Turkish Football

 

Introduction

Turkish football, which will soon be frequently discussed in all Turkish media due to the participation of the Turkish National Football Team in the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico tournament, starting in June, began to institutionalise in the last quarter of the 19th century, when the Ottoman Empire was in its final stages. In this article, I will examine the development of football in Türkiye (Turkey), the most popular sport among the public and a leading country in this field, and summarise the successes the country has achieved in this area.

The Historical Development of Turkish Football

According to the official website of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), the foundations of Turkish football were laid in the last quarter of the 19th century during the Ottoman Empire. This process was a natural consequence of Ottoman modernisation, beginning with the establishment of close relations between non-Muslims and later Muslim Turkish-origin Ottoman subjects in major cities like Istanbul and Izmir, and the British. Indeed, the story of Turkish football, which began with the British, the inventors of football, bringing the sport to Anatolia, would extend to the modern federation structure following the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye under the leadership of (Mustafa Kemal) Atatürk.

If we were to divide the development of Turkish football into different periods;

During the "early period" of the 1870s-1890s, football first entered Ottoman lands through the British. British families living in wealthy cities with trading ports, particularly Istanbul and Izmir, began playing football among themselves, which encouraged both Muslim and non-Muslim subjects to take up the sport. Indeed, the first Ottoman football teams began to be established during this period. First, the Hermes Athletic and Cultural Association club was founded in Istanbul in 1875; the first club established in Izmir was Football Club Smyrna (Izmir Football Club), founded in 1885. During this time, the first Turkish and Muslim footballers also began to appear on the fields; Selim Sırrı Tarcan, in 1898, became famous as the first Turk to play a match against the British in Izmir. It is also worth mentioning Fuat Hüsnü Kayacan, considered the first Turkish footballer before Tarcan. However, since playing football was frowned upon for Turkish-Muslim men during this period, Kayacan played under the pseudonym "Bobby" to avoid being caught. The first official football match on Turkish soil during this period was played in 1897 between combined teams from Izmir and Istanbul. Following this, in the early 20th century, when the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP/ITC) was influential among intellectual and military elites opposed to the Sultan, legendary Istanbul football teams such as Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club/BJK (1903), Galatasaray Sports Club/GSK (1905), and Fenerbahçe Sports Club/FB (1907) were founded. During these years, football spread rapidly in Izmir, Ankara, Eskişehir, Bursa, Adana, and Trabzon after Istanbul. The proclamation of the Second Constitutional Era in 1908 further accelerated the growth of football; the number of clubs and teams increased rapidly, and football became the most popular sport among Turkish youth. Following the "Big Three", it would be appropriate to consider Beykoz1908 and Üsküdar Anadolu, founded in Istanbul in 1908; Ankaragücü, formed in 1910 by the merger of Altınörs İdmanyurdu and Turan Sanatkarangücü and later relocated to Ankara to become Ankaragücü Sports Club; Karşıyaka Sports Club/KSK (1912), the first football club established in Izmir; and Altay (1914), which joined Izmir football in 1914, as pioneering clubs in this regard.

The most important turning point in modern Turkish football during the "founding period", which began with the Kuvayi Milliye resistance that led to the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye, is the establishment of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) on April 23, 1923, under the name "Football United Committee", just before the proclamation of the Republic. Immediately after its establishment, on May 21, 1923, the TFF became a member of FIFA (International Football Federation), which had been founded in Paris in 1904, achieving a significant sporting and diplomatic success before the proclamation and recognition of the Republic of Türkiye. During this period, football had spread widely throughout Anatolia, and local leagues began to be organised more systematically. Indeed, Altınordu and Gençlerbirliği were founded in 1923, Göztepe in 1925, and Bucaspor in 1928. These clubs are also historical formations that deserve to be among the pioneering brands of Turkish football. Although a national league had not yet been organised during these years, some league organisations beyond the local level were established under names such as the Turkish Football Championship, Turkish Football League, and National League. During this period, Istanbul teams such as Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, along with Ankara teams including Harp Okulu SK, Gençlerbirliği, and Ankaragücü, were the leading clubs. Furthermore, the acceptance of professionalism in football in 1951 was a significant step, allowing the sport to be recognised as more than merely a physical education activity.

In the so-called "professional" era, which began in 1959, football in Türkiye was organised professionally with national leagues. In the first season of the Turkish First Football League (1959), matches were played in two groups of eight teams each, called White and Red. According to the rules at the time, Fenerbahçe, the leader of the White Group, and Galatasaray, the leader of the Red Group, met in the final. Galatasaray won the first match 1-0, and Fenerbahçe won the second 4-0, making Fenerbahçe the first champion of the Turkish First Football League. From the 1959-1960 season onwards, the group system was abolished, and the Turkish First League began to be played with its current format. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) became a full member of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) in 1962 and, in parallel with Türkiye's foreign policy aimed at joining the European Economic Community (EEC, later the European Union), began integrating with European football leagues. Until the 1987-1988 season, a win was awarded 2 points, but from that season onwards, 3 points were awarded for a win. A draw was always rewarded with 1 point. Our football league, whose name was changed to the Turkish Super League in the 2002-2003 season, was organized as the Turkcell Super League between the 2005-2006 and 2009-2010 seasons, and as the Spor Toto Super League between the 2010-2011 and 2018-2019 seasons. Played again as the Spor Toto Super League in the 2021-2022 season, the league has been played under the name Trendyol Super League since the 2022-2023 season. Looking at the number of championships in the Super League, the following table emerges:

• Galatasaray – 26,
• Fenerbahçe – 19,
• Beşiktaş – 16,
• Trabzonspor – 7,
• Bursaspor – 1,
• Medipol Başakşehir – 1.

