Süper Lig

This article is about the league in Turkey. For the league in Northern Cyprus, see Süper Lig (Northern Cyprus).

Spor Toto Süper Lig
Country	Turkey
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1956
Number of teams	18
Relegation to	TFF First League
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	Türkiye Kupası Süper Kupa
UEFA cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Current champions	İstanbul Başakşehir (1st title) (2019–20)
TV	beIN Sports 1 TRT (Highlights only) MP & Silva (Global highlights)
Website	Official website
2020-21

The Süper Lig (ˈsypæɾ liɟ, Super League) 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 group stage. 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. 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 11th 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 just 5 have won the title: Galatasaray (22), Fenerbahçe (19), Beşiktaş (15), Trabzonspor (6) and Bursaspor (1).

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.

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 16 clubs who competed in the first season were: Adalet (İstanbul), Altay (İzmir), Ankaragücü, Ankara Demirspor, Beşiktaş (İstanbul), Beykoz (İstanbul), Fatih Karagümrük (İstanbul), Fenerbahçe (İstanbul), Galatasaray (İstanbul), Gençlerbirliği (Ankara), Göztepe (İzmir), Hacettepe (Ankara), İstanbulspor, İzmirspor, Karşıyaka (İzmir Province) and Vefa (Istanbul). Just 4 of those clubs are competing in the most recent 2012–13 Süper Lig: Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Gençlerbirliği. The first champions were Fenerbahçe and the first Gol Kralı (Goal King) 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 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.

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.

Qualification for European competitions

As of the start of the 2012–13 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.

Last updated 17 August 2014

• 01 (1) La Liga
• 02 (2) Premier League
• 03 (2) Bundesliga
• 04 (6) Primeira Liga
• 05 (4) Serie A
• 06 (5) Ligue 1
• 07 (11) Süper Lig
• 08 (10) Eredivisie
• 09 (7) Ukrainian Premier League
• 12 (6) Russian Football Premier League

2020–21 Teams

Main article: 2019–20 Süper Lig

Club	Province	Position in 2019-20	First season in top division	Seasons in top division	First season of current spell	Top division titles	Last title
Alanyaspor	Antalya	5th	2016–17	5	2016–17	—
Ankaragücüa	Ankara	18th	1959	52	2018–19	—
Antalyaspor	Antalya	9th	1982–83	25	2015–16	—
Beşiktaşab	Istanbul	03 !3rd	1959	63	1959	15	2016–17
Çaykur Rizespor	Rize	15th	1979–80	20	2018–19	—
Denizlispor	Denizli	14th	1983–84	21	2019–20	—
Fenerbahçeab	Istanbul	7th	1959	63	1959	19	2013–14
Galatasarayab	Istanbul	6th	1959	63	1959	22	2018–19
Gaziantepb	Gaziantep	8th	2019–20	2	2019–20	—
Gençlerbirliğia	Ankara	12th	1959	48	2019–20	—
Göztepea	Izmir	11th	1959	29	2017–18	—
Başakşehir	Istanbul	1st	2007–08	13	2019-20	1	2019-20
Kasımpaşa	Istanbul	10th	1959–60	17	2012–13	—
Kayserispor	Kayseri	17th	2004–05	21	2015–16	—
Konyaspor	Konya	13th	1988–89	20	2013–14	—
Sivasspor	Sivas	4th	2005–06	15	2017–18	—
Trabzonsporb	Trabzon	2nd	1974–75	47	1974–75	6	1983-84
Yeni Malatyaspor	Malatya	16th	2017–18	4	2017–18	—
Fatih Karagümrük a	Istanbul	5th (First League)	1959	6	2020-21	__
BB Erzurumspor	Erzurum	2nd (First League)	2018-19	2	2020-21	__
Hatayspor	Hatay	1st (First League)	2020-21	1	2020-21	__

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

Champions

Main article: List of Turkish football champions

Only 5 clubs have been champions since the beginning of the Super League in 1959: Galatasaray 19 times, Fenerbahçe 19 times, Beşiktaş 11 (with an additional two championships counted in the two years before the league was formed for a total of 13, see note below), Trabzonspor 6 and Bursaspor 1 time.

Team/stars	Winners	Runners-up	Years won
Fenerbahçe	19	19	1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2014
Galatasaray	19	10	1962, 1963, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013
Beşiktaş	13	14	1957*, 1958*, 1960, 1966, 1967, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2003, 2009
Trabzonspor	6	8	1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984
Bursaspor	1	0	2010

Notes

Beşiktaş formally requested that championships won in the 1956/57 and 1957/58 versions of the Turkish Federation Cup be counted as Turkish Professional First Division championships to the Turkish Football Federation. The ruling on this matter was announced in a press release on March 25, 2002 which 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 (or Süper Lig) titles. Based on this ruling, the Turkish Federation Cup wins by Beşiktaş count towards the star rating system, giving Beşiktaş two more championships for the purposes of the star rating system than the number of Süper Lig titles won by the club.

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 2014/15 season Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray 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.

All-time top scorers

For more details on this topic, see Süper Lig Top Scorers.

Rank	Player	Goals	Apps	Rate
1	Hakan Şükür	249	487	0.51
2	Tanju Çolak	240	281	0.85
3	Hami Mandirali	218	477	0.46
4	Metin Oktay	217	258	0.84
5	Aykut Kocaman	212	348	0.61
6	Feyyaz Uçar	198	409	0.48
7	Serkan Aykut	147	559	0.26
8	Fevzi Zemzem	144	356	0.40
9	Necati Ateş	140	362	0.39
10	Cenk İşler	137	349	0.39

As of 26 January 2015 (Bold denotes players still playing in the league).

All-time most appearances

For more details on this topic, see Football records in Turkey.

Rank	Player	Apps	Years
1	Oğuz Çetin	503	1981–2000
2	Rıza Çalımbay	494	1980–1996
3	Hakan Şükür	488	1987–2000, 2003–2008
4	Hami Mandıralı	476	1984–1998, 1999–2003
5	Kemal Yıldırım	475	1976–1995
6	Mehmet Nas	453	1997–
7	Recep Çetin	437	1984–2001
8	Bülent Korkmaz	430	1988–2005
9	Müjdat Yetkiner	429	1979–1995
10	Ömer Çatkıç	427	1995–2012

As of 18 May 2014 (Bold denotes players still playing in the league).

See also

• TFF First League
• TFF Second League
• TFF Third League
• Turkish Regional Amateur League
• Amatör Futbol Ligleri
• List of sports attendance figures — the Super League in a worldwide context
• List of foreign Süper Lig players
• Gol Kralı
• Football records in Turkey
• List of Turkish football champions
• Turkish Super League all time table

External links

• Turkish Football Magazine - Online magazine to read the top articles about Turkish football in English
• News About Turkish Football Leagues
• Spor Toto Süper Lig Web oficial
• Turkish Football Federation website
• Canlı Skorlar
• Turkey Süper Lig - Hailoosport.com