Founding location Mecidiyeköy Territory Western Istanbul Membership (est.) 14.500 | Years active 2001- Ethnicity Predominantly Turkish | |
Founded by Alparslan Dikmen (1965-2008) | ||
ultrAslan is a football firm associated with Galatasaray S.K., the largest group of its kind in Turkey.
The firm was founded on 20 January 2001, after various smaller groups of fans decided that, Galatasaray, which could be seen as a European top club after their success in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup, needed a large, organised fan group. This led to the creation of ultrAslan under the leadership of Alpaslan Dikmen, the main coordinator until his accidental death on 27 September 2008. The name of the organisation is a portmanteau word combining the concepts of "Ultras" and "Aslan" (the lion).
ultrAslan are renowned for their creative choreography and use of flares. After the derby match against Fenerbahçe S.K. was interrupted due to the use of over 3000 flares on 4 December 2001, the use of flares was completely forbidden in the Turkish leagues, with the introduction of stiff fines for offenses.
In contrast to many other European fan groups, ultrAslan, although patriotic, is generally apolitical in nature. It is quite critical of the club management, and has a major influence on the transfer policy of the club. It strictly declines any financial support or supply of free tickets from the club, and is financed by donations by members as well as by the sale of self-produced articles. Similarly to other Ultra-groups in Europe, they oppose the commercialisation of football.