Süper_Lig

Süper Lig

Süper Lig
Süper Lig 2008-09

Founded
1959
Nation

Relegation To
TFF First League
Number of Teams
18
Level on Pyramid
Level 1
European Qualification
UEFA Champions League UEFA Cup UEFA Intertoto Cup
Cups
Turkey Super Cup Fortis Turkey Cup
Current Champions (2007-08)
Galatasaray A.Ş.
Most Successful Clubs
Fenerbahce SK (17 titles)
Galatasaray A.Ş. (17 titles)
Website
Official

The Süper Lig (formerly National League, First Football League and First Super League and currently known under a sponsorship deal as the Turkcell Süper Lig) is the top-flight league in Turkish nationwide football, and the most popular sporting competition in the country. It is managed by Turkey's football federation.

Overview

The league was established in 1959 as an attempt to unify some of the many regional leagues around the country. The season begins in August each year and ends in May, with a month-long winter break in December and January. The 18 clubs in the league play each other twice, once at home and once away. The bottom three teams are relegated to the TFF First League at the end of each season and replaced by three others teams from that league.

As of the 2005/06 season, the top two teams qualify for the Champions League, with the champions entering the third qualifying round and the runners-up entering in the second qualifying round. The third-placed league team and the winners of the Turkey Cup make up the two Turkish teams that enter the UEFA Cup.

The arrival of private television channels in Turkey in the 1990s created a bidding war for live coverage rights, pouring money into the league and raising footballing standards dramatically. Live coverage rights are currently held by Digiturk, the digital satellite platform, until the contract expires in 2010. Digiturk bought the rights in 2004 for 135.85 million New Turkish lira (US$99 million). On the other hand, Doğan Medya, the company of the Turkish media magnate Aydın Doğan, argues that the contract of Digiturk will expire in 2008. In accordance to this claim, Doğan Medya came out with a new offer of approximately $180 million.

In 2005, the Turkish Football Federation signed a five-year deal with mobile phone operator Turkcell that saw the league's name changed to the 'Turkcell Super League' for five years. It came some years after an abortive sponsorship attempt by Turkcell's rivals, Telsim, in 1999.

For the new inspiring Turkcell Super Lig Season season saw more than £50,000,000 spent on new exciting players, this includes such super stars as Daniel Guiza, Milan Baros, Gokhan Unal, Emre Belozoglu, Harry Kewell, Fernando Meira and many more. Economist in the next five years have foreshadowed, that the Turkcell Super Lig will be one of the top leagues to be watched in the world.

Super League clubs, 2008-09

The clubs to play in the 2008-2009 season are listed below, alongside their home towns.

Club	Home town	Founded in	Stadium	In league since	Finishing position last season
Ankara S.A.Ş.	Ankara	1978	Yenikent	2004-2005	10th
Antalya S.K.	Antalya	1966	Antalya Atatürk	2008-2009	TFF First League; 2nd
Beşiktaş J.K.	İstanbul	1903	İnönü	1959	3rd
Bursaspor	Bursa	1963	Bursa Atatürk	2006-2007	13th
Denizlispor	Denizli	1966	Denizli Atatürk	1999-2000	7th
Eskişehirspor	Eskişehir	1965	Eskişehir Atatürk	2008-2009	TFF First League; Play-Off winner
Fenerbahçe S.K.	İstanbul	1907	Şükrü Saracoğlu	1959	2nd
Galatasaray A.Ş.	İstanbul	1905	Ali Sami Yen	1959	1st
Gaziantepspor	Gaziantep	1969	Kamil Ocak	1990-1991	9th
Gençlerbirliği S.K.	Ankara	1923	Ankara 19 Mayıs	1989-1990	15th
Hacettepe S.K.	Ankara	1949	Cebeci İnönü	2007-2008	11th
İstanbul B.B.	İstanbul	1990	Atatürk Olympic	2007-2008	12th
Kayserispor	Kayseri	1966	Kadir Has	2004-2005	5th
Kocaelispor	Kocaeli	1966	İsmet Paşa	2008-2009	TFF First League; 1st
Konyaspor	Konya	1981	Konya Atatürk	2003-2004	14th
M.K.E. Ankaragücü	Ankara	1910	Ankara 19 Mayıs	1981-1982	8th
Sivasspor	Sivas	1967	4 Eylül	2005-2006	4th
Trabzonspor	Trabzon	1967	Avni Aker	1974-1975	6th

The clubs below took part in the TFF First League play-offs but failed to clinch the final promotion spot for the 2008-09 season.

