The Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium (), known for sponsorship reasons as Ülker Stadium Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex (), or simply Ülker Stadium, is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium located in the

Kadıköy Kadıköy () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...

district of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. It is the traditional home venue of major Turkish multi-sport club Fenerbahçe S.K.. The stadium was inaugurated in 1908 and renovated between 1929 and 1932, 1965 and 1982, and 1999 and 2006. On 4 October 2006, after numerous inspections by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

, Ülker Stadium was selected to host the 2009 UEFA Cup Final that went down in history as the last Final of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

football tournament, which was rebranded as the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

starting from the 2009–10 season.

History

Before the stadium was built, the field was known as (). The field, however, became the very first official association football pitch of Turkey, where the first league games of the

Istanbul Football League The Istanbul Football League () was founded as a regional association football, football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empire, ...

were all held consecutively. In 1908, the local teams in the league needed a regular football field, so this land was leased from the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

for 30 Ottoman gold pounds a year. The total construction cost was 3,000 Ottoman gold pounds. The name was changed to the 'Union Club Field' after the club which made the highest donation for construction of the ground. The Union Club Field was used by many teams in İstanbul, including the owner, Union Club (which changed its name to ''İttihatspor'' after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

), Fenerbahçe,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

, and

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. However, it lost its importance when a bigger venue, the

Taksim Stadium Taksim Stadium () was the first football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Originally the 19th century Taksim Artillery Barracks ('' Taksim Topçu Kışlası'') it was transformed into a stadium in 1921 and was located next to today's Taksim Square. ...

, was built in 1922, inside the courtyard of the historic ''Taksim Topçu Kışlası'' (Taksim Artillery Barracks), which was located at the present-day Taksim Gezi Parkı (Taksim Park). İttihatspor (which had close relations with the political

İttihat ve Terakki The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...

), was forced to sell it to the state, in which

Şükrü Saracoğlu Mehmet Şükrü Saracoğlu (; 17 June 1887 – 27 December 1953) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, the fifth prime minister of Turkey and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Turkey), Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs during the early stag ...

(1887–1953) was a member of the CHP government. Thus, the ownership of the stadium passed to the state, but the field was immediately leased to Fenerbahçe. Later, on May 27, 1933, Fenerbahçe purchased the stadium from the government when Şükrü Saracoğlu was the President of Fenerbahçe, for either the symbolic amount of ₺1 or the worth of the stadium which was ₺9,000. The name of the field was changed to Fenerbahçe Stadium, and this made Fenerbahçe SK the first football club in Turkey to own their stadium, with the help of the Şükrü Saracoğlu government. In the following years, Fenerbahçe S.K. renovated the stadium and increased its

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

. By the year 1949, Fenerbahçe Stadium was the largest football venue in Turkey, with a seating capacity of 25,000. The name of the stadium was changed once more in 1998, becoming Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, named after Fenerbahçe's legendary chairman and Turkey's fifth prime minister

. In 1999, the latest round of renovations and capacity increasing projects started. The stands on the four sides of the stadium were torn down one at a time, as the Turkish Super League seasons progressed, and the entire renewal and construction project was finalised in 2006. As of 2015,

Ülker Ülker is a Turkish multinational food and beverage manufacturer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Its products are exported internationally, to 110 countries. Ülker's core products are biscuits, cookies, crackers, and chocolates, although it has ex ...

secured naming rights of the stadium in a 10-year deal worth $90 million officially renaming the stadium Ülker Stadium Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex.

Artworks

A numer of following artworks are placed in front of the stadium: * Bust of Atatürk *

Statue of Lefter Küçükandonyadis A statue of Lefter Küçükandonyadis is installed Kadıköy's Yoğurtçu Park, in Istanbul, Turkey. The sculpture was unveiled in 2009. See also * 2009 in art * List of public art in Istanbul Following is a list of public artwork that hav ...

* Statue of Can Bartu * Statue of Alex * Statue of Eda Erdem

Gallery

File:Fenerbahce Stadion.JPG, Stadium entrance File:FB Stad Manzara2.jpg, Interior view File:FB Stad Manzara7.jpg, Interior view File:FB-GS Seramoni.jpg, Interior view File:FB Stad Manzara3.jpg, Interior view File:Fenerbahce-Erciyes.jpg, A view from the stadium File:Genc Fenerbahceliler.jpg, Interior view File:FB Stad Manzara6.jpg, Interior view File:FB-Chelsea.jpg, Interior view File:Resim-FB Stad Manzara5.jpg, Interior view File:FB-BJK2.jpg, Interior view

References

External links

Fenerbahçe Ülker StadiumFenerbahçe Ülker Stadium Official WebsiteFenerbahçe Ülker Stadium's interior view from all seatsFenerbahçe Ülker StadiumVenue InformationAtmosphere at Ülker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sukru Saracoglu Stadium Sports venues in Istanbul Fenerbahçe S.K. Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) Sports venues completed in 1908 Sport in Kadıköy Süper Lig venues 1908 establishments in the Ottoman Empire