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Ülker Stadium | |
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| Full name | Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi |
|---|---|
| Former names | Papazın Çayırı Union Club Field İttihat Spor Field Fenerbahçe Stadyumu Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadyumu |
| Location | Kadıköy, Istanbul |
| Coordinates | 40°59′16″N29°02′13″E / 40.98778°N 29.03694°E /40.98778; 29.03694 |
| Public transit |  Söğütlüçeşme Söğütlüçeşme |
| Owner | Fenerbahçe S.K. |
| Operator | Fenerbahçe S.K. |
| Executive suites | 64[5] |
| Capacity | 47,430(all-seater)[4] |
| Surface | Hybrid grass[1] |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1908 |
| Renovated | 1929–1932, 1965–1982, 1999–2006 |
| Construction cost | US$85 million ($133 million in 2024 dollars[2])[3] |
| Architect | Zehra Aksu, Adnan Aksu |
| Tenants | |
| Fenerbahçe S.K. (1908–present) Turkey national football team (selected matches) | |
TheŞükrü Saracoğlu Stadium (Turkish pronunciation:[ˈʃycɾysaɾaˈdʒoːɫu]), known for sponsorship reasons asÜlker Stadium Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex (Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi), or simplyÜlker Stadium, is afootball stadium located in theKadıköy district ofIstanbul, Turkey. It is the traditional home venue of major Turkish multi-sport clubFenerbahçe S.K.. The stadium was inaugurated in 1908 and renovated between 1929 and 1932, 1965 and 1982, and 1999 and 2006. On 4 October 2006, after numerous inspections byUEFA, Ülker Stadium was selected to host the2009 UEFA Cup Final[6] that went down in history as the last Final of theUEFA Cup football tournament, which was rebranded as theUEFA Europa League starting from the 2009–10 season.[7][8]
Before the stadium was built, the field was known asPapazın Çayırı (lit. 'the priest's meadow'). The field, however, became the very first official association football pitch of Turkey, where the first league games of theIstanbul Football League were all held consecutively. In 1908, the local teams in the league needed a regular football field, so this land was leased from theOttoman SultanAbdul Hamid II for 30 Ottoman gold pounds a year. The total construction cost was 3,000 Ottoman gold pounds. The name was changed to the 'Union Club Field' after the club which made the highest donation for construction of the ground.[citation needed]
The Union Club Field was used by many teams in İstanbul, including the owner,Union Club (which changed its name toİttihatspor afterWorld War I),Fenerbahçe,Galatasaray, andBeşiktaş. However, it lost its importance when a bigger venue, theTaksim Stadium, was built in 1922, inside the courtyard of the historicTaksim Topçu Kışlası (Taksim Artillery Barracks), which was located at the present-dayTaksim Gezi Parkı (Taksim Park).[citation needed]
İttihatspor (which had close relations with the politicalİttihat ve Terakki), was forced to sell it to the state, in whichŞükrü Saracoğlu (1887–1953) was a member of theCHP government. Thus, the ownership of the stadium passed to the state, but the field was immediately leased to Fenerbahçe. Later, on May 27, 1933, Fenerbahçe purchased the stadium from the government when Şükrü Saracoğlu was the President of Fenerbahçe, for either the symbolic amount of ₺1[9] or the worth of the stadium which was ₺9,000.[10]
The name of the field was changed to Fenerbahçe Stadium, and this made Fenerbahçe SK the first football club in Turkey to own their stadium, with the help of the Şükrü Saracoğlu government. In the following years, Fenerbahçe S.K. renovated the stadium and increased itsseating capacity. By the year 1949, Fenerbahçe Stadium was the largest football venue in Turkey, with a seating capacity of 25,000.[citation needed]
The name of the stadium was changed once more in 1998, becoming Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, named after Fenerbahçe's legendary chairman and Turkey's fifth prime ministerŞükrü Saracoğlu. In 1999, the latest round of renovations and capacity increasing projects started. The stands on the four sides of the stadium were torn down one at a time, as the Turkish Super League seasons progressed, and the entire renewal and construction project was finalised in 2006.[citation needed] As of 2015,Ülker secured naming rights of the stadium in a 10-year deal worth $90 million officially renaming the stadium Ülker Stadium Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex.[11]
A number of artworks are placed in front of the stadium:
| Preceded by | UEFA Cup Final venue 2009 | Succeeded by |
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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