in Turkey. Also ultrAslan-UNI was launched for fans in Turkish universities and ultrAslan-BH is the youth section, mostly made up of college students. ultrAslan-EUROPE,[35] which was established in 2004, has coordinators in a number of European countries. Other groups include uA-America,[36] uA-Asia, uA-Africa and uA-Australia.[37] [edit] Istanbul derbiesThe big three clubs of Istanbul, Beşiktaş J.K., Fenerbahçe S.K. and Galatasaray S.K. have a long history of rivalry with each other. There is not any religion or class based difference between the fans but every match produces its own drama. Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rivalry is most important rivalry in Turkey and primarily Istanbul derby. The tension and the excitement are building and building weeks before match days. Unfortunately, sometimes this causes extremist fans to create violence and harm themselves, their own clubs, as well as opponents and the police on match days..[38] 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".[39] [edit] Players[edit] Current squadAs of September 1 2009:'[40]
[edit] Players out on loan
[edit] Reserve teamFor the reserve team squads, see Galatasaray A2. [edit] Former playersFor details on former players, see Category:Galatasaray S.K. footballers, List of Galatasaray S.K. footballers and List of foreign football players in Galatasaray. [edit] Club captainsMain article: List of Galatasaray S.K. captains
[edit] Honours and achievements[edit] International competitions
[edit] Domestic competitions
[edit] Club officials
[edit] The Board of Directors
[edit] Football Management Trade I.C.
[edit] Coaching staff
[edit] Managerial historyMain article: List of Galatasaray S.K. managers
[edit] Recent seasons
Last updated: 1 June 2009 [edit] Youth FacilitiesGalatasaray has the most successful youth facilities in Turkey.[41] Gündüz Kılıç 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 teams. 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 champions in Europe recently, and Galatasaray S.K. PAF were the champions for three consecutive years in Turkish Youth League between the years 2005–2007 (For the 2007–2008 season, they finished runners-up after Sivasspor).[42] [edit] Football AcademyGalatasaray football academy 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 practice what they learn during the lessons. The organization consists of 31 football academies that are located in Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Denizli, Eskişehir, Kayseri, Hatay, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş, Ordu, Malatya, Gaziantep, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Kuşadası, Nusaybin and Çorlu aims to spread its wings through all parts of Turkey. Other football schools which are ready to give training to children will be opened in Konya and Manisa in the following days.[43] [edit] Important figures in the club's history
[edit] SponsorshipCompanies that Galatasaray S.K. currently has sponsorship deals with include.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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