Eskişehirspor


Eskişehirspor is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the first league for 16 years until they were relegated. After being out of the Süper Lig for 12 years the club won the TFF First League playoffs and were promoted in May 2008.

History

Early Years

Eskişehirspor was founded by merging the regional teams of İdman Yurdu, Akademi Gençlik and Yıldıztepe and was admitted to the Second League in the 1965–1966 season. The team was promoted to the First League in its first professional season. Eskişehirspor became one of the better historically rich Anatolian clubs despite having never won the Süper Lig between 1968–1975. They were runners-up in 1968–1969, 1969–1970, and 1971–1972 seasons. Eskişehirspor won the Turkish Cup in the 1969–1970 season by beating Bursaspor by 4–3 aggregate and a year after that in 1970–1971 season they lifted the Cumhurbaskanligi Kupasi by beating Galatasaray once again by the same scoreline 3–2 with all goals coming from the Eskişehirspor legend himself Fethi Heper.

Unforgettable Match

One of Eskişehirspor's greatest matches took place in the 1970–71 UEFA Cup against Sevilla FC. Eskişehirspor lost the first match 1–0 in Sevilla, but won the second 3–1 in Eskişehir to win 3–2 on aggregate. All three goals from Eskisehirspor came after the 80th minute by Fethi Heper.

1980s and 1990s

After that, they started to slowly lose their success. Eskişehirspor relegated to Second League in 1981–82 season after an eventful match against Beşiktaş at Round 34, which was also last round. The match was halted at 78th minute due to intemperance of Eskişehirspor's supporters, when after Beşiktaş's midfielder Ziya's goal at 76th minute, and match score was changed to 2–1 for Beşiktaş. Eskişehirspor was announced 3–0 unanimously lost by TFF and relegated as 1 point behind of Gaziantepspor. Also, Beşiktaş finished their championship yearning since 1967. Eskişehirspor returned 1st League in 1983–84 season. They reached Federation Cup final in 1986–87 season but lost against Gençlerbirliği by 6–2 aggregate. They won Chancellor Cup against Beşiktaş after penalty shoots as 4–2, total 6–4. This match was resulted 2–2.
They relegated again Second League after 1–0 lost against Galatasaray, which goal scored by Tanju at Round 38, which was also last round in 1988–89 season. Eskişehirspor collected 41 points and remained behind of Altay by average. They relegated to Third League once after finishing third from last at Group A of 2nd League in 1991–92 season. However, they returned to Second League next season after finishing 1st at Group 5 of Third League.
Eskişehirspor finished 1st at 3rd Group in Second League and qualified for Promotion Group in 1994–95 season. They finished 3rd and qualified to Extra Playoff. They defeated successively Erzurumspor as 2–1, Adanaspor as 3–2, which after extra time and Aydınspor as 2–1 and returned to First League. Eskişehirspor's new adventure at First League lasted only one season and relegated after 7-1 losing against Trabzonspor despite a good start against İstanbulspor and this match finished 3–1 for Eskişehirspor. Eskişehirspor qualified to Promotion Playoff but didn't return to First League in 1997–98. They escaped from relegation to Third League danger and Petrolofisi relegated in 1998–99 season. Eskişehirspor finally qualified to Second League Category B, who is third level of Turkish League, after 2000–2001 season.

Back to the Süper Lig

Eskişehirspor finished 1st in 3rd Group of Iddaa League B and played in Promotion Group in 2005–2006 season. They finished 3rd behind of Kasımpaşa and Gençlerbirliği Asaşspor and qualified for Extra Playoff matches. Eskişehirspor's first play off match was against Kardemir Karabükspor. After regular and extra time the match ended in a 0–0 draw. Eskişehirspor advanced to quarter final game after beating them 3–1 in the penalty shoot out. They also defeated Sarıyer after 6–5 in the penalty shoot out. Regular and extra time the match ended in a 0–0 draw before penalty shoot out. They defeated 3–0 Kartalspor in semifinal and Pendikspor in final and promoted to First League. Eskişehirspor finished 13th in 2006–2007 season. After a successful season in the Bank Asya First League, Eskişehirspor finished in 4th place and qualified for the playoffs in 2007–2008 season. The playoffs determine who is going to take the third and final promotion spot for the Süper Lig.
Eskişehirspor's first play off match was against Diyarbakirspor. After regular and extra time the match ended in a 0–0 draw. Eskişehirspor advanced to the final game after beating Diyarbakirspor 6–5 in the penalty shoot out.
The final match against Boluspor was held in Istanbul at the Besiktas Inonu Stadium. At the end of 90 minutes Eskişehirspor were promoted to the Süper Lig with their 2–0 win. Eskisehirspor's goals were scored by Doğa Kaya and Coşkun Birdal.
On 3 June 2008, Halil Ünal was elected as the new chairman of Eskişehirspor. Rıza Çalımbay was appointed as manager for the 2008–2009 season. Eskişehirspor beat Galatasaray 2 times and draw 2–2 with Fenerbahçe at home in this season and secured Süper Lig position for 2009–2010 season despite 5–2 loss to Trabzonspor at home match on 24 May 2009. Then 2009–2010 season was much more progressive period for ESES. Almost all title chasing clubs were beaten in the Eskisehir Stadium by Kirmizi Simsekler. ESES was very bad at beginning of the 2010–2011 season. They couldn't get any winning during 6 matches back to back then Rıza Çalımbay sacked by board. Bulent Uygun has been announced as new Coach. He and his tech-staff solved the main problems of the team in a short time. After 10 matches Eskisehirspor was thinking to play for UEFA cup under the new coach management but they got 7th ranking position at the table end of the season. In the summer break, Bulent Uygun has been fired by board and Michael Skibbe announced as new coach of Eskisehirspor.