Club	Home town	Founded in	Last season in Super League	Finishing position in Category A
Sakaryaspor	Sakarya	1966	2006-2007	3rd
Diyarbakırspor	Diyarbakır	1968	2005-2006	5th
Boluspor	Bolu	1965	1991-1992	6th

The clubs below were relegated to the TFF First League at the end of the 2007-08 season.

Club	Home town	Founded in	In league since	Finishing position last season
Manisaspor	Manisa	1931	2005-2006	16th
Çaykur Rizespor	Rize	1953	2002-2003	17th
Kasımpaşa S.K.	İstanbul	1921	2007-2008	18th

Champions

Only four clubs, also known as the "Big Four" have been champions since the beginning of the Super League: Galatasaray A.Ş (17), Fenerbahçe SK (17), Beşiktaş J.K. (10) and Trabzonspor (6). The first three, all Istanbul-based clubs, are known as Big Three (Üç Büyükler in Turkish).

Galatasaray: 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
Fenerbahçe: 1959, 1960-61, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1967-68, 1969-70, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1977-78, 1982-83, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07.
Beşiktaş: 1959-60, 1965-66, 1966-67, 1981-82, 1985-86, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1994-95, 2002-03.
Trabzonspor: 1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1983-84.

Season	Champion	Runner Up
1959	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
1959–1960	Beşiktaş J.K.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1960–1961	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
1961–1962	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1962–1963	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1963–1964	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1964–1965	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1965–1966	Beşiktaş J.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
1966–1967	Beşiktaş J.K.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1967–1968	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
1968–1969	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Eskişehirspor
1969–1970	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Eskişehirspor
1970–1971	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1971–1972	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Eskişehirspor
1972–1973	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1973–1974	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1974–1975	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
1975–1976	Trabzonspor	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1976–1977	Trabzonspor	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1977–1978	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Trabzonspor
1978–1979	Trabzonspor	Galatasaray A.Ş.
1979–1980	Trabzonspor	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1980–1981	Trabzonspor	Adanaspor
1981–1982	Beşiktaş J.K.	Trabzonspor
1982–1983	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Trabzonspor
1983–1984	Trabzonspor	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1984–1985	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1985–1986	Beşiktaş J.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
1986–1987	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1987–1988	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1988–1989	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1989–1990	Beşiktaş J.K.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1990–1991	Beşiktaş J.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
1991–1992	Beşiktaş J.K.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1992–1993	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1993–1994	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1994–1995	Beşiktaş J.K.	Trabzonspor
1995–1996	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Trabzonspor
1996–1997	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1997–1998	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
1998–1999	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Beşiktaş J.K.
1999–2000	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Beşiktaş J.K.
2000–2001	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
2001–2002	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
2002–2003	Beşiktaş J.K.	Galatasaray A.Ş.
2003–2004	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Trabzonspor
2004–2005	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Trabzonspor
2005–2006	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Fenerbahçe S.K.
2006–2007	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Beşiktaş J.K.
2007–2008	Galatasaray A.Ş.	Fenerbahçe S.K.

Number of Süper Lig Titles Won by Club

Club	Seasons
Galatasaray A.Ş.	17
Fenerbahçe SK	17
Beşiktaş JK	10
Trabzonspor	6

Beşiktaş have formally requested that championships won in the 1956/57 and 1957/58 versions of the Turkish Federation Cup to be counted as Turkish Professional First Division championships. The Turkish Football Federation's ruling on this matter was announced in a press release on March 25, 2002. The press release indicated that the championships won by Beşiktaş in the Turkish Federation Cup will be considered as national championships but the Turkish Federation Cup can not be considered as the precursor to the Turkish Professional First Division (later named Süper Lig) and as such these titles can not be categorized as a Turkish Professional First Division championships.

The Turkish Football Federation permits clubs to place a golden star above their crest on their uniforms for every five national championships won. For the purposes of calculating national championships, the Turkish Football Federation ruled that Beşiktaş has two additional national championships due to their success in the Turkish Federation Cup during the 1956/57 and 1957/58 seasons. For the 2008/09 season Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray are permitted three golden stars, Beşiktaş are permitted two golden stars and Trabzonspor are permitted one golden star to be placed above their crest on their uniforms.

Participations

Türkcell Super League was created in the Spring of 1959 by the Turkish Football Federation and played as 1 league only with 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 or 22 teams. These are the 66 teams which took part to the championships played from 1959 to 2009. Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray are the only clubs which played all the seasons.

