1.
Turkish Football Federation
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The Turkish Football Federation, also called the Turkish Football Association, is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and it organizes the Turkish national teams, the Turkish football league and the Turkish Cup. The Turkish Cup changed its name to Federation Cup in the 1980–81 season and it is now known as the Ziraat Bank Turkish Cup due to the sponsorship reasons. Turkey had several unsuccessful bids to host the European Championship, Turkey tried a joint bid with 2004-European Champions Greece for UEFA Euro 2008, which failed. Their bid for UEFA Euro 2012 was also unsuccessful, with the going to Poland. The federation also submitted a bid to host UEFA Euro 2016, France beat bids of Turkey and Italy, which had the least votes in first voting round. Turkey had already hosted a Champions League final and the 2009 UEFA Cup final in Istanbul, at the youth-level, they hosted the UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in 2008, as they already hosted the event back in 1993
2.
Turkey national football team
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The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. Turkey has qualified three times for the World Cup, in 1950,1954, and 2002, although they withdrew from the 1950 event, Turkey has also qualified four times for the UEFA European Championship, in 1996,2000,2008, and 2016. They have reached the semi-finals of three tournaments, the 2002 World Cup, the 2003 Confederations Cup, and Euro 2008. The Turkish national team played their first ever match against Romania in 1923 drawing 2–2, zeki Rıza Sporel is considered as the first big star of Turkish football as he scored the first two goals against Romania. Turkey played their first ever match at the 1924 Summer Olympics losing 5–2 to Czechoslovakia. Although Turkey qualified for the 1950 World Cup, beating Syria 7–0, Turkey then qualified for the 1954 World Cup after a play-off with Spain. The Turkish team first lost 4–1 to Spain, but a 1–0 win a few days later initiated a replay, on that occasion, they tied 2–2 after, booking their place after a coin toss. Turkey was put in a group along with Hungary and West Germany, the Turks, however, never played Hungary due to the tournament format, and a 4–1 defeat by the Germans was followed by Turkey carrying out a 7–0 win over South Korea. Turkey lost the play-off to West Germany 7–2, in 1956 Turkey did however play Hungary, in a friendly match in Istanbul, beating what was one of the strongest teams of the era 3–1. Lefter Küçükandonyadis, all-time best player of Turkey netted in two goals during the tournament, despite the introduction of a national league, and showings by Turkish clubs in European competition, the 1960s would be a barren time for the national team. Most players from the 1954 World Cup squad were retired, the 1970s saw Turkey holding back in the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, but the team was a point too short to qualify for both Euro 1972 and Euro 1976. In the 1980s the Turkish team also suffered their worst defeats with 8–0 scorelines against Poland, yet the 1990 World Cup qualifiers would mark a turning point for Turkish football, with Turkey only missing out on qualification in the final game. Prominent players in this period were Rıdvan Dilmen, Oğuz Çetin, Rıza Çalımbay, Feyyaz Uçar, in 1990, German coach Sepp Piontek was put in charge of the national team. Under his guidance, a group of new players debuted for the national team, many of these players which include, Bülent Korkmaz, Alpay Özalan, Sergen Yalçın, Rüştü Reçber, and Hakan Şükür would become the backbone of the national team for many years. Pionteks mission came to an end in 1993, where he was replaced by Fatih Terim, Turkey qualified for its first major tournament since 1954, marking another turning point for Turkish football after having failed to qualify for both Euro 1992 and the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The appointment of Piontek was a move by another German coach Jupp Derwall. Turkey qualified for Euro 1996, beating both Switzerland and Sweden 2–1 along the way, despite a solid performance during the qualifiers, Turkey lost all their matches without scoring a single goal. They did, however, go home with an award, the fair-play award, Turkey failed to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, they however qualified for Euro 2000 after winning a play-off against Ireland
3.
Turkish Cup
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The Turkish Cup is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief period with Fortis, its sponsored name was Fortis Türkiye Kupası. Now Ziraat Bankası is the sponsor and the name for the cup is Ziraat Türkiye Kupası. The cup was created in 1962 and has taken every year since then. Many different formats, including a knockout competition and group stages, have been tried and finally for the 2012–13 season. A record 156 teams compete in the tournament, after five knockout rounds, a round-robin group stage is contested. Group winners and runners-up play in semi-finals and finals, galatasaray are the current holders of the cup. The current format of the Turkish Cup consists of 156 clubs from the top four leagues of the Turkish football league system, the first round consists of 86 clubs from the TFF Third League and Turkish Regional Amateur League. The second round consists of winners from the first round alongside clubs from the Süper Lig, TFF First League, teams playing in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League enter at the fourth round. After the fifth round,8 winners are drawn into two groups of four teams and play in a round-robin tournament, winners and runners-up of the groups play in semi-finals as two-legged ties. Winners of the play the final match in a neutral ground. The final consists of a match that takes place in a neutral setting. The winner of the cup earns a spot in the round of the UEFA Europa League. If the winner of the cup has already secured a spot in a European competition because of their league finish, because of this, Kayseri Erciyesspor competed in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup despite being relegated to the TFF First League that season. Turkish Football Federation awards the Turkish Cup trophy to the winners of the final, Cup winners and runners-up receive 50 medals each. Also prize money is given away, TFF awards prizes not by winning a round, but just by reaching the round. The final match is an exception, where runners-up receive less than cup winners, the prize money is in United States dollars. A sum of $10,500,000 worth prize money is awarded to participating teams, as an honour of the tournament, the cup winner club wears a roundel of the Turkish flag in the next footballing season. K
4.
