The Ultimate Galatasaray - American History Information Guide and Reference

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Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (Galatasaray Sports Club) is a Turkish sports club based in İstanbul which is most famous for its football section. Founded in 1905 by Ali Sami Yen, Galatasaray currently has 15 Turkish league championships, and also won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000.

Galatasaray is the only team that has won the UEFA Cup without being beaten in a single match, and is also notable for being the first team to win the competition after having been knocked out of the Champions League. In winning the UEFA Cup during season 1999/00, beating Arsenal of England on penalties, Galatasaray became the first Turkish club to win a European trophy. This honour was not achieved without controversy, as two supporters of Leeds United of England were slain by Galatasaray fans before the two clubs met in the Istanbul leg of the competition semifinal. However, Turkish authorities claim this incident had little to do with football.

The club is the most internationally recognised Turkish club as a result of its domination of its domestic league and frequent appearances in international club competitions over the past decade. The club is also one of the "Big Three" clubs in Turkey - the others are the arch-rivals Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş.

Galatasaray is famous for its outstandingly enthusiastic home support, especially for its supporters' habit of displaying enormous banners throughout its ground, welcoming them "to Hell!" The club's ground, Ali Sami Yen Stadyumu, reopened for the 2004-05 season, although a massive renovation project is still in progress.

Contents

1 Championships

2 Presidents

3 Famous Galatasaray players and Managers (past and present)

4 Galatasaray Lycée and University

5 External links

6 Galata

7 External Links About English Hooliganism