50 seasons: Besiktas J.K.,Fenerbahçe S.K.,Galatasaray A.Ş.,
46 seasons: M.K.E. Ankaragücü
41 seasons: Altay S.K.
40 seasons: Bursaspor
37 seasons: Gençlerbirliği S.K.
35 seasons: Trabzonspor
29 seasons: Samsunspor
25 seasons: Göztepe
23 seasons: İstanbul S.A.Ş., Eskişehirspor, Gaziantepspor
21 seasons: Adanaspor
20 seasons: Boluspor, Kocaelispor

18 seasons: Denizlispor
17 seasons: Adana Demirspor
16 seasons: Karşıyaka S.K.
14 seasons: Vefa S.K., Zonguldakspor, Antalya S.K.
13 seasons: Ankara Demirspor, Sarıyer G.K., Çaykur Rizespor
12 seasons: Kayserispor,Türk Telekom G.S.K.
11 seasons: Kayseri Erciyesspor, Malatyaspor, Mersin İdman Yurdu, Sakaryaspor, Konyaspor
10 seasons: Altınordu S.K., Diyarbakırspor, İzmirspor G.S.K., Etimesgut Şeker S.A.Ş.
9 seasons: Feriköy G.K., Orduspor
8 seasons: Beykoz 1908, Keçiörengücü

6 seasons: Giresunspor, Fatih Karagümrük S.K., Kasımpaşa S.K.
5 seasons: Belediye Vanspor, Zeytinburnuspor,Ankara S.A.Ş.
4 seasons: Sivasspor
3 seasons: Aydınspor, Bakırköyspor, Dardanel S.A.Ş., Erzurumspor, Kardemir Karabükspor, Manisaspor
2 seasons: Alibeyköy, Akçaabat Sebatspor, Beyoğluspor, Elazığspor, Yeşildirek, Yimpaş Yozgatspor, Hacettepe S.K., İstanbul B.B.
1 season: Balıkesirspor, Kahramanmaraşspor, M.K.E. Kırıkkale, Petrolofisi, Siirt S.K.

Note: Kayseri Erciyesspor played as Kayserispor between 1973-1975, 1979-1980, 1985-1986, 1992-1996 and 1997-1998. They were renamed to Kayseri Erciyesspor and played again in Super League since 2005. Also, Kayseri Erciyesspor were renamed to Kayserispor and have played in the Super League since 2004.

Keçiörengücü played as Hacettepe when they were in the Super League and Hacettepe S.K. were Gençlerbirliği Oftaş until 2008-2009 season.

Türk Telekom G.S.K. were PTT when they were playing Super League football in sixties and seventies.

Siirt S.K. were Siirt Jetpa S.K. and Manisaspor were Vestel Manisaspor due to the sponsorship reasons

Belediye Vanspor were Vanspor.

Popular Players

Many players who enjoy global popularity started their professional careers or came to Turkey in order to continue their careers. Some of them and their clubs in Turkey are as follows (in alphabetical order):

Ersen Martin - (Goztepe, Denizlispor, Ankaraspor, Trabzonspor)
Daniel Amokachi - (Beşiktaş)
Kenneth Andersson - (Fenerbahçe)
Nicolas Anelka - (Fenerbahçe)
Stephen Appiah - (Fenerbahçe)
Shota Arveladze - (Trabzonspor)
Mehmet Aurelio - (Trabzonspor, Fenerbahçe)
Milan Baros - (Galatasaray)
Can Bartu - (Fenerbahçe)
Emre Belözoğlu - (Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe)
John Carew - (Beşiktaş)
Roberto Carlos - (Fenerbahçe)
Éder Aleixo de Assis - (Malatyaspor)
Carlos Roberto Gallo - (Malatyaspor)
Serginho Chulapa - (Malatyaspor)
Óscar Córdoba - (Beşiktaş and Antalyaspor)
Ümit Davala - (Diyarbakırspor and Galatasaray)
Frank de Boer - (Galatasaray)
Alex de Souza - (Fenerbahçe)
Gökdeniz Karadeniz - (Trabzonspor)
Jean-Marie Pfaff - (Trabzonspor)
Hami Mandıralı - (Trabzonspor, Ankaragücü)
Mirosław Szymkowiak - (Trabzonspor)
Rune Lange - (Trabzonspor)
Ali Kemal Denizci - (Trabzonspor, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş)