Thus, football in Türkiye has primarily been a sport in which competition has taken place between the "big three", and later, with Trabzonspor's revolution in the 1970s, between the "big four". However, in recent years, the emergence of different champions such as Bursaspor (2009-2010) and Medipol Başakşehir (2019-2020) has added colour to the league. Despite the great domestic interest, however, Turkish football teams, which have participated in European cup matches since the 1962-1963 season, have had quite limited European successes. The only Turkish team to win a trophy in this area is Galatasaray, which won the UEFA Cup in 2000 under the leadership of Fatih Terim, and later that same year, under the coaching of the recently deceased Romanian football legend Mircea Lucescu, won the UEFA Super Cup. Furthermore, in 2006, Kayserispor became one of the teams to win the UEFA Intertoto Cup, thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup in the second round. In addition, the successes of Galatasaray, who reached the semi-finals of the European Cup under Mustafa Denizli in the 1988-1989 season, and Fenerbahçe, who reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup under Aykut Kocaman in the 2012-2013 season, can be mentioned. The Turkish teams with the highest number of matches played in European cups are as follows:

• Galatasaray (340),
• Fenerbahçe (300),
• Beşiktaş (258),
• Trabzonspor (155).

Achievements of the Turkish National Football Team

In our country, where football is so beloved, the National Football Team has, for various reasons, failed to achieve the desired success and has generally projected an unsuccessful image on the international stage. The "Crescent Stars", who first participated in an international tournament of this scope in the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, achieved an unexpected great success in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea-Japan, finishing 3rd. While this historic achievement under the management of Şenol Güneş brought the trophy home, the fact that they couldn't do so despite coming so close is still a bittersweet feeling. Our national team will participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June, marking their 3rd participation in this tournament. Under the management of Italian coach Vincenzo Montella, the Crescent Stars are preparing for the tournament with great ambition, featuring world-renowned stars such as Arda Güler, Kenan Yıldız, and Hakan Çalhanoğlu.

Our national football team has shown more success at the European Championships in recent years and participates in this tournament more frequently. Indeed, the Crescent Stars, who first went to the tournament in 1996 with the Fatih Terim revolution but failed to advance from the group stage, reached the quarter-finals in their second appearance in 2000 under Mustafa Denizli. In their third attempt in 2008, under Fatih Terim, Türkiye delivered their most successful performance, reaching the semi-finals and, in a sense, finishing third. After being eliminated in the group stage on their fourth and fifth attempts at EURO 2016 and EURO 2020, Türkiye once again delivered a superior performance at EURO 2024 under Vincenzo Montella, reaching the quarter-finals. The most valuable (in terms of being selected to the national team) players in the history of the national team are as follows:

• Rüştü Reçber: 120 matches,
• Hakan Şükür: 112 matches,
• Hakan Çalhanoğlu: 104 matches (Active),
• Bülent Korkmaz: 102 matches,
• Emre Belözoğlu: 101 matches,
• Arda Turan: 100 matches,
• Tugay Kerimoğlu: 94 matches,
• Alpay Özalan: 90 matches,
• Abdullah Ercan: 71 matches,
• Nihat Kahveci: 69 matches.

The top goal scorers for the national team are as follows:

Hakan Şükür	51
Burak Yılmaz	31
Tuncay Şanlı	22
Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Active)	22
Lefter Küçükandonyadis	21
Cenk Tosun (Active)	21
Metin Oktay	19
Cemil Turan	19
Nihat Kahveci	19
Arda Turan	17
Cengiz Ünder (Active)	16
Zeki Rıza Sporel	15
Kerem Aktürkoğlu (Active)	14
Arif Erdem	11
Ertuğrul Sağlam	11
Umut Bulut	10

Conclusion

In conclusion, while Turkish football hasn't achieved the highest level of success to date, it's clear that Türkiye has a competitive league that meets European standards, involves significant spending, and is widely watched and discussed. In this regard, Galatasaray Sports Club and figures such as Fatih Terim, Mustafa Denizli, and Şenol Güneş can be highlighted as legendary and pioneering figures. However, recent events such as match-fixing and betting scandals have undoubtedly diminished interest in football. Our wish is for Turkish teams and the Turkish national football team to achieve even greater successes.

Prof. Dr. Ozan ÖRMECİ