Turkish Super Cup
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The Turkish Super Cup, as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous seasons Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as the Cumhurbaşkanlığı Kupası from 1966 to 1998, no competition was held between 1999 and 2005. The rebranded TFF Süper Kupa is a curtain raiser for the footballing season. In case of a team achieving the double, the Turkish Cup runners-up become finalists, the 2016 Turkish Super Cup was the most recent match-up, taking place in this fashion. 2015–16 Turkish Cup winner Galatasaray played and won against the 2015–16 Süper Lig champions Beşiktaş JK, Galatasaray is the most successful team of the competition with 15 trophies and 23 appearances. Between 1966 and 1980 the cup was called Cumhurbaşkanlığı Kupası, following 12 Eylül, it was renamed to Devlet Başkanlığı Kupası for the 1981 and 1982 finals. After the resumption of democracy, the tournament was renamed back to Cumhurbaşkanlığı Kupası, between 1999 and 2005 no competition was held. In a bid to rebrand and revive the tournament as a cup, an inaugural 2006 final took place in Germany. The success of the new led to the continuation of TFF Süper Kupa as it is known. During the Cumhurbaşkanlığı Kupası era, all matches were played in the Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, the only exception to this tradition was the 1975 final, played in Cebeci İnönü Stadium. After the 2006 rebranding, the cup continued to be contested in a neutral venue, the finalists always consisted of Süper Lig champions and Turkish Cup winners, but there were exceptions to this rule. In 1968, Fenerbahçe won both the league and the cup, thus achieving the double, TFF decided to award the Cumhurbaşkalığı Kupası directly to the club, but went on to change the regulations. Between 1973 and 1977, in case of a team achieving the double, during 12 Eylül, elect government was abolished and between 1981 and 1984, no competition in the name of Chancellery was held. Thus, TFF made another change, and awarded the second finalists spot to the Süper Lig runners-up. 1983,1984,1990 and 1993 finals took place in that fashion. com
5.
TFF First League
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The TFF First League is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was called Türk Telekom Lig A in the 2006–2007 season, before the 2005–06 season, the top three teams were promoted to Süper Lig and the bottom three teams were relegated to the Turkish Second League Category B. Since the 2005–06 season through 2008–09, the top two teams are promoted to the Süper Lig, the teams finishing third through sixth competed in a play-off. The third-placed team played a match with the team, while the fourth-placed team played against the fifth-placed team. The winners of both matches then played against each other to decide the team that was promoted. In 2009–10 the third team was determined by play-off group games, in which the 3rd, in 2010–11 play-off status changed again and elimination match system came back but this time on a two match basis. During the 2012-2016 seasons the league was known under the terms of a deal as the PTT1. Lig)1 Kayseri Erciyesspor renamed themselves as Kayserispor, Kayserispor also became Kayseri Erciyesspor before the start of 2004–2005 season. 2 These teams were play-off winners,1 Third teams were play-off winner. Turkish Football Federation Süper Lig TFF Second League TFF Third League Turkish Regional Amateur League Amatör Futbol Ligleri Türkiye Kupası - Turkish cup
6.
