Full name: Galatasaray Spor Kulübü
Nickname(s): Cim Bom
Aslanlar (Lions)
Sarı-Kırmızılılar (Yellow-Reds)
Avrupa Fatihi (Conqueror of Europe)
Gala (Mostly used in Europe)
Founded: October 20, 1905
Ground: Ali Sami Yen Stadium,
Istanbul, Turkey
(Capacity: 26,750)
Chairman: Adnan Polat
Manager: Bülent Korkmaz
League Turkcell Süper Lig
2007–08 Turkcell Süper Lig, Champion
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (English: Galatasaray Sports Club), is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul, famous for its football section. Galatasaray is the most successful club in the history of Turkish football, having won more trophies than any other Turkish club. Galatasaray is also the first Turkish football club.
Galatasaray holds the best international record by a Turkish team as well. They became the first Turkish club to capture a major European title beating Arsenal of England in the UEFA Cup final during the 1999–2000 season and also won the Super Cup when they beat the UEFA Champions League winner Real Madrid in the final. They have also gone the farthest in a Champions League for a Turkish team when they reached the semi-finals of the 1988-89 season.
The club also operates amateur sport teams that compete at Athletics, Basketball, Wheelchair basketball, Volleyball, Water polo, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, Judo, Bridge, Equestrian and Motorsports (Superleague Formula). These include Galatasaray Café Crown and Galatasaray S.K. Voleybol. There are other now-defunct branches that used to represent the club with success, including the inspirational season in 1987, when Galatasaray won titles in 16 different sports.
Galatasaray are the defending Turkish Super League champions and nine of its players were selected to play for their national teams at the Euro 2008 finals.
History
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. 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.
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.
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 colours 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. New colours 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."
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.
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.
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.
Probably the greatest record that club holds is winning national championships in 15 different sport branches in 1986–87 season.
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.
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 played for Galatasaray and made their mark on Turkish football history. Few examples may be 1930s national hero Eşfak Aykaç, Boduri who died aged 21, Mehmet Leblebi who scored a domestic record of 14 goals in a single match, Gündüz Kılıç nicknamed Baba (father) who was the coach but also the player of his team in 1950s with great success on both, Bülent-Reha Eken brothers, Suat Mamat who made a hat-trick in 1954 FIFA World Cup, Coşkun Özarı a life devoted to Galatasaray, Turgay Şeren the heroic goalkeeper that called "the Panther of Berlin", Fatih Terim the team captain of Galatasaray and Turkish National Football team for years and the current coach, Metin Oktay the legendary six time top scorer of the Turkish league, Zoran Simović another skilled goalkeeper known for his penalty saves, Cüneyt Tanman who played a record of 342 games for Galatasaray, Tanju Çolak an extraordinary goalscorer and European Golden Boot 1988 winner with Galatasaray, Cevad Prekazi an Albanian teammate of Tanju specializing in free kicks, Taffarel the world cup winner goalkeeper of Brazil, Gheorghe Hagi Romanian football hero that still described as the best foreign player ever to play in Turkey, 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).
Important figures in the club's history
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 Commitee 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.
International
UEFA Cup
Winners (1): 1999-00
UEFA Super Cup
Winners (1): 1999-00
Domestic Success
Turkish Super League Championships: (shared-record)
Winners (17): 1961–62, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08
Turkish Cup: (record)
Winners (14): 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1973, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2005
Turkish Super Cup / President Cup: (record)
Winners (11): 1966, 1969, 1972, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2008
Chancellor Cup:
Winners (5): 1975, 1979, 1986, 1990, 1995
TSYD Cup: (shared-record)
Winners (12): 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999
Istanbul Football League:
Winners (14): 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1915-16, 1921-22, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926-27, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1948–49, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1957–58
Istanbul Football Cup: (shared-record)
Winners (2): 1942, 1943
Istanbul Football Cup: (shared-record)
Winners (2): 1942, 1943
Istanbul Shield:
Winners (1): 1933
National Heap:
Winners (1): 1938-39
Records
First participation of a Turkish team in the Champions League
Most participations of a Turkish team in the Champions League (10)
First and only Turkish team to play in the European Cup/Champions League semi-finals
First Turkish team to play in the European Cup/Champions League quarter-finals
First and only Turkish team to win European trophies (2): 2000
First and only Turkish team to win a European tournament undefeated
Most Turkish league titles in a row (4): 1996-2000
Most Turkish league titles with Turkish managers (8)
Most home games in a row won (25; shared-record with Boca Juniors): 26th May 2001 - 17th November 2002
Most Turkish Cups won (14)
Most President's Cups won (10)
Most goals in one season: 105, Turkish League 1962-63
First team in the Turkish league to add a third star to its team logo due to the number of championships won (15th title): 2002
Players with most Turkish titles (8): Hakan Sükür, Bülent Korkmaz
Scorer of the 1,000th Turkish club goal in Europe: Ayhan Akman (March 12th, 2009 - UEFA Cup first-leg tie at Hamburg, Germany)
Stadium Ali Sami Yen
Galatasaray played its first years in different fields, since there were not any stadiums in Istanbul. In 1921, the first stadium, Taksim Stadium opened. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Supporters and rivalries
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, UlrAslan obtained the right to sell products carrying the groups logo, and became a registered trademark.
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, which was established in 2004, has coordinators in a number of European countries. Other groups include uA-America, uA-Asia, uA-Africa and uA-Australia.
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. There is not any religion or class based difference between the fans but every match produces its own drama. 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. Fans also attach high importance to UEFA competitions.
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.
Notable players
The 100 Greatest Players of the 20th century
Gheorghe Hagi
UEFA Jubilee Awards (Golden Players)
Gheorghe Hagi
Hakan Şükür
European Golden Boot
Tanju Çolak (1987-88)
Mario Jardel (1999, 2002)
FIFA 100
Emre Belözoğlu
Gheorghe Hagi
World Cup winners
Cláudio Taffarel (USA 1994)
European Championship winners
Didier Six (France 1984)
African Cup of Nations winners
Rigobert Song (2000, 2002)
Copa America Winners
Cláudio Taffarel (Brazil 1989) & (Bolivia 1997)
Flávio Conceição (Bolivia 1997) & (Paraguay 1999)
Felipe (Peru 2004)
Christian (Paraguay 1999)
Gerçekleri tarih yazar tarihide Galatasaray
@Murate, .... Sabane, ... opet si poceo da se ponasas, ... 
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