Süper Lig

Football in Turkey stems back to the late 19th century, when Englishmen brought the game with them while living in Salonica (then part of the Ottoman Empire).[4] The first league competition was the Istanbul Football League, which took place in the 1904–05 season. The league went through several variations until the creation of the Millî Lig (Süper Lig) in 1959. Between the creation of the Istanbul League and Millî Lig, several other regional leagues took place: Adana (1924), Ankara (1922), Eskişehir (1924), İzmir (1924), Bursa (1924), and Trabzon (1922), to name a few. The first competition to bring forth a national champion was the former Turkish Football Championship, which began in 1924 and continued until 1951.[5] The championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of each of the country's top regional leagues.[6] The National Division (Turkish: Millî Küme) was the first national league competition in Turkey. Started in 1937, the National Division consisted of the strongest clubs from the Ankara, Istanbul, and İzmir leagues. The championship lasted until 1950.[7][8]

Fenerbahçe–Galatasaray match in the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium

The Federation Cup was established in 1956 to decide a national champion. This champion would go on to participate in the European Cup. The competition was held for two seasons until it was replaced by the Millî Lig. Beşiktaş won both editions and qualified for the European Cup during the two-year span. However, since the TFF failed to register their name for the draw in time, Beşiktaş could not participate in the 1957–58 season after all.[9][10]

The top clubs of Ankara, Istanbul, and İzmir competed in the 1959 Turkish National League. The first season took place in the calendar year of 1959, instead of 1958-59, since the qualifying stages took place in 1958. The 16 clubs who competed in the first season were: Adalet (Istanbul), Altay (İzmir), Ankaragücü (Ankara), Ankara Demirspor (Ankara), Beşiktaş (Istanbul), Beykoz (Istanbul), Karagümrük (Istanbul), Fenerbahçe (Istanbul), Galatasaray (Istanbul), Gençlerbirliği (Ankara), Göztepe (İzmir), Hacettepe Gençlik (Ankara), İstanbulspor, İzmirspor, Karşıyaka (İzmir), and Vefa (Istanbul). The first champions were Fenerbahçe and the first "Gol Kralı" (top scorer) was Metin Oktay. No clubs were promoted or relegated at the end of the first season.[11]

The 2. Lig (Second League) was created at the start of the 1963–64 season and the Millî Lig became known as the 1.Lig (First League). Before the foundation of a second division, the bottom three clubs competed with regional league winners in a competition called the Baraj Games. The top three teams of the group were promoted to the Süper Lig. After the foundation of a new second division in 2001, known as the 1. Lig, the formerly titled 1. Lig was rebranded as Süper Lig.[12] The Süper Lig is home of the Fenerbahçe–Galatasaray derby, the most watched football game in Turkey. It is considered to be one of the best and most intense in the world, being ranked among the greatest football rivalries of all-time by various international sources.[13][14][15]

Former design of the Süper Lig Trophy, used from 2015 until 2022.

There were 18 clubs in the Süper Lig until 2020. 20 Clubs are competing in the Süper Lig starting from 2020. 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 38 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 seventh placed 1. Lig clubs are promoted in their place.[16]

• 16 clubs: 1959
• 20 clubs: 1959–1962
• 22 clubs: 1962–1963
• 18 clubs: 1963–1964
• 16 clubs: 1964–1966
• 17 clubs: 1966–1968
• 16 clubs: 1968–1981
• 17 clubs: 1981–1982
• 18 clubs: 1982–1985
• 19 clubs: 1985–1987
• 20 clubs: 1987–1988
• 19 clubs: 1988–1989
• 18 clubs: 1989–1990
• 16 clubs: 1990–1994
• 18 clubs: 1994–2020
• 21 clubs: 2020–2021
• 20 clubs: 2021–2022
• 19 clubs: 2022–2023
• 20 clubs: 2023–present

As of June 7, 2023[17]

Süper Lig ranks 12th in UEFA Country Rankings 2023. The league made a big breakthrough in the early 90s and became one of the most valuable leagues in Europe. Süper Lig rose to 7th place in 2001 by achieving the best ranking in its history. In 1982, the league dropped to 28th place, achieving the worst ranking in its history.