TFF Second League
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TFF Second League or TFF2. Lig, is the level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in 2001-02 season with the name of Turkish Second League Category B as a continuation of then second level division, in 2005–06 the name of the league was changed to Lig B. Since the 2007–08 season the current name is used along with sponsor names. Turkish Second Football League is a football league in Turkey. It was the second division in Turkish football since its foundation in 1963–64 until the formation of the new league system in 2001–02. The Second Football League was divided into two categories in the 2001–02 season, Category A and Category B, since 2007-08 Category A has continued as the TFF First League and Category B has continued as the TFF Second League. In 2009–2010 season the league contained 55 clubs spread out over 4 groups of 11 or 12 teams, the league is played over two rounds. In the first round, ten teams in five groups play with teams in their group. Top two teams of each group qualify to the play-off group and they form a play-off league and play a regular season starting with zero points. The remaining eight teams in each group keep their points and they play again with each other and these new eight-teamed groups are called classifying groups. The top two teams in each group are promoted to the TFF First League. The three teams classified as third to fifth in each play-off group join the extra play-offs with top teams from each of the five classifying groups and these eight teams play a knockout competition to determine the last team to be promoted. The bottom three teams of the groups are relegated to the TFF Third League. The top four clubs from the Promotion Group of the TFF Third League are then promoted to the TFF Second League, in 2010–2011 season the league was played with 36 teams in two groups, white and red. Winner of the group directly promotes to Bank Asya 1. In each group 2nd through 5th teams play games with the respective team in the other group to determine the finalists. Finalists play a game to determine the third team to be promoted
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TFF Third League
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TFF Third League or TFF3. Lig, is the level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in 2001–02 season as a continuation of then third level division Turkish Third Football League, 2010–11 is the 10th season of the league. In its tenth season the league was named Spor-Toto Third League due to sponsorship, Turkish Third Football League is a defunct football league in Turkey. Turkish Third Football League continued as TFF Third League in the new system after 2001. Third level of Turkish League was renamed first TFF Second League Category A, a comparison of new and old league systems can be seen in see also section of this article. Since 2010-–11 season status of the league has been changed, League is played with 54 teams in three groups,18 in each. The groups were determined by casting lots on a non-regional basis, the winners of each group directly promotes to TFF Second League. In each group 2nd through 5th teams play promotion play-offs to determine second team to be promoted to TFF Second League, bottom three teams in each group are relegated to Turkish Regional Amateur League. 1967–68 Turkish Third Football League season League was founded in 1967–68, in the first year 17 teams attended. Two teams relegated from Turkish Second Football League, Beyoğluspor, Davutpaşa, at the end of the season winner promoted to TFF Second League, no team relegated. Two groups were formed on geographical basis, Red Group for East, each group contained 14 teams and one best promoted and one worst relegated in each group. League was refounded after four seasons, Promotion and relegation, 2008-09 TFF Third League season In 2008–09 season the league contained 51 clubs spread out over 5 groups with 10 or 11 clubs. The groups were determined in regions, the top two clubs from each group qualified to the Promotion Group. The remaining groups with teams were called Classification Groups. Top four teams in Promotion Group are directly promoted to TFF Second League, the three teams classified 5th to 7th in Promotion Group join the extra play-offs with the top teams from each of the 5 Classifying Groups. These 8 teams play a knockout competition to determine the last two teams to be promoted, the bottom two teams of Classifying Groups are relegated to the Amateur Leagues. Promotion from amateur leagues, Menemen Belediyespor, Bandırmaspor, Keçiören Belediyespor, TKİ Tavşanlı Linyitspor, Promotion and relegation, 2009–10 TFF Third League season In 2009-10 season league was played by 53 teams,11 teams in groups 1–4 and 9 teams in group 5
8.
UEFA Champions League
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The UEFA Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations and contested by top-division European clubs. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, the UEFA Champions League final is the most watched annual sporting event worldwide. The final of the 2012–13 tournament had the highest TV ratings to date, the pre-1992 competition was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the format was expanded, incorporating a round-robin group stage to include clubs that finished runner-up of some nations top-level league. Clubs that finish next-in-line in each top level league, having not qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition. In its present format, the UEFA Champions League begins in mid-July with three qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams enter the stage, joining 22 other teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams, the eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competitions history, having won the tournament 11 times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, followed by England, the competition has been won by 22 different clubs,12 of which have won it more than once. Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins, Milan were the last holders to defend their title. The reigning champions are Real Madrid, who secured their title in the competition after defeating Atlético Madrid on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the 2016 final. The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in 1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs. In 1930, the Coupe des Nations, the first attempt to create a cup for national clubs of Europe, was played and organised by Swiss club Servette. Held in Geneva, it brought together ten champions from across the continent, the tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary. Latin European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949 and it was conceived in Paris in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs Cup. The first edition of the European Cup took place during the 1955–56 season, the first European Cup match took place on 4 September 1955, and ended in a 3–3 draw between Sporting CP and Partizan. The first goal in European Cup history was scored by João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP, the inaugural final took place at the Parc des Princes between Stade de Reims and Real Madrid
9.
UEFA Europa League
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The UEFA Europa League, previously called the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues, previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered the same competition, in 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup. For the 2004–05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knockout phase, the 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and changed qualifying criteria. The winner enters at least at the round, and will enter the group stage if the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders is not used. The title has been won by 27 different clubs,12 of which have won the more than once. The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971, the competition grew from 11 teams during the first cup to 64 teams by the last cup which was played in 1970–71. It had become so important on the European football scene that in the end it was taken over by UEFA, the UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, with an all-English final of Wolverhampton Wanderers versus Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the first honours. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool in 1973, Borussia would win the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reach the final again in 1980. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 1976, beating Club Brugge in the final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg and Real Madrid won the competition twice each,1989 saw the commencement of the Italian clubs domination, when Maradonas Napoli beat Stuttgart. The 1990s started with two finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule. Juventus won the competition for a time in 1993 and Internazionale kept the cup in Italy the following year. 1995 saw a third final, with Parma proving their consistency. The only final with no Italians during that decade was in 1996, Parma won the cup in 1999, which ended the Italian club era. Liverpool won the competition for the time in 2001 and Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments. In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious, either side of Sevillas success, two Russian teams, CSKA Moscow in 2005 and Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2008, had their glory and yet another former Soviet club, Ukraines Shakhtar Donetsk, won in 2009. Atlético Madrid would themselves win twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final, in 2013, Chelsea would become the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year
