Football in Turkey


Football is the most popular sport in Turkey, followed by basketball, tracing its roots to the Ottoman Empire. The first matches were played in Ottoman Salonica in 1875. The sport was introduced by English residents. The Turkish football league system comprises five professional leagues, one of which is dedicated to female athletes.

History

Turkey's first football league was established as the Istanbul Football League in 1904. Regional football leagues were founded in many other cities such as Ankara, İzmir, Adana, Eskişehir, Edirne, and Trabzon. Before the introduction of the professional nationwide league, known as Süper Lig today, there were two top-level national championships: the former Turkish Football Championship and National Division. Fenerbahçe dominated Turkish football in those decades, having won three Turkish Championship titles and six National Division titles, both of them records. They were replaced by the Süper Lig in 1959.

League system

Süper Lig

The Süper Lig is the top division in Turkey since 1959. The league contains 18 clubs. The champions receive an automatic berth in the group stage of the European Champions League. Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş, and Trabzonspor are the most successful Turkish clubs that participate in the competition, having won the most titles so far. Galatasaray have won the highest number of Süper Lig trophies, while Fenerbahçe have won the most Turkish championship titles in total to date. However, the Turkish Football Federation denies and does not recognise the titles won in the former Turkish Football Championship and National Division, even though they were official championships organised by the TFF itself.
The league ushered in clubs from all over Turkey to compete with each other. Currently, clubs finishing in the top four places in the league enter qualifying rounds of European competitions, and the winners of the Turkish Cup, if not one of the top four, are also given a spot. The three teams with the fewest points each season are relegated to the TFF First League.
The top two teams are nominated for the UEFA Champions League while the 3rd and 4th placed clubs are nominated for the UEFA Europa League.

A2 leagues

Clubs in the Turkish football league system do not have reserve teams. Instead, clubs have under-twenty and under-18 teams which is also used as a reserve team.

Amateur football

Below the four professional leagues in Turkish football are amateur leagues. Amateur football clubs include:
Amateur clubs are put into leagues included in the Amateur League system and are eligible for promotion to the Turkish Third League.

Cup competitions

The two major cup competitions are the Turkish Cup and Turkish Super Cup. The Turkish Cup includes clubs from every division. The Super Cup is an annual match held between the winners of the Süper Lig and Turkish Cup.
Now-defunct Turkish cup competitions include the Prime Minister's Cup, Atatürk Cup, Istanbul Football Cup, Fleet Cup, TSYD Cup, and Spor Toto Cup.

Qualification for European competitions

In addition, once in a European competition, it becomes possible to qualify for others:
The following teams have made the last eight of European competitions:

UEFA Super Cup

‡ Galatasaray was one of the eight teams in the group stage of the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, however, UEFA does not consider this a quarter-final participation.

UEFA Cup / Europa League

The Turkish national team's first match was on October 26, 1923, and ended in a 2–2 draw against the Romania national football team. Turkey have qualified for the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1954 and 2002. Their greatest success was coming third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Turkey also finished third in the 2003 Confederations Cup, reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and played in the quarter-finals of Euro 2000.

Women's football

Stadiums

Göztepe Gürsel Aksel Sağlıklı Yaşam Merkezi

Records

Seasons