Süper Lig

The Süper Lig is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system. It is one of the top leagues in the UEFA confederation and the winner of the competition automatically qualifies for the UEFA Champions League. Eighteen clubs compete annually, where a champion is decided and three clubs are promoted and relegated to and from the 1. Lig. The season runs from August to May, with each club playing 34 matches. Matches are played Friday through Monday. It is sponsored by Spor Toto and therefore officially known as the Spor Toto Süper Lig.^[2] The competition formed as the Milli Lig in 1958. It was the first national league competition held in Turkey. Previously, league competitions took place in a few cities, including Adana, Ankara, Eskişehir, Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, and Trabzon. It is currently ranked 10th in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years. A total of 66 clubs have competed in the Süper Lig, but only five have won the title: Fenerbahçe (18), Galatasaray (17), Beşiktaş (13), Trabzonspor (6), and Bursaspor (1). The current champions are Fenerbahçe, who won the 2010–11 season.

History

Football in Turkey stems back to the late 19th century, when Englishmen brought the game with them while living in Thessaloníki. The first league competition was the Istanbul Football League, which took place in 1904–05. The first champions were Imogene FC. The league went through several variations until the creation of the Milli Lig in 1959. Between the creation of the Istanbul Football League and Milli Lig, several other city leagues took place: Adana (1923), Ankara (1923), Eskişehir (1920), Izmir (1923), Kayseri (1936), and Trabzon (1923). The Milli Küme was the first step towards a national league competition. Started in 1937, the Milli Küme was an inter-city competition between clubs in Ankara, Istanbul, and İzmir. The competition lasted until 1950. The Federation Cup was created in 1956 and used as a cup competition to decide a champion. This champion would go on to participate in the European Cup. The cup competition was held for two years until it was replaced by the Milli Lig. Beşiktaş won both times, and represented twice Turkey in the European Cup during the two-year span.^[3][4][5]

The top clubs from Ankara, Istanbul, and İzmir competed in the 1959 Milli Lig. The first season took place in the calendar year of 1959, instead of 1958-59, because the qualifying stages took place in 1958. The clubs who competed in the first season were Adalet, Beşiktaş, Galatasaray, Beykoz, Fatih Karagümrük, Fenerbahçe, Istanbulspor, Vefa (Istanbul), Ankaragücü, Ankara Demirspor, Gençlerbirliği, Hacettepe (Ankara), Altay, Göztepe, İzmirspor, Karşıyaka (İzmir). Five of these clubs are competing in the 2010–11 Süper Lig (Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Ankaragücü, and Gençlerbirliği). The first champions were Fenerbahçe and the first Gol Kralı (Goal King) was Metin Oktay. No clubs were promoted or relegated during the first season.^[6]

The 2.Lig (Second League) was created at the start of the 1963–64 season and the Milli Lig or Turkish National League became known as the 1.Lig (First League). Before the creation of a second league, the bottom three clubs competed with regional league winners in a competition called the Baraj Games. The top three teams of the seven team group were promoted to the Milli Lig. After the creation of a new second division in 2001, known as the 1.Lig, the formerly titled 1.Lig became the Süper Lig.^[7]

Competition format

There are 18 clubs in the Süper Lig. During the course of the season (from August to May) each club plays the others twice (a double round robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 34 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head record, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the head-to head record and then goal difference determine the winner. The three lowest placed teams are relegated to the 1.Lig and the top two teams from the 1.Lig, together with the winner of play-offs involving the third to sixth placed 1.Lig clubs, are promoted in their place.^[8]

Qualification for European competitions

As of the start of the 2010–11 Süper Lig season qualification for European competitions is as follows: champions qualify for the group stage of the Champions League, runners-up qualify for the third qualifying round of the Champions League, third place qualifies for the third qualifying round of the Europa League, and fourth place qualifies for the second qualifying round of the same competition. A fifth spot is given to the winner of the Turkish Cup, who qualify for the play-off round of the Europa League. If the Turkish Cup winner has already qualified for European competition through their league finish, then the runners-up take their place in the play-off round. If the runners-up have also qualified, the next highest placed club in the league takes their place.

• 7   (7) Ukrainian Premier League (34.633)
• 8 (9) Portuguese Liga (33.796)
• 9 (11) Süper Lig (31.450)
• 10 (10) Eredivisie (29.796)
• 11 (12) Super League Greece (27.566)^[9]

Clubs

The following 18 clubs will compete in the Süper Lig during the 2011–12 season.

• ^a: Founding member of the Süper Lig
• ^b: Never been relegated from the Süper Lig

Past winners

Only five clubs have been champions since the beginning of the The Federation Cup in 1957 and Super League in 1959: Fenerbahçe (18), Galatasaray (17), Beşiktaş (13), Trabzonspor (6), and Bursaspor (1).^[10]

Star rating system

Clubs are permitted to place a golden star above their crest on their uniforms for every five national championships won. For the 2010/11 season Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe are permitted three golden stars, Beşiktaş are permitted two golden stars and Trabzonspor are permitted one golden star to be placed above their crest on their jerseys.^[11]

*NOTE: Beşiktaş have formally requested that championships won in the 1956/57 and 1957/58 versions of the Turkish Federation Cup to be counted as Turkish Professional First Division championships. The Turkish Football Federation's ruling on this matter was announced in a press release on March 25, 2002. The press release indicated that the championships won by Beşiktaş in the Turkish Federation Cup will be considered as national championships but the Turkish Federation Cup can not be considered as the precursor to the Turkish Professional First Division (later named Süper Lig) and as such these titles can not be categorized as a Turkish Professional First Division championships.^[12] However, the Turkish Football Federation ruled that Beşiktaş has two additional national championships due to their success in the Turkish Federation Cup during the 1956/57 and 1957/58 seasons and as such for the awarding of stars representing the national titles won, Beşiktaş have two additional titles added to their Süper Lig titles.

Participation in the league

All-time top scorers

As of 22 May 2011 (Bold denotes players still playing in the league).

All-time most appearances

As of 22 May 2011 (Bold denotes players still playing in the league).

See also

• List of sports attendance figures — the Super League in a worldwide context
• List of foreign Süper Lig players
• Gol Kralı
• All-time Turkish Super League table
• Football records in Turkey
• 2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal

References

External links

• News About Turkish Football Leagues (English)
• Spor Toto Süper Lig Web oficial (Turkish)
• Turkish Football Federation website (Turkish)
• Football scores for Turkish Football Leagues (English)