The club's colours 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.
Galatasaray's finishing positions in Turkish League since 1959.
Galatasaray was founded in the autumn of 1905, by Galatasaray Lisesi (a 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 2–0.5 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.6
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.7
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Our aim is to play together, to have a color and a name and to beat the teams of outside of Turkey.
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 the Turkish flag. However, the 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.citation needed For this reason, the colors were changed to yellow and dark blue until 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."7
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.8
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.9
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.10
Probably the greatest record that club holds is winning national championships in 15 different sport branches in 1986–87 season.11
Galatasaray's most successful era came in late 1990s, when the club become 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.12
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,13 Boduri who died aged 21,14 Mehmet Leblebi who scored a domestic record of 14 goals in a single match,15Gündüz Kılıç nicknamed Baba (father) who was the coach but also the player of his team in 1950s with great success on both,16 Bülent-Reha Eken brothers, Suat Mamat who made a hat-trick in 1954 FIFA World Cup,17Coşkun Özarı a life devoted to Galatasaray,18Turgay Şeren the heroic goalkeeper that called "the Panther of Berlin",19Fatih Terim the team captain of Galatasaray and Turkish National Football team for years and the current coach,20Metin Oktay the legendary six time top scorer of the Turkish league,21Zoran Simović another skilled goalkeeper known for his penalty saves,22Cüneyt Tanman who played a record of 342 games for Galatasaray,23Tanju Çolak an extraordinary goalscorer and European Golden Boot 1988 winner with Galatasaray,24Cevad Prekazi an Albanian teammate of Tanju specializing in free kicks,25Taffarel the world cup winner goalkeeper of Brazil,26Gheorghe Hagi Romanian football hero that still described as the best foreign player ever to play in Turkey,27 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).
Team colours
Galatasaray wore red and white colours when founded, then played in yellow and black. For a match against the British Royal Navy cruiser HMS Barham football team played in December 1908, Galatasaray finally settled on playing in yellow and red. The colours were chosen by Asım Tevfik, left-forwarder Emin Bülent and right midfielder Ali Sami Yen in a store at Bahçekapısı. The yellow and red were inspired from the colours of the roses which Gül Baba offered to Sultan Bayezid II.28
Stadium
Ali Sami Yen
Champions league matches draw over 70,000 spectators.
Galatasaray played its first years in different fields, since there were not any stadiums in Istanbul. In 1921, the first stadium, Taksim Stadium opened.29 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.30 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 24,990.31
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.32
Stadium Anthem
Galatasaray-Steaua Bucuresti 2008
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.A lot of people call stadium 'Cehennem' (hell) because of stadium anthem33
Supporters and rivalries
European matches
Galatasaray 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!'
Galatasaray fans
Istanbul derbies
The big three clubs of Istanbul, Beşiktaş J.K., Fenerbahçe S.K. and Galatasaray S.K. have a long history of rivalry with each other. Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rivalry is the most important rivalry in Turkey and the primary Istanbul derby.citation needed The rivalry between supporters has led to violence on numerous occasions.34İstanbul BB is a minor rival as İstanbul BB is weaker than the big three.
Torches, smoke, drums, flags and giant posters used to create visual grandeur and apply psycholoşgical pressure on visiting teams, which fans call "welcoming them to hell".35
Australian fanbase
The signing of Australian national team players Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill to Galatasaray has seen an increased interest in Galatasaray from Australian football supporters. Both Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill are senior members of the Australian national team; Lucas Neill currently captains the Australian national team.
As of January 27 2010:'36 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Last updated: 1 June 2009 1 Galatasaray SK started season in UCL but joined UC after group stage. Div. = Division;TS = Turkcell Super League; Pos. = Position; Pl = Match played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lost; GS = Goal Scored; GA = Goal Against; P = Points UCL = UEFA Champions League; UCWC = UEFA Cup Winners' Cup; UC = UEFA Cup; Cup = Fortis Turkey Cup. Colors: Gold = winner; Silver = runner-up.
Youth Facilities
Galatasaray has the most successful youth facilities in Turkey.37 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).38
Football Academy
Galatasaray 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.
This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (July 2009)
Ali Sami Yen (1886–1951): Taking the surname Yen in Turkey's Republican era, he was known as Ali Sami Bey, born in the Kandilli district of Istanbul. His father was the novelist and writer Semsettin Sami. He continued his education at the famous Galatasaray Lisesi, where he founded Turkey's first football-based sports club, Galatasaray A.S., together with his classmates. Ali Sami Yen is remembered as the number one in the list of the club's founders, being also the first manager of the Turkish national football team in 1923 and the first president of the Turkish Olympic Committee a year later. Galatasaray's home, the Ali Sami Yen Stadium is named after him. He was a pioneer in Turkish sports' history.
Ulvi Ziya Yenal (1908–1993): One of the first important players in Galatasaray's history, Yenal started to play football after he came to the Galatasaray Lisesi. At the age of 16, he was already a part of the newly-founded national team and won the Istanbul League Championship four times. After his retirement, he became first the president of the Turkish Football Federation and later the Tennis Federation. In 1953-54 and 1962-65, he was the president of Galatasaray A.S.
"Aslan" Nihat Bekdik (1902–1972): Like many of his fellows, he started playing football at school, and it did not take long for him to achieve his place in the A-team. Because of his impressing performances on the pitch, the spectators (and later, fans) called him "Aslan" (which means 'Lion' in English). Bekdik was a defense player for 18 years at Galatasaray, spending the last eight years as captain, becoming Istanbul Football League champions five times. In 1936, he retired from active playing, but continued to be an active sportsman in sailing and swimming, where he won several prizes. In 1957, he became a politician and died in 1972. He is today seen as the person responsible for Galatasaray's symbol, the lion.
Sponsorship
Companies that Galatasaray S.K. currently has sponsorship deals with include.
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