Balıkesirspor is a Turkish club based in

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

. Established in 1966, the

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 ...

team played in the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

after achieving promotion having finished as runners-up of the TFF First League in 2013–14. The team's previous promotion was 40 years before that. Their stadium, the all-seater Balıkesir Atatürk Stadium, has a capacity of 15,800.

History

Balıkesirspor was founded on 6 June 1966 and started to compete in Turkish Second Football League in 1967–68 season. On 20 August 1967, it played its first competitive match against Malatyaspor and won 3–1. Kadir Gürsoy scored the first goal of the club in that match. The club won its first title in 1974–75 season under the management of Rıdvan Kösemihal and promoted to Turkish First Football League, the top level of Turkish Football. Despite being 4th in the first half of the season, Balıkesirspor finished its first season in the top level in the last place and was relegated to Second League. After competing in Second League for 10 consecutive seasons, the club was relegated to Third League, the third level of Turkish football at that time. In the 1991–92 season, Balıkesirspor earned promotion after finishing first in Third League Group 7. They made the play-offs in the 1995–96 season by finishing their group first, but lost the chance for returning to the top tier after being defeated by Karabükspor. The following season, Balıkesirspor was one of the relegated sides. Another relegation came in 2001, which meant the club dropped to the amateur leagues. The promotion back to professional football in 2006 marked the starting point of the revival of the club. Following four promotions in eight seasons, Balıkesirspor has returned to the top flight after 39 years.

Current squad

Competitions

*1966–75: Turkey Second League *1975–76: Turkey First League *1976–86: Turkey Second League *1986–92: Turkey Third League *1992–97: Turkey Second League *1997–01: Turkey Third League *2001–06: Amatör Futbol Ligleri *2006–10:

TFF Third League The TFF 3. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 3. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season as a continuation of then third level division Turkish Third Foot ...

*2010–13:

TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continu ...

*2013–14: TFF First League *2014–15:

*2015–22: TFF First League *2022–23:

*2023–''present'':

Honours

* 1974–75:

''White Group'' Champion * 1991–92:

''9th Group'' Champion * 2005–06: Turkish Regional Amateur League ''8th Group'' Champion * 2012–13:

''White Group'' Champion

References

External links

Balıkesirspor Official WebsiteBalıkesirspor on TFF.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balikesirspor Football clubs in Turkey Association football clubs established in 1966 Multi-sport clubs in Turkey Balıkesir Province 1966 establishments in Turkey Süper Lig clubs