The Intercontinental Derby (football)

Fenerbahçe SK and Galatasaray SK 1913–14.

Match at Union Club Field, 1913–14.

The first game played between the two sides was a friendly game on Sunday, 17 January 1909. The game, staged at Papazın Çayırı where Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium is located today, finished 2–0 in favour of Galatasaray. Fenerbahçe achieved their first victory over Galatasaray when they defeated them 4–2 in the 4th gameweek of the Istanbul Football League on Sunday, 4 January 1914.

On 21 September 2003, the two clubs played the Süper Lig game in front of a record attendance of 71,334 people, with drawing the game 2–2. The biggest win is achieved by Galatasaray with winning 7–0 on 12 February 1911. This match, however, was only mentioned by Galatasaray and due to the absence of neutral third-party sources, the line-ups and details of the match are disputed and not completely verifiable, because there were close to no witnesses of this event.[15][16][17] The biggest modern-day victory is when Fenerbahçe achieved their biggest win against Galatasaray on 6 November 2002 with 6–0, where four goals were scored when Fenerbahçe was one man down.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Fenerbahçe are known for rarely losing at home in derbies, in the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Galatasaray could not defeat Fenerbahçe for 20 years (in 23 consecutive matches) until 23 February 2020, when Galatasaray finally defeated Fenerbahçe, marking the first time Galatasaray won a game at Şükrü Saraçoğlu (away) after 20 years, since 22 December 1999.

Match between the retired players in 1923.

The first league games in Turkey were held in Istanbul in 1904. This league was called Istanbul Football League originally. The teams participating were called Cadi-Keuy FC, Moda FC, Elpis FC and HMS Imogene. These teams were made up of the English, Greek, and Armenian minorities living in Turkey. Galatasaray SK joined the league in 1906–07 and Fenerbahçe SK in 1909–10. Galatasaray SK did not participate in the 1911–12 season and the club suggested to loan Emin Bülent Serdaroğlu, Celal Ibrahim and two other Galatasaray SK players to Fenerbahçe SK for the match against Strugglers FC. But Fenerbahçe SK did not accept this offer. In 1912 Galatasaray SK president Ali Sami Yen and Fenerbahçe SK president Galip Kulaksızoğlu made a meeting. They arranged a protocol and agreed to form a strong Turkish team against the non-Turkish teams in the league. According to this agreement the new club would have been called Türkkulübü (The Turkish Club), full white kit with a red star. Additionally they also agreed to set up a museum. On 23 August 1912 they presented the petition to the International Olympic Committee – Ottoman section. Due to the Balkan Wars in 1913, this agreement could not be enforced.

Both clubs compete with each other for the title of the most successful football club in Turkey, as well as the greatest Turkish sports club overall.

In football, Fenerbahçe SK is more successful in the Intercontinental Derby games but Galatasaray won the Turkish Super League championship 23 times and Fenerbahçe 19 times.[33] Fenerbahçe's request for 9 championships before the Turkish Super League has not yet received a positive response from the Turkish Football Federation. Apart from this, Galatasaray won the Turkish Cup 18 times, while Fenerbahçe won it 6 times to date.[34] Galatasaray has been a more successful club than Fenerbahçe in almost every period of European cups. Apart from the 2000 UEFA Cup champion and 2000 UEFA Super Cup champion titles, it has played quarter-finals many times in the European Cup[35][36][37] and the Champions League[38] and has the title of the Turkish club that has collected the most points in the Champions League until today. Fenerbahçe's greatest achievements in European cups are the Champions League quarter-finals in the 2007–2008 season[39] and the Europa League semi-finals in the 2012–2013 season.

The rivalry between the two top Turkish clubs can be traced back to some social, cultural, and regional differences. Galatasaray were founded in 1905 by Galatasaray High School students in the district of Beyoğlu. In the early decades of Turkish football Galatasaray were considered the classic representative of the high class French influenced society of Istanbul. On the other hand, Fenerbahçe were founded by middle class Muslim men in the district of Kadıköy in 1907. Fenerbahçe were known as the people's club and were considered the representative of the blue-collar workers. In the 70s, Fenerbahçe were supported by 60% of the country while Galatasaray were still heavily supported by the high class society of Istanbul, however Galatasaray managed to close the gap between the two clubs after the club started to rise and match Fenerbahçe's strength from 1987 onward especially in the 1990s eventually winning the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000. The class differences between the fanbases have slowly faded out and the social gap that once separated the two sides has closed over the years. Nowadays, both clubs boast fanbases that represent all the social classes.[40]

