# İstanbulspor

İstanbulspor Kulübü is a Turkish football and sports club founded by Istanbul High School students in 1926. In 2004–05, they were relegated from the Turkish Süper Lig (Super League) to the TFF First League. For many decades, it was the fourth most famous and well-developed professional football club in Istanbul, coming after Beşiktaş, Galatasaray, and Fenerbahçe. After being bought by the Uzan family in 1990, it has been repossessed by the government and resold to third parties.
Their greatest success is the Turkish championship title won in 1932.

## History

İstanbulspor was founded by Kemal Halim Gürgen, also known by his native Albanian name of Qemal Omari and Istanbul Boys High School students. It was founded on 4 January 1926, being one of the first sports clubs of the Turkish Republican period. In the 1931–32 season, İstanbulspor won both the Istanbul League and Turkish Football Championship.
Until 1990, the club was managed by the Istanbul High School foundation. During this period, İstanbulspor has been relegated from and promoted to the top division several times. Also, it relegated to the amateur level in 1979 and played at the amateur level for two seasons. In 1984, club was relegated to third league. In 1990, Uzan Holding, led by Turkish businessman Cem Uzan, bought the club and converted it into İstanbulspor A.Ş., İstanbulspor incorporation. After that, Istanbulspor was funded by Uzan family and promoted back to first league in 1995. Istanbulspor became one of the most successful Turkish football clubs again, as they reached fourth place in the 1997–98 season and played in the UEFA Cup. Uzan family withdrew its support from İstanbulspor in 2001. Because of this, İstanbulspor fell into financial crisis and came ninth in the 2002–03 season.
Eventually, in 2003, the Turkish government took over the financially collapsed club. However, Istanbulspor were relegated to the second league in 2004–05. In 2006, İstanbulspor were resold by the government to former Turkish player Saffet Sancaklı's Marmara Spor Faaliyetleri San. ve Tic. A.Ş. for $3,250,000. In 2007, Ömer Sarıalioğlu, a Turkish businessman, bought the club from Saffet Sancaklı. İstanbulspor tried to avoid relegation at the last two seasons. İstanbulspor escaped from relegation in the 2008–09 season after finishing sixth in the Third Group. However, İstanbulspor finished the second group of the 2nd League next season as second from last and were finally relegated to the Third League, which is the fourth level of the Turkish football system. They played in the promotion play-offs in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons but failed to achieve success. İstanbulspor finally promoted to the Second League after defeating Zonguldak Kömürspor and Çorum Belediyespor successively in promotion play-offs in the 2014–15 season.

## Colours and crest

The colours of İstanbulspor are yellow and black, which are the colours of Istanbul High School. Also, white is accepted as a third colour, but this is not official. Having represented Turkey in an international competition, İstanbulspor was granted the privilege to use the Turkish flag in its emblem, located on the top left corner. The emblem of Istanbul High School is in the middle.

## League participations

* Süper Lig (25): 1959–67, 1968–72, 1995–2005, 2022–24
* TFF First League (18): 1967–68, 1972–75, 1981–84, 1992–95, 2005–08, 2017–2022, 2024-
* TFF Second League (16): 1975–79, 1984–92, 2008–10, 2015–17
* TFF Third League (5): 2010–15
* Turkish Regional Amateur League (35): 1926–59, 1979–81

## European history

    As of 27 August 1998
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| UEFA Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 |
| Total | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 10 | +6 |
UEFA Cup:
| Season | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1998–99 | Q2 | Argeș Pitești | 4–2 | 0–2 | 4–4 (a) |
UEFA Intertoto Cup:
| Season | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1997 | Group Stage | Vasas | 2–0 | — | 1st |
| 1997 | Group Stage | Werder Bremen | — | 0–0 | 1st |
| 1997 | Group Stage | Öster | 3–2 | — | 1st |
| 1997 | Group Stage | Universitāte Rīga | — | 5–1 | 1st |
| 1997 | Semi-final | Lyon | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 |

## Honours
### European competitions

* UEFA Intertoto Cup
** Semi-finals (1): 1997

### Domestic competitions

* Turkish Football Championship
** Winners (1): 1932
* TFF First League
** Winners (1): 1967–68
** Runners-up (1): 1994–95
* TFF Second League
** Winners (2): 1991–92, 2016–17
* TFF Third League
** Winners (1): 2014–15

### Regional competitions

* Istanbul Football League
** Winners (1): 1931–32
* Istanbul Shield
** Winners (1): 1931–32
* Istanbul 2. Football League
** Winners (1): 1926–27

### Others

* Spor Toto Cup
** Winners (1): 1970–71
* TSYD Cup
** Winners (2): 1996, 2000

## Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| 1924-77 | - | - |
| 1977-78 | - | Pereja |
| 1978-81 | - | - |
| 1981-82 | - | Arko |
| 1982-83 | - | Dokusan |
| 1983-84 | - | - |
| 1984-85 | - | Kazal |
| 1985-88 | - | - |
| 1988-91 | - | Emlak Bankası |
| 1991-92 | Adidas | Conti/Rowenta |
| 1992-93 | - | - |
| 1993-94 | Diadora | Seat |
| 1994-95 | Adidas | - |
| 1995-96 | Umbro | Lee |
| 1996-2000 | Umbro | Telsim |
| 2000-01 | Umbro | |
| 2001-02 | Umbro | Netbul |
| 2002-03 | Umbro | Netbul |
| 2003-04 | Umbro | - |
| 2004-05 | Le Coq Sportif | Turkcell |
| 2023-24 | Raru SPQOR | Turkcell |

