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| Full name | Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (Galatasaray Sports Club) |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | Cimbom (Turkish pronunciation:[dʒimbom]) Aslanlar (The Lions) Gala (referred to by non-Turkish nationals) |
| School | Galatasaray University Galatasaray High School |
| Founded | 1 October 1905; 120 years ago (1905-10-01) asGalata-Serai Football Club byAli Sami Yen |
| Based in | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Stadium | RAMS Park |
| Colors | Yellow and red |
| Anthem | Galatasaray Marşı |
| President | Dursun Özbek |
| Head coach | Okan Buruk |
| Titles | Intercontinental titles:4 European titles:17 Balkan titles:3 |
| Mascot | Lion |
| Officialfan club | ultrAslan |
| Local media | GSTV |
| Website | Galatasaray SK |
| Active departments ofGalatasaray S.K. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Closed departments ofGalatasaray S.K. | ||||||
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Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (Turkish pronunciation:[ɡaɫatasaˈɾajˈspoɾkulyˈby],Galatasaray Sports Club), more commonly referred to as simplyGalatasaray and familiarly asCimbom, is aTurkish sports club based on theEuropean side of the city ofIstanbul includingbasketball,wheelchair basketball,volleyball,water polo, handball,athletics,swimming,rowing,sailing,judo,bridge,motorsport, equestrian,[1][2]esports, and chess.[3][4] Galatasaray S.K. is among the key members of theGalatasaray Community Cooperation Committee together withGalatasaray University and the prestigiousGalatasaray High School.
The football branch ofGalatasaray has accumulated the mostSüper Lig (25),Turkish Cup (19), andTurkish Super Cup (17) titles in Turkey,[5][6][7] thus making them the most decorated football club in Turkey, as those competitions are the top nationwide professional leagues and cups within the Turkish football system that is recognized and accounted for in accordance to the regulations set by theTurkish Football Federation[8] andUEFA.[9][10][11][12]
In the year 2000 Galatasaray also took claim of theUEFA Cup title by defeatingArsenal F.C.[13][14] and theUEFA Super Cup by defeatingReal Madrid C.F.[15] These accomplishments make Galatasaray the only Turkish football club to have reached that level of European success in the history ofTurkish Football.
The club'swheelchair basketball team won the Champions Cup in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2014. They also won theKitakyushu Champions Cup and became world champions in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012.[16][17]Galatasaray women's basketball team won the2013–14 EuroLeague Women andFIBA Eurocup in 2009 and 2018.[18]Galatasaray men's basketball team claimed their firstEuroCup championship after defeating Strasbourg in 2016.[19]
Galatasaray (Turkish pronunciation:[ɡaɫatasaˈɾaj]) is aquarter inKaraköy in theBeyoğlu district ofIstanbul, located at the northern shore of theGolden Horn. Its name comes from that ofGalata, which may in turn have derived fromGalatai (meaning the "Galatians"), as theCeltic tribes were thought to have camped at Galata during the Hellenistic period before settling inGalatia in centralAnatolia.Galatasaray translates directly as "Galata Palace" (saray means "palace" inPersian).Galatasaray High School, established in the area in 1481, was the progenitor of Galatasaray S.K. as well as other institutions ofGalatasaray Community.[20]
Galatasaray is a compound word and is pronounced as such, with a very brief pause between the two words.[21] There is no diminutive form of the club's name. Fans refer to the club either by its full name or by its nicknameCim-Bom(-Bom)—pronounced[dʒimbom(bom)])—of uncertain etymology. However, the shortened form "Gala" is sometimes used by English speakers.
