The National Division or National League () was a top-level

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 ...

competition organised by the

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Foo ...

, including the most successful teams from

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 ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, and

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It was the first national league in Turkish football history. The league was played from

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

. The top four clubs from Istanbul and the top two clubs from the Ankara and İzmir regional leagues made up the league roster, since the leagues of these three major cities were the strongest in those decades. The matches in Ankara were played at 19 Mayıs Stadium, the matches in İzmir at Alsancak Stadium, and the matches in Istanbul at

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. ...

. The league was the most important and popular football competition in its era. Fenerbahçe are the most successful club, having won six titles.

History

Before the introduction of the National Division, the former

Turkish Football Championship The Turkish Football Championship () was a top-level association football, football competition in Turkey. It was the first nationwide championship in Turkish football history. The championship was organised by the Turkish Football Federation (the ...

was held as a national championship in Turkey. Its tournament system was based on a

knockout tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, contested between the winners of each of the country's top regional leagues. In the late 1920s, the demand for a national football league was growing in the general Turkish public, which showed in the country's newspapers and magazines, where the European counterparts were given as examples. In 1937 that demand was fulfilled, as the ''Millî Küme'' was founded and began in March that year. Eligible for the league competition where the top placed teams of the

, and

regional leagues, which were the strongest leagues in those decades. An exception was made in

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

, when

1940 Turkish Football Championship The 1940 Turkish Football Championship was the seventh edition of the competition. Eskişehir Demirspor won their first and only national championship title by defeating Fenerbahçe in the final. For Eskişehir Demirspor it was the club's first a ...

winners

Eskişehir Demirspor Eskişehir Demirspor is a Turkish sports club from Eskişehir, Turkey. They are the oldest football club in Eskişehir. The club has many departments including football, basketball, volleyball, athletic, swimming, fencing, wrestling, and karate. ...

(the only club from outside the three major cities) and a third club from Ankara were included. In 1940 the

decided to resume the Turkish Football Championship. As a result, both national championships were held at the same time from 1940 to 1950. The main differences between both tournaments were the competition systems and the qualification criteria. The National Division became the most popular and most important football competition in Turkey, overshadowing the Turkish Football Championship, since it was played in a league format with away matches. In 1944 a special

super cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

, the Prime Minister's Cup, was introduced by the TFF. It was competed by the winners of both championships. The Prime Minister's Cup was one of the earliest football super cups in the world. The cup was held in that format until 1950, when the National Division concluded.

Competition format

There were eight clubs in the National Division. The four highest-placed teams in 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, ...

and the top two teams from the Ankara League and İzmir League at the end of the season qualified for the National Division. The competition was played within a year, it started just after the conclusion of the aforementioned regional leagues. The competition format was based on a double round-robin system, that means each club played the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents', for 14 games. Teams received

three points for a win Three points for a win is a standard used in many sports leagues and group tournaments, especially in association football, in which 3 points are awarded to the team winning a match, with no points awarded to the losing team. If the game is draw ...

, two points for a draw, and one point for a loss. No points were awarded for a forfeit/regulation loss. Teams were

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

by total points, then

goal average A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

(the number of goals scored divided by the number of goals conceded). There was no system of

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

, since the National Division was the only national league and there was no lower division.

Champions

Source:

Performance by club

Player records

Top scorers

Most appearances

* All players are Turkish unless otherwise indicated.

External links

RSSSF

References

;Sources * * {{UEFA leagues

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Defunct top-level football leagues in Europe Recurring sporting events established in 1937 Recurring events disestablished in 1950 1937 establishments in Turkey 1950 disestablishments in Turkey

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 ...