Football in Turkey stems back to the late 19th century, when
Englishmen brought the game with them while living in
Salonica (then part of the Ottoman Empire). The first league competition was the
Istanbul Football League, which took place in the 1904–05 season. The league went through several variations until the creation of the
Millî Lig (Süper Lig) in 1959. Between the creation of the Istanbul League and Millî Lig, several other regional leagues took place:
Adana (1924),
Ankara (1922),
Eskişehir (1924),
İzmir (1924), Bursa (1924), and
Trabzon (1922), to name a few. The first competition to bring forth a national champion was the former
Turkish Football Championship, which began in
1924 and continued until
1951. The championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of each of the country's top regional leagues. The
National Division (Turkish:
Millî Küme) was the first national league competition in Turkey. Started in 1937, the National Division consisted of the strongest clubs from the
Ankara,
Istanbul, and
İzmir leagues. The championship lasted until 1950. in the
Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium In 1952 the
TFF introduced professionalism in Turkish football. As a result, the former Turkish Football Championship lost its first level status. Since there was no top-level national champion in the period from 1952 to 1955, the Turkish federation sent Galatasaray, winners of the 1955–56 Istanbul League, to the
European Cup in the
1956–57 season. Protests of some Ankara and İzmir clubs regarding this decision, as well as
UEFA deciding to only accept national champions to the European Cup from that season on induced the TFF to establish the
Federation Cup in 1956. It is the first professional national football league in Turkey and the predecessor to the Super League (Millî Lig). The competition took place as a knock-out tournament to decide a national champion. This champion would go on to participate in the
European Cup. The competition was held for two seasons until it was replaced by the Millî Lig.
Beşiktaş won both editions and qualified for the European Cup during the two-year span. However, since the TFF failed to register their name for the draw in time, Beşiktaş could not participate in the
1957–58 season after all. The top clubs of Ankara, Istanbul, and İzmir competed in the
1959 Turkish National League. The first season took place in the calendar year of 1959, instead of 1958 to 1959, since the qualifying stages took place in 1958. The 16 clubs who competed in the first season were:
Adalet (Istanbul),
Altay (İzmir),
Ankaragücü (Ankara),
Ankara Demirspor (Ankara),
Beşiktaş (Istanbul),
Beykoz (Istanbul),
Karagümrük (Istanbul),
Fenerbahçe (Istanbul),
Galatasaray (Istanbul),
Gençlerbirliği (Ankara),
Göztepe (İzmir),
Hacettepe Gençlik (Ankara),
İstanbulspor,
İzmirspor,
Karşıyaka (İzmir), and
Vefa (Istanbul). The first champions were Fenerbahçe and the first "
Gol Kralı" (top scorer) was
Metin Oktay. No clubs were
promoted or relegated at the end of the first season. The
2. Lig (Second League) was created at the start of the
1963–64 season and the Millî Lig became known as the 1.Lig (First League). Before the foundation of a second division, the bottom three clubs competed with regional league winners in a competition called the
Baraj Games. The top three teams of the group were promoted to the Süper Lig. After the foundation of a new second division in 2001, known as the 1. Lig, the formerly titled 1. Lig was rebranded as Süper Lig. The Süper Lig is home of the
Fenerbahçe–Galatasaray derby, the most watched football game in Turkey. It is considered to be one of the best and most intense in the world, being ranked among the greatest
football rivalries of all time by various international sources. On 12 December 2023, the Turkish Football Federation suspended all league games indefinitely following an incident during a match between
MKE Ankaragucu and
Caykur Rizespor which involved fans being able to successfully invade the pitch and people, including recent MKE Ankaragucu president
Faruk Koca, being arrested after attacking referee
Halil Umut Meler. Koca would resign from MKE Ankaragucu as well. == Format ==