Galatasaray SK was founded in October 1905 (the exact day is disputed, but is traditionally accepted as "17 Teşrinievvel 1321[22][non-primary source needed]" according to theIslamicRumi calendar, which corresponds to 30 October 1905 (according to theGregorian calendar) byAli Sami Yen and other students ofGalatasaray High School (a high school inIstanbul which was established in 1481) as afootball club. Ali Sami Yen, who became Galatasaray SK's first president and was given the club's membership number "1", was the son ofŞemseddin Sami (Frashëri), anOttoman writer, philosopher, and playwright of ethnicAlbanian origin, and a prominent figure of theRilindja Kombëtare, the National Renaissance movement ofAlbania.[23]
The club's first match was againstCadi Keuy FRC and Galatasaray won this game with a score of 2–0.[24] There were discussions about the club's name, in which some suggestedGloria (victory) and othersAudace (courage), but it was decided that its name would be Galatasaray.[25]
According to researcher Cem Atabeyoğlu, Galatasaray took its name from one of its first matches. In that match, Galatasaray won 2–0 overRûm club and the spectators called them "Galata Sarayı Efendileri" (in English: Gentlemen of Galata (City) Palace), which the club adopted as "GalataSaray" for their official name. In 1905, during the era of theOttoman 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.[26]
Our aim is to play together like Englishmen, to have a color and a name, and to beat the non-Turkish teams.
Along 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.[21]
At founding in 1905, the colors of the Galatasaray Sports Club were red and white. These are the colors of the modernTurkish flag, but are also the colors of the flag of theYoung Turk Revolution. Therefore, despite recentgovernmentalreform, this inspiration made the repressive administration of the day uncomfortable, and said administration hounded the footballers until the colors were (temporarily) changed to yellow and dark blue. Aftermore reforms in 1908, new colors were again chosen: 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."[26]
While the football inTurkey began to fully develop, Galatasaray won ten moreIstanbul League titles[citation needed] until 1952[citation needed]. 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.[citation needed]
Turkcell Super League, the top-flight professional league in Turkish nationwide football, and the most popular sporting competition in the country, formed in 1959. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 24 league titles since then.[27]
The Turkish Football Federation started to organize "Turkish Cup" (today it is organized with the nameZiraat Turkish Cup) in the 1962–63 season for Turkish clubs to qualify for theUEFA competitions. This is the only national cup competition in Turkey. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 18 trophies since then.[28]
Galatasaray's first emblem was a figure of a spread-wingedeagle with a football in its beak, drawn by 333 (Galatasaray High School student number) Şevki Ege. This was replaced in 1925 by the current "Ghayn-Sin" crest, designed by Ayetullah Emin.[29]
Galatasaray wore red and white colours when founded, then played in yellow and black during the 1907–1908 season.
For a match against the football team of theRoyal Navy cruiserHMS Barham, played on 8 December 1908, Galatasaray finally settled on playing in red and yellow.
Ali Sami Yen, the main founder of Galatasaray, wrote the following in his diaries:
"Our goalkeeper Asım Tevfik, left-forwarderEmin Bülent and right midfielder Ali Sami Yen were commissioned for the task of determining the new team colours. After we had been in and out of several shops, we saw two different elegant-looking wool materials in Fat Yanko's store at Bahçekapısı (betweenEminönü andSirkeci in Istanbul, now called Bahçekapı). One of them was quite dark red, resembling the cherry colour, and the other a rich yellow with a touch of orange. When the sales clerk made the two fabrics fly together with a twist of his hand they became so bright that it reminded us of the beauty of agoldfinch. We thought we were looking at the colours flickering in burning fire. We were picturing the yellow-redflames shining on our team and dreaming that it would take us to victories. Indeed it did."
The red and yellow colours were also inspired from theroses whichGül Baba offered to SultanBayezid II.[30]
| Sport | Teams |
|---|---|
| Football | Galatasaray S.K. (football) |
| Galatasaray S.K. (women's football) | |
| Basketball | Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) |
| Galatasaray S.K. (women's basketball) | |
| Wheelchair basketball | Galatasaray S.K. (wheelchair basketball) |
| Volleyball | Galatasaray S.K. (men's volleyball) |
| Galatasaray S.K. (women's volleyball) | |
| Water polo | Galatasaray S.K. (men's water polo) |
| Galatasaray S.K. (women's water polo) | |
| Athletics | Galatasaray S.K. (athletics) |
| Swimming | Galatasaray S.K. (swimming) |
| Rowing | Galatasaray S.K. (rowing) |
| Sailing | Galatasaray S.K. (sailing) |
| Judo | Galatasaray S.K. (judo) |
| Bridge | Galatasaray S.K. (bridge) |
| Equestrian | Galatasaray S.K. (equestrian)[2] |
| Chess | Galatasaray S.K. (chess)[4] |
| Gymnastics | Galatasaray S.K. (gymnastics)[31] |
| Tennis | Galatasaray S.K. (tennis team; to be opened soon)[32] |
| Esports | Galatasaray S.K. (VALORANT)[33] |
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The first boxer in Turkey was Sabri Mahir.