On 22 December 1999, Galatasaray won against Fenerbahçe at Kadıköy 2–1. Galatasaray completed the season with a treble, winning the national league, national cup and the second level European competition, UEFA Cup. Since then, Galatasaray were winless at away territory for 20 years which added another dimension to the history of these derby matches, which became one of the most famous streaks and curses in Turkish sports history. Fenerbahçe, being a strong team at home turf also managed to create undefeated streaks against other rivals such as Beşiktaş and Trabzonspor. These 20 years included Yellow Canaries' thrashings such as 6–0 in 2002, 4–0 in 2006 and 4–1 in 2008. Galatasaray also had unlucky misses ending in draws, including 2–2 in 2012. While Galatasaray did not develop a similarly invincible form against Fenerbahçe at their home stadia, Ali Sami Yen and Nef Stadium, Galatasaray still had the upper hand at home. Instead, Galatasaray were dominant at neutral grounds, including a 5-1 win at Ataturk Olympic Stadium at 2005 Turkish Cup Final and 2012 and 2013 Turkish Super Cup matches played at Erzurum and Kayseri respectively.

During the life of the streak, Fenerbahçe won six league titles, while Galatasaray won eight. The streak highly contributed to the "derby psychology" in favor of Fenerbahçe. Fenerbahçe fans gleefully celebrated the streak with İşte böyle, her sene böyle chants (This is how it is, it's the same every year). Instead, Galatasaray fans argued that matches at continental scene and national championships are more important than winning against Fenerbahçe.

The streak was attributed to Yusuf Fahir Ataer, also known as Yusuf Fahir Baba, who was a Bektashi sheikh and a player for the precursor of Fenerbahçe, Black Stockings and then Fenerbahçe itself. His home, where was also a tekke, was next to Papazın Çayırı, where now Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium stands. When the stadium was expanded, the stadium grounds included his former home. It was told that his spirit and magic protected Fenerbahçe no matter what.[41]

In 2012, two matches were played at Kadıköy due to the Süper Final format. At the regular season match on 17 March 2012, Galatasaray came back and equalized the score, 2–2, and striker Milan Baroš' shot hit the goalpost at stoppage time, denying The Lions a win. On 12 May 2012, at the latest matchday of Süper Final group which determined the champion, the third derby and the second derby at Kadıköy in two months ended goalless. While the streak was extended, the draw was enough for Galatasaray to claim the championship at away territory. After the match, riot police were deployed in and outside the stadium. Galatasaray executives insisted to lift the trophy and celebrate at their rivals' pitch, much to the chagrin of Fenerbahçe executives and supporters. Stadium officials turned the stadium lights off and unwelcome Galatasaray celebrated their championship at Kadıköy under camera lights. Then Fenerbahçe executive Nihat Özdemir told "I will never forgive them for what they have done."

In 2016, Fenerbahçe won their last match in the streak, winning 2–0. Then, for three years, derbies at Kadıköy ended in a draw as both teams played cautious and defensive.

On 23 February 2020, the streak ended as Galatasaray won 3–1 at Kadıköy. The stoppage time for second half of the game was 10 minutes and Henry Onyekuru scored the third goal of The Lions at minute 90+7. Fenerbahçe president Ali Koç argued with Fenerbahçe fans and even jumped to the below deck from his seat, finding himself in an altercation with the fans.[42] Fatih Terim, who is the manager of Galatasaray, saw both matches starting and ending the streak as the manager, on 1999 and 2020.

The next season, Fenerbahçe had their worst home record in decades, losing seven matches out of twenty. Another rival Fenerbahçe managed to develop a home undefeated streak, Beşiktaş, won against Fenerbahçe 4–3 at Kadıköy and broke their fateful streak as well. On 6 February 2021, Galatasaray denied Fenerbahçe the chance to rebound as mid-season transfer Mostafa Mohamed scored the only goal of the match for The Lions. After the match, a Fenerbahçe fan tried to assault Galatasaray executive Abdurrahim Albayrak while Albayrak was giving an interview, only to find himself beaten by Albayrak's bodyguards. Though Galatasaray had now developed their own streak of invincibility at the away ground, it would not last for long, as they would go on to lose 2-0 to Fenerbahçe the following year.

• In a 2011 poll, 1.4 million Turkish citizens were asked for the team that they support in Turkey by bilyoner.com, the results ended with Galatasaray scoring 35% of the votes while Fenerbahçe scored 34% making up almost seven tenths of the fans.[14][45] Fenerbahçe claimed the poll was inaccurate for many reasons such as the number of people asked compared to whole population and regions the poll was conducted in. Club officials stated Fenerbahçe is "always indisputably the most popular club in Turkey", with many football commentators and world class players supporting this claim.
• In the research conducted by Socios company in July 2022 and with the participation of 45,774 people in Turkey, Galatasaray has 37.6% and Fenerbahçe 32.3%.[46][47][48][49][50]

  Fenerbahçe win
  Galatasaray win
  Draw