Galatasaray

Name of Club : Galatasaray – GS

Date Of Foundation : 1905

Colors : Yellow & Red

Name of Stadium : Turk Telekom Arena

Stadium Capacity : 50.000

Symbol : Lions

Galatasaray A.Ş.) is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. One of the sports club in Turkey, holding 20 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups. It is one of the three European clubs to ever achieve a continental quadruple, by winning the UEFA Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the Turkish Super League Championship and the Turkish Cup in 2000. The club’s colors are red and yellow, and their home stadium is the Türk Telekom Arena. Galatasaray SK was founded in the fall of 1905, by Galatasaray High School (a high school founded in 1481) students as a football club. Galatasaray’s first president was Ali Sami Yen. Their first match was against Cadi-Keuy FC and they won this match by 2–0. There were discussions about the club’s name, in which some suggested Gloria (victory) and others Audace (courage), but it was decided that its name would be Galatasaray. The name Galatasaray itself comes from that of Galatasaray High School, which in turn takes its name from Galata Sarayı Enderûn-u Hümâyûn (Galata Palace Imperial School), the name of the original school founded on the site in 1481, and which in turn took its name from the nearby medieval Genoese colony of Galata. Galatasaray translates directly as ‘Galata palace’. Türkiye Profesyonel 1. Ligi (Turkcell Super League today) formed in 1959. This is the top-flight professional league in Turkish nationwide football, and the most popular sporting competition in the country. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 18 league titles since then. Galatasaray’s most successful era came in late 1990s, when the club become the first Turkish football club ever to win a European trophy. They were aided in this by one of Turkey’s best generation of home grown footballers who went on to finish third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and played quarter finals of UEFA Euro 2000. Besides the talented players, visiting teams also disliked traveling into Ali Sami Yen Stadium which is literally called “Hell” by the supporters of Galatasaray due to the intimidating atmosphere provided by the fans including chants and riots in the crowds.

Match tickets: Match tickets can be bought through the ticketing firm “Passolig online or through outlets throughout Turkey. Tickets can also be bought from the Stadium on the match-day.