Galatasaray played during its first years in different fields, since there were not any stadiums inIstanbul. In 1921, the first stadium,Taksim Stadium opened.[34] Galatasaray played there until 1940. When the historicTaksim Stadium was demolished, Galatasaray decided to build a large, modern stadium. Due to difficulties stemming fromWorld War II, construction was delayed for over two decades. In this period, they played inİnönü Stadium.
On 20 December 1964,Ali Sami Yen Stadium opened.[35] It was named after the founder of the club,Ali Sami Yen and was in theMecidiyeköy quarter of theŞişli district at the center of the city. In 1964, the stadium had a capacity of over 35,000. Due to improvements in security and prohibition of standing spectators, it had anall-seater capacity of 24,990 and was nicknamed "Hell".[36]
After 2002, whenAtatürk Olympic Stadium was built forIstanbul'sOlympic Games bid, Galatasaray started to playEuropean Cup matches there. The attendance record for a Turkish stadium was broken there, in a Galatasaray–Olympiacos match played in front of 79,414 spectators. But theAli Sami Yen Stadium had historic importance for Galatasaray fans although it was smaller and older.[37]
The newNef Stadium was built for Galatasaray in return for the highly valued land of the historic Ali Sami Yen stadium in Mecidiyekoy, and became the new home ground for Galatasaray S.K., replacing the old Ali Sami Yen Stadium. The new stadium has a capacity of 52,695 seats. The Ali Sami Yen Stadium was demolished in 2011 with the contractor revealing that it was on the verge of collapse and that a major stadium disaster would almost certainly have occurred had the stadium remained in use[38]
Since 1998, after every goal scored by Galatasaray, the last part of the song "I Will Survive" by theHermes House Band is played. Although the song is in English and already adopted by Dutch football teamFeyenoord, the part used has no lyrics except "la la la la". This makes it easy for fans to participate.
In addition, before every game theFlorida State Seminoles' war chant is played accompanied by what the fans call a "scarf show", where fans display and wave their Galatasaray scarves.[39]
| Office | Name |
|---|---|
| President | Dursun Aydın Özbek |
| Deputy President | Metin Öztürk |
| Vice President | Niyazi Yelkencioğlu |
| Board Secretary | Eray Yazgan |
| Treasurer | Levent Yaz |
| Board Spokesperson | Rıza Tevfik Morova |
| Board Member | Bora İsmail Bahçetepe |
| Board Member | Mehmet İsmail Sarıkaya |
| Board Member | Mehmet Saruhan Cibara |
| Board Member | Dikran Gülmezgil |
| Board Member | Can Natan |
| Board Member | Emir Aral |
| Board Member | Cansu Ak Yılmaz |
| Board Member | Tanur Lara Yılmaz |
| Board Member | Cem Soylu |
| Galatasaray High School Headmaster | Prof.Dr.H.Murat Develioğlu |
| From-to | Names |
|---|---|
| 1905–1918 | Ali Sami Yen |
| 1990–1996 | Alp Yalman |
| 1996–2001 | Faruk Süren |
| 2001–2002 | Mehmet Cansun |
| 2002–2008 | Özhan Canaydın |
| 2008–2011 | Adnan Polat |
| 2011–2014 | Ünal Aysal |
| 2014–2015 | Duygun Yarsuvat |
| 2015–2018 | Dursun Özbek |
| 2018–2021 | Mustafa Cengiz |
| 2021–2022 | Burak Elmas |
| 2022– | Dursun Özbek |
Galatasaray AŞ owns a chain of 81 Galatasaray Stores, selling club merchandise in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Cyprus.[citation needed] The club also owns an online betting company, an insurance company, an Internet service provider company, a travel agency, aforex company, and a search engine company.[citation needed]
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