Galatasaray Marşı

Galatasaray: The most successful Turkish club in European competitions, winners of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000.

Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (Galatasaray Sports Club), usually referred to as Galatasaray, is a Turkish professional football club based in Istanbul. It is the association football branch of the larger Galatasaray Sports Club of the same name, itself a part of the Galatasaray Community Cooperation Committee which includes Galatasaray High School, where the football club was founded in 1905, consisting entirely of students. The team plays in dark shades of red and yellow at home, with the shirts split down the middle between the two colours.

Quick Facts

Adoption era: 1998

Lore & Background

Galatasaray SK was founded in October 1905 (the exact day is disputed, but is traditionally accepted as '30 October 1905' according to the Gregorian calendar) by Ali Sami Yen and other students of Galatasaray High School. The team's first match was against Cadi-Keuy FC and Galatasaray won 2–0. The name Galatasaray comes from Galatasaray High School, which in turn takes its name from Galata Sarayı Enderûn-u Hümâyûn (Galata Palace Imperial School), founded in 1481. Galatasaray literally means 'Galata palace'. According to researcher Cem Atabeyoğlu, Galatasaray took its name from one of its first matches, where spectators called them 'Galata Sarayı efendileri' (Gentlemen of Galata Palace).

Reader's Guide

Galatasaray is one of three teams to have participated in all seasons of the Süper Lig since 1959. Galatasaray has the most Süper Lig (26), Turkish Cup (19) and Turkish Super Cup (17) titles in Turkey. Galatasaray is the most successful Turkish club in European competitions, winning the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000, becoming the only Turkish team to win a major UEFA competition. In the 1999–2000 season, the club achieved a treble by winning the Süper Lig, Turkish Cup, and UEFA Cup. Galatasaray has reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League several times and the semi-finals of the Club Champions Cup once. Since 2011, the club's stadium has been the 53,387-capacity Rams Park in the Seyrantepe district of Istanbul. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe; the derby with Fenerbahçe is called the Kıtalar Arası Derbi due to their stadiums being on opposite sides of the Bosphorus.

Did You Know?

Galatasaray is the only Turkish club to have been ranked first on the IFFHS World Rankings.
According to IFFHS, Galatasaray is the most successful Turkish club of the 20th century, and the 20th most successful club in Europe.
The club's legendary players include Nihat Bekdik, Metin Oktay, Fatih Terim, and Gheorghe Hagi.