The Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium ( Turkish pronunciation: [ˈʃycɾy saɾaˈdʒoːɫu] ), known for sponsorship reasons as Ülker Stadium Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex ( Ülker Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi ), or simply Ülker Stadium , is a football stadium located in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul , Turkey. It is the traditional home venue of major Turkish multi-sport club Fenerbahçe 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 by UEFA , Ülker Stadium was selected to host the 2009 UEFA Cup Final that went down in history as the last Final of the UEFA Cup football tournament, which was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League starting from the 2009–10 season.
20-478: Before the stadium was built, the field was known as Papazın 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 the Istanbul 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
40-461: A bid to host UEFA Euro 2016 , but UEFA announced that Euro 2016 would be hosted by France . Turkey were also bidding for UEFA Euro 2024 , competing against Germany . Germany were announced the hosts. Turkey will host the UEFA Euro 2032 , alongside Italy (both previously bid against each other for 2016), given Turkey to finally host a UEFA Euro on their fifth attempt. Turkey had already hosted
60-530: A bigger venue, the Taksim Stadium , was built in 1922, inside the courtyard of the historic Taksim Topçu Kışlası (Taksim Artillery Barracks), which was located at the present-day Taksim Gezi Parkı (Taksim Park). İttihatspor (which had close relations with the political İttihat ve Terakki ), was forced to sell it to the state, in which Şükrü Saracoğlu (1887–1953) was a member of the CHP government. Thus,
80-625: A match between MKE Ankaragücü and Çaykur Rizespor which involved fans being able to successfully invade the playing field's pitch. Six people, including MKE Ankaragucum club President Faruk Koca , were arrested for assaulting a referee. The referee, Halil Umut Meler , was hospitalized following the assault. The next day, Koca resigned from MKE Ankaragucu and the Turkish Football Federation decided to suspend all league games in Turkey indefinitely. Meler, who suffered
100-604: Is the governing body of association football in Turkey . It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team , the Turkish Football League and the Turkish Cup . The Turkish football league system is divided into eight tiers, ranging from the top-tier Süper Lig to local amateur divisions. The Turkish Cup changed its name to
120-532: Is the only one with such a stance. As a result, Ankara Demirspor became the first club to officially demand the federation to acknowledge their championship title won in 1947, but received no answer at all to date. Club president Nuğman Yavuz stated that he contacted the Turkish Federation twice, but the federation did not respond in any way. Similarly, Fenerbahçe also requested proper acknowledgement of these national championship titles, and faced
140-571: The 2005 UEFA Champions League Final , the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final , and the 2009 UEFA Cup Final all played in Istanbul . At the youth-level, they hosted the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in 2008 , after first hosting the event back in 1993 . Turkish Football Federation gain 45 medals of 900 events. The TFF organized a nationwide championship as early as 1924. That year
160-578: The Ottoman Sultan Abdul 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. The Union Club Field was used by many teams in İstanbul, including the owner, Union Club (which changed its name to İttihatspor after World War I ), Fenerbahçe , Galatasaray , and Beşiktaş . However, it lost its importance when
180-494: The Turkish Football Championship (Turkish: Türkiye Futbol Şampiyonası ) was held in order to bring forth a national football champion. The championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of each of the country's regional leagues. Some years later, in 1937, the first national league called Millî Küme was introduced. The league was held until 1950, one year before
200-554: The Federation Cup (Turkish: Federasyon Kupası ) in the 1980–81 season, then back to Turkish Cup in 1992–93. Turkey have bid five times to host the UEFA European Championship . Turkey submitted a joint bid with Greece for UEFA Euro 2008 , which failed. Their bid for UEFA Euro 2012 was also unsuccessful, with the competition going to Poland and Ukraine . The federation also submitted
220-669: The Turkish Football Championship was also abolished. Even though both competitions were organized by the TFF and were official championships respectively, they are not acknowledged and counted by the very same federation which held them. Until today no official reason or motive was given for the unparalleled and irregular denial. All other football associations in Europe without exception consequently acknowledge their former national championships. The Turkish Federation
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#1732801288865240-527: 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 its seating capacity . By the year 1949, Fenerbahçe Stadium was the largest football venue in Turkey, with a seating capacity of 25,000. 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 minister Şükrü Saracoğlu . In 1999,
260-581: The hopes that the TFF will recognize their pre-1959 championships, also notably on the club's website the 28 championships are listed as if they were official likely as an act of protest against the TFF's lack of recognition of the pre-1959 titles. For instance, Mehmet Demirkol, a renowned sports writer and commentator, stated that Beşiktaş won their 20th championship title overall in the 2016–17 season , not their 15th. Numerous other sports writers, persons of authority, politicians, and officials also openly expressed their opinions on this issue and reinforced
280-626: 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. 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. Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League ( Turkish : İstanbul Futbol Ligi )
300-482: The name of the league, Istanbul Sunday League . Henry Pears, an Englishman and one of the three founders, promised to ultimately award the shield to the club with the most championships won during the initial 10 years. The Istanbul Friday League was founded in 1915 and replaced the Istanbul Sunday League. Seven teams participated in its inaugural 1915–16 season. From 1923–24 to 1950–51 the league
320-459: 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 or the worth of the stadium which was ₺9,000. The name of the field was changed to Fenerbahçe Stadium, and this made Fenerbahçe SK
340-473: The same unconstructive reaction. Having won a total of nine titles in both former championships, the club demands to have those official titles rightfully acknowledged. In addition to requesting proper acknowledgement of the titles, Fenerbahçe's kit for the 2023-24 season includes a badge with 5 stars above which can't be worn in league matches because it is against the regulations of the federation and they did not give permission to play with them, likely in
360-727: The view that the Turkish federation should unambiguously acknowledge and count the former championship titles. Among them is also historian and headmaster of the Galatasaray High School Vahdettin Engin. According to historians' analysis of the 2002 Turkish Football Federation Arbitration Court decision, which stated that the Turkish League Championships began before 1959 and the championships before 1959 cannot be left uncounted. On 11 December 2023, melee occurred during
380-812: Was called Istanbul League . The name was later changed and became Istanbul Professional League in the 1952 season, as professionalism was introduced by the Turkish Football Federation in 1951. Fenerbahçe are the most successful club, having won the league a record 16 times in total. *Galatasaray in the Istanbul Football Union League and Fenerbahçe in the Istanbul Champions League became champions. Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation ( Turkish : Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu ; TFF )
400-535: Was founded as a regional football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul , the capital of the former Ottoman Empire , in 1904. The Istanbul League was the first football organization ever in the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey . In the inaugural 1904–05 season the matches between the four teams, Moda FC , HMS Imogene , Elpis FC , and Cadi-Keuy FC were played on Sundays, leading to
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