| Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Πέραν (Peran Sports Club) |
|
| Founded | 1914 |
|---|---|
| Club colours | Yellow and Black |
| Chairman | Dimitri Kocias |
| Website | http://www.beyogluspor.org/ |
Beyoğluspor (Greek: Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Πέραν Peran Sports Club) is a sports club in Istanbul, Turkey. It fields teams in volleyball, basketball and football at the amateur level.[1]
Contents |
Since the second half of the 19th century the Greek community of Istanbul founded several sports clubs and organized sports activities such as the Pan-Constantinopolitan Games. In 1877 Hermes Sports Club was founded in Beyoğlu with significant activity until 1922, when it was forced to close by the local authorities.[2]
Beyoğluspor was founded in 1914[3] under the name Greek Football Team and soon became one of the most significant sports clubs of the city. With the establishment of the Republic of Turkey (1923) it was renamed to "Peran Sports Club" and later, that year, to Beyoğlusport.[2]
Until 1926, the club's activities were housed in the deserted gym of Hermes S.C.. However, after 1926 the club moved to the building of the "Ladies Charity Fraternity of Pera", also located in the region of Beyoğlu. Initially, Beyoğluspor maintained two departments, football and gymnastics. Later, there were established departments of wrestling and boxing and in 1926 of basketball and volleyball.[2]
During its history, many of the club's departments had been awarded in a variety of competitions. The Volleyball department of Beyoğluspor was one of the most distinguished teams in Turkey during the 1940s and 1950s, while it also won the Turkish championship for some years that period.[2] The footbal team managed to capture the 5th place at the Istanbul Football League in 1945,[4] while in the early 1960s it competed in the Super League.[2] The efforts of the club managers and presidents, such as G. Chalkousis, S. Kanakis, G. Mouzakis, A. Tripos, played a determining part in thes successes. On the other hand, several athletes were distinguished both in Greek but also in international level, like the World Champion in weightlifting and latter coach of the Greek weightlifting team, Christos Iakovou.[2]
The majority of the funs were among the Greek community of the city. However, Beyoğluspor witnessed a dramatic decrease of its supporters for a period when Lefter Küçükandonyadis, a football player of Greek descend and one of the best players in Turkey in 1950s and 1960s, played for Fenerbahçe, turning most of the local Greeks to change temporarily their support to Fenerbahçe.[5]
Today, Beyoğluspor is one of the few surviving Greek foundations of the city and fields teams in volleyball, basketball and football at the amateur level.[1]