[Miriel]

Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (in English: Galatasaray Sports Club) or Galatasaray SK is a Turkish sports club based in İstanbul which is famous for its football section. Founded in 1905 by Ali Sami Yen and his fellows from the prestigious Galatasaray High School, Galatasaray currently has 16 Turkish league championships, and also won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000. Galatasaray also topped the world club ranking to be named "Best Football Club in the World" in January of 2001.[1]
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.

History
Galatasaray was founded in the autumn of 1905 by Galatasaray Lycee students as a football club. Galatasaray's first president was Ali Sami Yen. Their first match was against Kadıköy Faure School and they won this match 2-0.[2] 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.[3]
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 stabbed; they later died. [2] 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).

Rivalries
The club's arch-rival is the neighbouring club Fenerbahçe S.K.. The Fenerbahçe–Galatasaray rivalry is considered as one of the world's biggest rivalries, and derbies between the clubs are considered as "Derby of Turkey" or "The Turkish Delight Derby". Another major rival is Beşiktaş J.K., who are also located in İstanbul, in the Beşiktaş district. Galatasaray also shares some rivalry with Trabzonspor, dating back to their neck to neck championship races during the late-1970s.

Presidents

• Ali Sami Yen (1905 - 1918) (1925)
• Refik Cevdet Kalpakçıoğlu (1919 - 1922) (1934)
• Yusuf Ziya Öniş (1922-1924) (1950 - 1952)
• Ali Haydar Şekip (1925)
• Ahmet Robenson (1926)
• Adnan Ibrahim Pirioğlu (1927)
• Necmettin Sadak (1928 - 1929)
• Abidin Daver (1929 - 1930)
• Ahmet Kara (1930 - 1931) (1933)
• Tahir Kevkep (1931 - 1932)
• Ali Haydar Barsal (1932 - 1933) (1933 - 1934)
• Fethi Isfendiyaroğlu (1933)
• Saim Gögen (1936 - 1937)
• Sedat Ziya Kantoğlu (1937 - 1939) (1944)
• Nizan Nuri (1939)
• Adnan Akıska (1939)
• Tevfik Ali Çınar (1940 - 1942)
• Osman Dardağan(1942 - 1943)
• Muslihittin Peykoğlu (1944 - 1946)
• Suphi Batur (1946 - 1950) (1965 - 1968)
• Ulvi Yenal (1953) (1962 - 1964)
• Refik Selimoğlu (1954 - 1956) (1960 - 1962)
• Sadik Giz (1957 - 1959)
• Selahattin Beyazıt (1969 - 1973) (1975 - 1979)
• Prof. Dr. Mustafa Pekin (1973 - 1975)
• Prof. Dr. Ali Uras (1979 - 1984) (1984 - 1986)
• Dr. Ali Tanrıyar (1986 - 1988) (1988 - 1990)
• Alp Yalman (1990 - 1992) (1992 - 1996)
• Faruk Süren (1996 - 2001)
• H. Mehmet Cansun (2001 - 2002)
• Özhan Canaydın (2002 - Present)

[Misafir]

Happy Birthday Hakan Şükür

We celebrate our dear captain Hakan Şükür’s birthday and wish him a very happy birthday, good health and happiness.

[Misafir]

Shabani Nonda Signed the Contract

The new player of Galatasaray Professional Football Team Shabani Nonda has signed a contract in order to participate Galatasaray in a ceremony held at Florya Metin Oktay Facilities Turgay Vardar Press Room on Friday, 31st August.

Board Member Haldun Üstünel, Galatasaray Football A.Ş. General Manager Adnan Sezgin and Team Manager Mustafa Turgun attended to the press conference, at which Nonda was presented to press agents.

Shabani Nonda, who will wear uniform number 20, said: “I am very proud of being a member of Galatasaray. I have come one of the biggest teams of Europe. I am so happy for the special interest of Galatasaray. I will demonstrate in the pitches how successful I will. I only know the 3 big teams in Turkey. I know Ümit Karan and Hakan Şükür, they are both very good players. I’m at 30 years old and I’ve faced so many things in my football life. I believe that there would be a nice competition among us and this competition will be the advantage of our team.

[Misafir]

Turkcell Super League: 4th Week Referee

Referees, who will manage 4th week matches of Turkcell Super League 2007-2008 Season, have been announced.

According to the announcement made by Football Association Central Referee Board, Mustafa Kamil Abitoğlu will manage the struggle Vestel Manisaspor vs. Galatasaray, which will be played on September 2, Sunday at 9.00 p.m. at Manisa.

[Misafir]

Seyrantepe Adjudication was Realized

The last tournament of the adjudication for the sports complex at Seyrantepe was realized at Ankara by TOKİ (Whole Residence Management)

4 companies, which propose last Monday, were invited to the second stage of the adjudication. Eren Talu Architecture – Alke Partnership, Sembol-BF Partnership Group, Bozoğlu-Ural-A&Z Partnership Group and Kuzu Construction participated to adjudication.

The best offer was suggested by Eren Talu Architecture – Alke Partnership.

Çağatay Göktayoğlu said that they would evaluate the offers and then explain the result of the adjudication in the near time.