The 1959–60 Turkish National League was the second season of professional

football in Turkey Football is the most popular sport in Turkey, followed by basketball, tracing its roots to the Ottoman Empire. The first matches were played in Ottoman Salonica in 1875. The sport was introduced by English residents. The Turkish football leagu ...

. The league consisted of 20 clubs, with Beşiktaş J.K. winning their third championship.Sivritepe, Erdin�
1959-1960 Milli Lig
turkish-soccer.com, accessed 21 June 2010

Overview

The original sixteen clubs of the 1959 Milli Lig took part in the 1959–60 edition, along with newly promoted Kasımpaşa, Şeker Hilal, Altınordu, and

Feriköy Feriköy is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Şişli, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 14,081 (2022). It is home to three large adjoining cemeteries, one for Roman Catholic burials, one for Protestant ones, and one f ...

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 ...

won their first league title, winning 11 matches by a 1-0 margin, a record at the time.

Metin Oktay Metin Oktay (2 February 1936 – 13 September 1991) nicknamed the Crownless King () by Galatasaray S.K. (football team), Galatasaray fans, was a Turkish people, Turkish association football, footballer and one of the most successful goal score ...

finished top scorer with 33 goals. Clubs were not relegated directly, but instead took part in the Baraj Maçları, a competition between the top four amateur clubs and the bottom three Milli Lig clubs. Altınordu finished first in the Baraj Maçları, allowing them to stay in the Milli Lig. Hacettepe and Adalet were not successful, earning relegation to the Ankara and Istanbul professional leagues respectively.

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a multi-sports club based in Adana, Turkey. The football department is the most popular department which relegated to TFF 1. Lig on 16 March 2025 after 4 seasons at the Super Lig. Founded by railway workers of Turk ...

and PTT earned promotion to the Milli Lig. Adana Demirspor would become the first club from outside of the big three cities (

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 ( ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

) to compete in the Milli Lig during the following season.

Final league table

Results

Baraj Games

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1959-60 Turkish National League Turkish National League 1959–60 in Turkish football

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 ...