Göztepe S.K.

History

The club was founded in 1925 as a breakaway club from Altay. Their colours are red and yellow. They merged with İzmirspor and were renamed as Doğanspor in 1937. Some supporters of İzmirspor opposed the merger and founded Ateşspor in 1938. Doğanspor was renamed again as Göztepe in 1939. Ateşspor was also renamed as İzmirspor the same year.

The club enjoyed their best success between the years 1963 and 1971 under the supervision of the coach Adnan Süvari. Their '11' during that period of success is still remembered today: Ali Artuner, Mehmet "Junior" Işıkal, Çağlayan Derebaşı, Hüseyin Yazıcı, Mehmet "Senior" Aydın, Nevzat "English" Guzelırmak, Nihat Yayöz, Ertan Öznur, Fevzi Zemzem, Gürsel Aksel, Halil Kiraz.

Since 2002, Göztepe has lived through financial problems and difficulties. Due to the inability to reduce their outstanding debt, the football club has been banned from signing new players, which resulted in a free-fall with the team being relegated four times in the last 5 seasons. On April 21, 2007, they lost their last home game 2–0 against Aliağa Belediyespor in Turkish 3rd Division and were relegated to the İzmir Super Amateur Division.

On August 20, 2007, the club was sold in an auction to an Istanbul-based business conglomerate Altınbaş Group. The new owner, businessman İmam Altınbaş, has vowed to take Göztepe SK back to the Süper Lig, making them one of the top five clubs in Turkish football. The new owners of the club have been met by the local fan base with some suspicion, although there have been recent calls for solidarity and cooperation under the new ownership.

Göztepe SK are one of the last examples of an authentic neighborhood club, located in the Güzelyalı neighborhood of İzmir. They have one of the most devoted and die-hard fan bases in Turkey, despite their recent downfall. In terms of their fan base and attendance figures for their games, they are only behind the three Istanbul teams (Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş). Their games in the Amateur Division attract more fans than most clubs in the Turkish Super League.

The team competed in the Turkish Amateur Championship for the 2007–08 season but were eliminated by Ayazağaspor after a 6–5 penalty kick shootout in Eskişehir. However, Aliağa Belediyespor merged with Göztepe, so that they took place of Aliağa Belediyespor in the Third League on June 18, 2008. They played in TFF Third League – Group 2 in 2008–09 season and finished 1st in group as qualified to Promotion Group. Göztepe made successful matches in Promotion Group and guaranteed promotion to Second League after beating Lüleburgazspor 2–0 at away before remaining 3 weeks to finishing normal season. Göztepe beat 2–0 Tepecik Belediyespor at home match on May 19, 2009 and crowned as Third League champions.

After finishing TFF Second League as 8th-placed in 2009–10, Göztepe SK won the Second League White Group trophy and were promoted to TFF First League at the end of 2010–11 season.

Rivalries

The main rivals of Göztepe are another İzmir club, Karşıyaka S.K. When the two teams played on May 16, 1981 while pursuing the Turkish Second Division title, the game attracted an audience of 80,000 people. The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes this milestone as a world record for a Second Division football game and The Guardian published an article named "The biggest non-top-flight attendance ever" including this match. It is one of the most fiercely contested derbies in the world.

They also have a rivalry with the other large clubs in İzmir, Altay SK and Bucaspor.

League participations

Pos. = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Won; D = Drawn; L = Lost; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against; Pts = Points
                         UCUP = UEFA Cup; UCWC = UEFA Cup Winners' Cup; Cup = Fortis Turkey Cup

International

Domestic

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.