Gençlerbirliği S.K.
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| Full name | Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | “Alkaralar” "The Red-Blacks" |
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| Founded | 1923 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | 19 Mayıs Stadyumu, Ankara, Turkey (Capacity 19,209) |
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| Chairman |  İlhan Cavcav |
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| Manager | Mesut Bakkal |
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| League | Turkcell Süper Lig | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | Turkcell Süper Lig, 15th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü is a Turkish football club from the capital, Ankara, playing in the Turkcell SüperLig. The name translates literally as Union of Youths.
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[edit] History
Gençlerbirliği was founded in a slightly different way to many other football clubs, having been established by students from the high school,Ankara Erkek Lisesi (Sultani Mektebi). The students in question (Ramiz Eren, Mennan İz, Mazhar Atacanlı, Sait, Kenan, Nuri, Namik Katoğlu, Namık Ambarcıoğlu, Ridvan Kırmacı, Hafi Araç, Ruhi, Sari Ziya and Hakki) had failed to be selected for their own school team, and asked one of their student friends, Asim, to talk with his father about setting up a football team for them to show how well they could play.
On March 14, 1923, Asim's father, the member of parliament from Muş Province established the team for his son and his friends. Since all the members of the teams were students he chose the name Union of Youths. They elected Sarı Ziya's father Faik Bey as their first chairman.[1]
Subsequently these young students wanted to play against the school team which had not selected them. Gençlerbirliği won the game, played at “Hamit tarlası”, 3-0. According to these young rebel players this victory forged the identity of their new team.
[edit] Colors
Black & Red There are many rumors about how Gençlerbirliği got these colors:
- The young students went to a local haberdashers and the only available colors were black and red. They purchased these colors to sew their own kit.
- At that time the İstanbul Altınordu team was famous and supported in many Anatolian cities. The students bought ten Altınordu jerseys and the team colors were established.
- The outskirts of Ankara during spring time sees plenty of Poppy flowers (Gelincik) blooming and Gençlerbirliği selected the red and black of this flower for its colors. Gençlerbirliği merchandise in its store is usually called Gelincik by its supporters.
[edit] Rivalry
Gençlerbirliği's arch-rival is the neighbouring club Ankaragücü and games between the clubs are considered as the "Ankara derby".
[edit] Youth Academy and Scouting
Gençlerbirliği has always been one of the teams in Turkey most notable for its talented young footballers that it procures through scouting both in Turkey and throughout Europe and Africa. For example Geremi was scouted and raised by the club, transferred to Real Madrid and later Chelsea. Another of Gençlerbirliği's young stars Isaac Promise received the 2005-2006 Turkcell Super League Individual Youth player of the year award.
Gençlerbirliği's state of the art youth academy is in Beştepe, Ankara with 50 acres of training facilities (Beştepe İlhan Cavcav Tesisleri).
Gençlerbirligi has been run by the current president İlhan Cavcav since 1977. With Cavcav's help, Gençlerbirliği have become one of the more stable clubs in Turkey. This has been achieved mainly through the departure of the most talented players every season to the other clubs in Turkey. Departing players are usually replaced with much cheaper imports from Turkey, Europe or Africa.
[edit] Recent rise and UEFA Cup run
For the last ten years the team has consistently finished in the top half of the table, and in the 2002/2003 season they were in contention for the championship until a month before the end of the season. The next season, They played in the UEFA Cup under coach Ersun Yanal. The young team eliminated teams like Parma FC, Blackburn Rovers and Sporting Clube de Portugal. Finally they were eliminated in the fourth round of the UEFA Cup by eventual winners Valencia. In 2004/05 they finished fifth in the league, but with a large number of their most talented players leaving the club, they were again forced to confront the challenges of replacing them before the start of the next season.
[edit] Current squad
Turkish clubs are limited to six players without Turkish citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player.
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For recent transfers, see the "Transfer Deals" section of 2008-09 in Turkish football.
[edit] Notable players
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[edit] Achievements
- Ankara Football League:
- Winners (4): 1929-1930 Season, 1930-1931, 1932-1933, 1934-1935 [2]
- Turkish Cup:
- Winners (2): 1987, 2001
- Runners-up (2): 2003, 2004, 2008
- UEFA Cup:
- Fourth Round (1): 2003-04
[edit] Contact Information
Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü
Address : Çiftlik Caddesi No:30 06510 Beştepe/Ankara/Türkiye
Tel : +90 312 215 30 00
Fax : +90 312 221 21 25
[edit] Further reading
- (Turkish) Ankara Rüzgarı. Kendi Yayinlari 2003 ISBN 9759242206 author: Tanıl Bora.
[edit] See also
- Gençlerbirliği OFTAŞ Reserve team of Gençlerbirliği in Turkcell Super League.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Gençlerbirliği statistics and news site in Turkish
- English site about Ankara football and Gençlerbirliği
- Gençlerbirliği fan site in Turkish
- Gençlerbirliği fan site in Turkish
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