Supporters

The supporters create a great atmosphere with their Band Team during the seasons as well. Besides BandoESES, there is another supporter group who are always creating very different and unique shows, with some beautiful choreographies for every single match at the stadium and away on the road. Eskisehirspor supporters are really different than others when it comes to supporting their club through 2nd and even 3rd divisions. They regard their old fashioned stadium as holy grounds and reject the idea that it be moved to the outskirts of the city for the modern one. Many other team's supporters envy them because of their passionate, obsessive and dominant atmosphere in the matches. But they gain recognition as one of the most fierce fanbases in Turkey and many respect them and call them as the "phenomenon" of the Turkish Football.

Bando ESES

Founded in 2006 in the 'Samba Bar', Eskişehir, what started as a group of friends has grown into one of the most well known and respect supporter groups in Turkey. Bando-ESES currently has 23 active musicians playing instruments ranging from Trumpets to traditions Turkish davul drums. They are accompanied by loyal backing members who also help out. The group bring a change to the usual chanting and really liven games up turning matches into a carnival atmosphere. They can help to control the tempo of the game and have a range of musical styles. The group are well organized and are constantly growing.

Controversy

On 14 May 2016, after a 1–2 loss to İstanbul BB, by a late winning goal of the opposite side in the 93th minute, Eskişehirspor relegated from the Süper Lig. Upset with this, the Eskişehirspor ultras set fire to their own stadium.

Club Colours

The club colors were inspired by French club Stade Rennais 1964–1965 Coupe De France win, the board saw Rennes celebrating lifting the cup on the front page of a football magazine and immediately fell in love with the club colors and adopted them as their own believing that it would bring them good luck.

Club Emblem

The unmistakable emblem was actually designed by Eskisehirspor's first club chairman Aziz Bolel and perfected by graphic designer Selahattin Vapur, the three stars represent the merger of Akademi Gençlik, İdmanyurdu & Yıldıztepe.

Stadium

Eskişehir Atatürk Stadium

is a multi-purpose stadium in Eskişehir, Turkey. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Eskişehirspor. The stadium holds 13,520 people and was built in 1953. It was named after the Turkish statesman Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

New Eskişehir Stadium

will be a multi-use stadium in Sazova district of Eskişehir, Turkey. The stadium will have a capacity of nearly 33,500 people and will be totally covered.
It would be also one of the 9 candidate host stadiums of Turkish bid for [EURO 2016. But Turkey has lost the election of the CUP. Despite this result, the Chairman of TFF said "we have to work on these stadiums like a winner of the election; I'm going to talk about it with the prime minister". According to this explanation, Turkey is going to bid for the next tournament as a host country as well and the projects will be constructed due to its schedule.
The New Eskişehir Stadium will be the centrepiece for the development of a new sports, business and university park, planned by the City of Eskişehir at the northern periphery of the town. Eskişehir is famous for Sepiolite mining which has left a distinct signature on the landscape and inspires the façade of the stadium. The inner walls will be constructed partially with serigraphic glass to provide maximum transparency from the inside and to emphasise its open character at night. A newly planned tram will connect the New Eskişehir Stadium with the city centre, the airport and the university. This new public transport will accelerate the development of the new sports, leisure and business area. A new express ringroad around the city will also pass just south of the stadium providing excellent access.
On 7 January 2010 signed the Eskişehirspor president Halil Ünal, Eskişehir mayor Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Büyükerşen and Eskişehir governor Mehmet Kılıçlar the agreement to construct the new stadium in Muttalip.
The stadium will also replace the current home ground of Eskişehirspor: Eskişehir Atatürk Stadium.

Time Table

Honours

Players

Current squad

UEFA Current ranking

RankCountryTeamPoints
204FC Shakhter Karagandy6.825
205Eskişehirspor6.760
206Gaziantepspor6.760

Managers