## Club officials

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Osman Zeki Korkmaz |
| Assistant Manager | Vural Önen |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Senih Yaban |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Yasin Çalışkan |
| Match Analyst | Eyüp Genç |
| Physiotherapist | İlhan Kafkas Altay Çetinkaya |
| Massur | Adnan Beyoğlu Recep Karaman |
| Nutritionist | Fatih Akdağ |
| Outfitter | Şenol Taşdemir Cihat Özdemir |
| Interpreter | Erol Kurt |
| General Manager | Gökhan Kaplan |

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 13 February, 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | TUR | İsa Doğan |
| 2 | DF | TUR | Yunus Bahadır |
| 3 | DF | TUR | Duhan Aksu |
| 4 | DF | TUR | Fatih Tultak |
| 6 | MF | LTU | Modestas Vorobjovas |
| 7 | MF | GAB | David Sambissa |
| 9 | FW | TUR | Emir Kaan Gültekin |
| 11 | MF | TUR | Dijlan Aydın |
| 13 | DF | SEN | Racine Coly |
| 14 | MF | TUR | Kubilay Sönmez (captain) |
| 15 | DF | TUR | Yiğit Fidan (on loan from Fenerbahçe) |
| 16 | MF | TUR | Kerem Şen (on loan from Trabzonspor) |
| 17 | MF | TUR | Enver Sarıalioğlu |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | MLI | Gaoussou Diarra |
| 20 | FW | TUR | Özcan Şahan |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Demeaco Duhaney |
| 23 | DF | TUR | Okan Erdoğan |
| 28 | GK | TUR | Alp Tutar |
| 30 | FW | GAM | Alieu Cham |
| 34 | MF | KOS | Florian Loshaj |
| 35 | GK | TUR | Yiğit Yitmez |
| 44 | MF | TUR | Yusuf Özer |
| 70 | FW | TUR | Şeref Özcan |
| 77 | FW | MKD | Mario Krstovski |
| 83 | MF | AUT | Isa Dayakli |
| 97 | FW | TUR | Eren Arda Şan |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | TUR | Alp Arda (at Iğdır until 30 June 2025) |
| — | DF | TUR | Arda Belen (at Büyükçekmece Tepecikspor until 30 June 2025) |
| — | DF | TUR | Abdurrahman Emek (at Büyükçekmece Tepecikspor until 30 June 2025) |
| — | DF | TUR | Bartu Kırtaş (at Beyoğlu Yeni Çarşı until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | TUR | Kubilay Köylü (at Yeni Mersin İY until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | SEN | Mendy Mamadou (at Sakaryaspor until 30 June 2025) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | TUR | Ahmet Can Özer (at Tire 2021 until 30 June 2025) |
| — | MF | TUR | Tunahan Şamdanlı (at Isparta 32 until 30 June 2025) |
| — | FW | TUR | Berk Ali Nizam (at Aliağa until 30 June 2025) |
| — | FW | KOS | Jetmir Topalli (at Pendikspor until 30 June 2025) |
| — | FW | TUR | Yusuf Tunç (at Elazığspor until 30 June 2025) |
| — | FW | TUR | İzzet Topatar (at Çayelispor until 30 June 2025) |

### Retired numbers

| No. | Player | Nationality | Position | İstanbulspor debut | Last match | Ref |
| 22 | Zeki Çelik | Turkey | Right back | 3 September 2016 | 4 May 2018 | |

## Notable players

Europe

### Bosnia and Herzegovina

* Aldin Čajić
* Fahrudin Omerović
* Elvir Bolić
* Elvir Baljić
* Hadis Zubanović
* Enes Demirović

### Bulgaria

* Zdravko Zdravkov

### Russia

* Oleg Salenko

### Turkey

* Zeki Çelik
* Volkan Babacan
* Ümit Davala
* Turhan Akra
* Sergen Yalçın
* Tanju Çolak
* Aykut Kocaman
* Oğuz Çetin
Asia

### Iran

* Allahyar Sayyadmanesh

## List of presidents

    As of 6 June 2019
* 1925–1935: Kemal Halim Gürgen
* 1935–1941: Fethi Tanalay
* 1941–1946: Murat Çelikel
* 1946–1968: Ali Sohtorik
* 1968–1970: Talha Dinçel
* 1970–1972: Nirun Şahingiray
* 1972–1973: Hayri Aydıner
* 1973–1977: Hüseyin Taşdelenler
* 1977–1978: Ural Aydıner
* 1978–1980: Orhan Togar
* 1980–1981: Dursun Öztürk
* 1981–1984: Fethi Erhan
* 1984–1987: Muhsin Sarıcı
* 1987–1988: Mehmet Yıldırım
* 1988–1992: Aziz Alturfan
* 1992–1998: Cem Uzan
* 1998–2002: Tayfun Gündoğar
* 2002–2004: Adnan Sezgin
* 2004–2006: Mehmet Akif Yaşin
* 2006–2008: Saffet Sancaklı
* 2008–2015: Ömer Sarıalioğlu
* 2015–present: Ecmel Faik Sarıalioğlu