Les Ferdinand - (Beşiktaş)
Daniel Güiza - (Fenerbahçe)
Gheorghe Hagi - (Galatasaray)
Mario Jardel - (Galatasaray)
Ronny Johnsen - (Beşiktaş)
Nihat Kahveci - (Beşiktaş)
Tugay Kerimoğlu - (Galatasaray)
Harry Kewell - (Galatasaray)
Mateja Kezman - (Fenerbahçe)
Bülent Korkmaz - (Galatasaray)
Lincoln - (Galatasaray)
Tobias Linderoth - (Galatasaray)
Diego Lugano - (Fenerbahçe)
Marcelinho - (Trabzonspor)
Fernando Meira - (Galatasaray)
Faryd Aly Mondragón - (Galatasaray)
Geremi Njitap - (Gençlerbirliği)
Shabani Nonda - (Galatasaray)
Şükrü Gülesin - (Beşiktaş and Galatasaray)
Rıza Çalımbay - (Beşiktaş)
Sergen Yalçın - (Beşiktaş , Galatasaray , Fenerbahçe , Trabzonspor and İstanbulspor)
Fatih Tekke - (Trabzonspor)
Kiki Musampa - (Trabzonspor)
Şenol Güneş - (Trabzonspor)

Jay Jay Okocha - (Fenerbahçe)
Metin Oktay - (Galatasaray)
Ariel Ortega - (Fenerbahçe)
Gheorghe Popescu - (Galatasaray)
Milan Rapaić - (Fenerbahçe)
Sergei Rebrov - (Fenerbahçe)
Rüştü Reçber - (Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş)
Haim Revivo - (Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray)
Franck Ribery - (Galatasaray)
Ricardinho - (Beşiktaş)
Harald Schumacher - (Fenerbahçe)
Tuncay Şanlı - (Fenerbahçe)
Rigobert Song - (Galatasaray and Trabzonspor)
Hakan Şükür - (Sakaryaspor, Bursaspor and Galatasaray)
Claudio Taffarel - (Galatasaray)
Arda Turan - (Galatasaray and Manisaspor)
Pierre van Hooijdonk - (Fenerbahçe)
Antônio Carlos Zago - (Beşiktaş)
Ibrahim Yattara - (Trabzonspor)
Metin Tekin - (Beşiktaş)
Feyyaz Uçar - (Beşiktaş , Fenerbahçe and Antalyaspor)
Ali Gültiken - (Beşiktaş)
Kevin Campbell - (Trabzonspor)
Fabiano Eller - (Trabzonspor)
Necmi Perekli - (Trabzonspor, Giresunspor, Beşiktaş, Altay)

Records

Season

* The longest season: 1962-1963 (42 matches) Teams

* Most time champions: Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray with 17 seasons

* Most consecutive championships: Galatasaray with 4 seasons in a row (1996 - 2000).

* Largest win: 1989-1990 Beşiktaş - Adana Demirspor (10-0)

* The highest scoring match: 1991-1992 Fenerbahçe - Gaziantepspor (8-4)

* Best performing team: 1988-1989 Fenerbahçe (29 wins, 6 draws, 1 loss in 36 matches)

* Longest unbeaten run: Beşiktaş (48 matches)

* Longest winning streak: 1959-1960 Beşiktaş (13 matches)

* Teams unbeaten in a season: 1985-1986 Galatasaray, 1991-1992 Beşiktaş

* Unbeaten Champions: 1991-1992 Beşiktaş

* Team with the most wins in a season: 1959-1960 Beşiktaş, 1988-1989 Fenerbahçe (29 wins)

* Highest scoring team: 1988-1989 Fenerbahçe (103 goals)

* Most games won in row at home: Galatasaray (25 games)

* Champion team with highest point: 1987-1988 Galatasaray (90 pts - 27 wins, 9 draws, 2 losses in 38 matches) Players

* All time top scorer: Hakan Sukur (249 goals)

* Most league titles won: Bülent Korkmaz and Hakan Şükür (8 seasons)

* Top scorer for the most years: Metin Oktay (6 times)

* Top scorer in one season: 1987-1988 Tanju Çolak (39 goals)

* Most goals in one match: Tanju Çolak (6 goals)

Top scorers

'(Süper League goals only)'

'All-time top scorers in the Süper League'
Rank	Player	Goals
1	Hakan Şükür	249
2	Tanju Çolak	240
3	Hami Mandıralı	219
4	Metin Oktay	217
5	Aykut Kocaman	200
6	Feyyaz Uçar	191
7	Serkan Aykut	188
8	Fevzi Zemzem	144
9	Cenk İşler	131
10	Mehmet Özdilek	130
10	Saffet Sancaklı	130
As of 10 May 2008 (Bold and italic denotes players still in Turkcell Süper League).