Fenerbahce Concept Jersey

Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü (Sports Club; so it is in fact incorrect to refer to this club as Fenerbahce FC in English) were founded in 1907 but had to stay off the radar for about a year, since back then it was seriously frowned upon by the Ottoman authorities to be involved in a sport that was considered an “import” of the British who lived in Istanbul.

Fenerbahçe is the name of a neighbourhood on the Asian side of the Turkish megalopolis, which the club have called home since the first day of their existence. “Fener” comes from ancient Greek “fanári”, “bahçe” is Turkish for “garden”, and the name of the neighborhood actually means “the garden of the lighthouse”, since it was exactly a lighthouse that used to stick out in that coastal part of Asian Istanbul.

Turkey’s first national league champions

Sarı Kanaryalar, “The Yellow Canaries”, as the team are affectionately called, were the first winners of the Turkish national league in 1959. Ever since then, they have lifted Turkey’s “heaviest” trophy 18 more times, winning six Turkish Cup titles as well along the way.

Fenerbahçe have been very consistent in winning titles since the beginning of the professional era in Turkey, winning three or – more usually – four Championships each decade, with the exception of the nineties, when they finished top only at the end of the 1995-96 season.

It goes without saying that alongside city rivals Galatasaray and Beşiktaş they are the three clubs that have never been relegated from the top Turkish flight. Their biggest rivalry is against Galatasaray, being the yang to their “European” counterpart’s yin, kind of completing each other, and always giving one another an extra motive to keep improving, keep pushing for more successes, more titles, more fame and higher prestige.

At international level, Fenerbahçe “touched” a UEFA competition final in 2013. They reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, but despite beating Benfica 1-0 at home, they saw their Portuguese rivals make it through with a 3-1 win in Lisbon. Five years earlier they had reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, in their best season in Europe’s biggest club competition. It was Chelsea who shattered their dream that time. Their 2-1 home win proved just not enough, losing 2-0 in London.