Galatasaray Sports Club |
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Galatasaray Spor Kulubu (in English: Galatasaray Sports Club) or Galatasaray SK is a Turkish sports club based in Istanbul which is famous for its football section.
 Galatasaray Sports Club Galatasaray is one of only two teams to have won the UEFA Cup without being beaten in a single match and is also the first team to win the competition after finishing third place in the Champions League group stage. In winning the UEFA Cup during the 1999-2000 season, beating Arsenal of England on penalties, Galatasaray became the first Turkish football club ever to win a European trophy. Galatasaray also holds the world record of most games won in a row at home (24 games in a row: 13 May 2001 - 8 December 2002). The club's ground, Ali Sami Yen Stadyumu, reopened for the 2004-05 season, and a massive renovation project of one of its stands was completed in the fifth week of the 2005-2006 season. Galatasaray clinched their 16th League title after they beat Kayserispor 3-0 as Fenerbahçe SK were held to a draw. Galatasaray qualified for the Champions League group stage for the 2006-07 season. Galatasaray was founded in the autumn of 1905 by Galatasaray Lisesi students as a football club. Galatasaray's first president was Ali Sami Yen. Their first match was against Kadikoy Faure School and they won this match 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. According to researcher Cem Atabeyoğlu, Galatasaray took its name from one of its first matches. In that match, Galatasaray won 2-0 over Rûm club and the spectators called them "Galata Sarayı efendileri" (in English: Gentlemen of Galata Palace), and, after this event, they adopted that name and started to call their club "Galata Sarayı". In 1905, during the era of the Ottoman Empire, there weren't any laws for associations so the club couldn't be registered officially, but, after the 1912 Law of Association, the club registered legally.Probably the greatest record that club holds is winning national championships in 13 different sport branches in 1986-87 season.Ali Sami Yen was a significant player Galatasaray's most successful era came in the 1990s, when the club won the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. 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 their intimidating ground, which many Western European teams disliked travelling to. During this period their matches with club teams from England caused the most controversy; this culminated in a 2000 UEFA Cup tie against Leeds United, in which both legs were marred by violence. In Istanbul, two Leeds fans were murdered . Violence with supporters of UEFA Cup Finalists Arsenal FC also occurred in Copenhagen in which a Turk was stabbed. Since then, much has been done to improve safety at Galatasary's matches and in games against English clubs; a 2006 UEFA Champions League tie against Liverpool occurred without any trouble. On November 6, 2002, Galatasaray lost 6-0 to their eternal rival Fenerbahçe, but the club took its revenge by beating its rival 5-1 in the Turkish Cup final of 2005. The record between the two sides, still belongs to Galatasaray: in 1911, at their own ground, Fenerbahçe was beaten 7-0 by an incomplete Galatasaray squad (there were seven players available instead of eleven, due to a stormy day in Istanbul which made it impossible for some players to cross the Bosphorus to the Asian Side). Galatasaray is the only team to have won the Turkish league title, the Turkish Cup, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in the same season (1999-2000). |