Ranking			Member association	Coefficient
2022	2023	Mvmt		2018–19	2019–20	2020–21	2021–22	2022–23	Total
11	11	–	Serbian SuperLiga	6.000	6.000	5.500	9.500	5.375	32.375
20	12	+8	Turkish Süper Lig	5.500	5.000	3.100	6.700	11.800	32.100
14	13	+1	Swiss Super League	3.900	6.400	5.125	7.750	8.500	31.675

Süper Lig UEFA ranking by years[18]

1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
18	19	20	19	15	18	19	21	21	22
1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
18	19	17	18	19	23	23	23	22	23
1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
25	25	28	27	26	27	26	24	26	24
1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
24	23	18	13	12	10	11	8	14	14
2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
11	7	8	10	10	11	15	14	11	11
2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
11	10	11	10	11	12	11	10	10	10
2020	2021	2022	2023
11	13	20	12

Only six clubs have been champions since the introduction of the Super League: Galatasaray 23 times, Fenerbahçe 19 times, Beşiktaş 16 times (see note below), Trabzonspor 7 times, and Bursaspor and İstanbul Başakşehir once each.

Teams in bold compete in the Süper Lig as of the 2023–24 season.

Club	Champ­ions[20]	Runners-up	Winning seasons	Runners-up seasons
Galatasaray	23	13	1961–62, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23	1956–571, 1957–581, 1959, 1960–61, 1965–66, 1974–75, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1990–91, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2013–14, 2020–21
Fenerbahçe	19	24	1959, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2010–11, 2013–14	1959–60, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2021–22, 2022–23
Beşiktaş	16	14	1956–571, 1957–581, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1994–95, 2002–03, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2020–21	1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2006–07
Trabzonspor	7	9	1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 2021–22	1977–78, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2010–11, 2019–20
İstanbul Başakşehir	1	2	2019–20	2016–17, 2018–19
Bursaspor	1	—	2009–10

¹ Beşiktaş formally requested that championships won in the 1956–57 and 1957–58 editions of the Turkish Federation Cup be counted as Turkish Professional First Division championships to the Turkish Football Federation. The Cup was established in 1956 to find a national champion to represent Turkey, after UEFA decided that only national champions could participate in the European Cup.[21] Beşiktaş had therefore earned the right to represent Turkey in the European Cup in the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons.[22] 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 Federation Cup would be counted as national league championships.

As of 2024, 75 clubs have participated. Note: The tallies below include up to the 2023–24 season. Teams denoted in bold are current participants.

• Bold denotes players still active in the league.
• All players are Turkish unless otherwise indicated.

^{‡ Galatasaray was one of the final eight teams of the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League group stage, however UEFA does not consider this a quarter-final participation.}

^{# Inter–Cities Fairs Cup}

• 2008–2010: Nike T90 Omni
• 2010–2011: Nike T90 Tracer
• 2011–2012: Nike Seitiro
• 2012–2013: Nike Maxim
• 2013–2014: Nike Incyte
• 2014–2015: Nike Ordem 2
• 2015–2016: Nike Ordem 3
• 2016–2017: Nike Ordem 4
• 2017–2018: Nike Ordem 5
• 2018–2020: Nike Merlin
• 2020–2021: Adidas Uniforia
• 2021–2022: Adidas Conext 21 Pro
• 2022–present: Puma Orbita

• Turkish Football Championship
• Turkish National Division
• List of foreign Süper Lig players
• List of Süper Lig top scorers
• List of Turkish football champions
• Süper Lig all-time table

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Süper Lig.

• Official website – Süper Lig (in Turkish)
• Official website – Turkish Football Federation (in Turkish)
• Süper Lig on Twitter