Galata

Galatasaray SK was founded in October 1905 (the exact day is disputed, but is traditionally accepted as "30 October 1905" according to the Gregorian calendar) by Ali Sami Yen and other students of Galatasaray High School (a high school in Istanbul which was established in 1481) as a football club. Ali Sami Yen became Galatasaray SK's first president and was given the club's membership number "1". The team's first match was against Cadi-Keuy FC and Galatasaray won this match with a score of 2–0. There were discussions about the club's name, in which some suggested Gloria (victory) and others Audace (courage), but it was decided that its name would be Galatasaray.

In addition to Ali Sami Yen (Club member No. 1), who was the driving force behind the club's foundation, Asim Tevfik Sonumut (2), Emin Bülent Serdaroğlu (3), Celal İbrahim (4), Boris Nikolov (5), Milo Bakić (6), Pavle Bakić (7), Bekir Sıtkı Bircan (8), Tahsin Nihat (9), Reşat Şirvanizade (10), Hüseyin Hüsnü (11), Refik Cevdet Kalpakçıoğlu (12) and Abidin Daver (13) were also involved in the decision to organize such a club.

The name Galatasaray itself comes from that of Galatasaray High School, which in turn takes its name from Galata Sarayı Enderûn-u Hümâyûn (Galata Palace Imperial School), the name of the original school founded on the site in 1481, and which in turn took its name from the nearby medieval Genoese citadel of Galata (the modern quarter of Karaköy) in the Beyoğlu (Pera) district of Istanbul. Galatasaray literally means "Galata palace".

According to researcher Cem Atabeyoğlu, Galatasaray took its name from one of its first matches. In that match, Galatasaray won 2–0 over a local Greek club, and the spectators called them "Galata Sarayı efendileri" (English: "Gentlemen of Galata Palace"), and, after this incident, they adopted that name and started to call their club "Galata Sarayı". In 1905, during the era of the Ottoman Empire, there were no laws for associations so the club could not be registered officially, but, after the 1912 Law of Association, the club registered legally.

Since there weren't any other Turkish teams, Galatasaray joined the Istanbul League that was consisting of English and Greek teams in the season of 1905–1906. With their first championship title they won in 1908–1909, they heralded the beginning of Turkish football history.

While football in Turkey began to fully develop, Galatasaray won ten more Istanbul League titles until 1952. Upon the initiation of professional football in 1952, the first professional but non-national league of Turkey, Istanbul Professional League, was played between 1952 and 1959. Galatasaray won three of these seven titles.

Türkiye Profesyonel 1. Ligi (Turkish Super League today) formed in 1959. This is the top-flight professional league in Turkish nationwide football, and the most popular sporting competition in the country. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 25 league titles since then.

The Turkish Football Federation began organizing the Turkish Cup in the 1962–63 season for Turkish clubs to qualify for the UEFA competitions. This is the only national cup competition in Turkey. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 16 trophies since then.

Historically, one of the clubs biggest achievements came in the 1986–1987 season where they won national championships in 15 different sport branches. Another achievement in this period was reaching the semi-final of the Champions League in the 1988–89 season making Galatasaray the first and only Turkish team to have played a semi-final in this competition.

Galatasaray's most successful era came in the late 1990s, when the club become the first and only Turkish football club to win a major UEFA competition with 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. They were aided in this by one of Turkey's best generation of homegrown footballers who went on to finish third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, after having played in the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2000. Besides the talented local players, the home stadium of Ali Sami Yen Stadium created a huge advantage, as it was literally dubbed "Hell" by media and the visitors due to the intimidating atmosphere provided by the fans including chants and riots in the crowds.

There are many successful footballers who have played for Galatasaray and made their mark on Turkish football history. The team's legendary players include Nihat Bekdik nicknamed Aslan (Lion); the 1930s national hero Eşfak Aykaç; Boduri who died aged 21; Mehmet Leblebi who scored a domestic record of 14 goals in a single match; Gündüz Kılıç nicknamed Baba (Father) who was the coach but also the player of his team in the 1950s, with great success in both duties;