Dirt Cheap Istanbul

Fancy a football match when visiting Istanbul? What about going to a Besiktas-match? Or if they are not playing, try Galatasaray instead. Below you can read about Besiktas:

One of Turkey’s oldest sporting clubs, Besiktas J.K. (Gymnastics Club) was founded in 1903 and competes in a wide range of sport events from football to wrestling to chess and even bridge.  Standing atop the Turkish Super Lig, Besiktas are the current defending champions.  The club started as a mainly workout organization where members would take part in various activities like horizontal bar, wrestling, and weight lifting.  This diversified into football following the relaxing of the former Ottoman period and after a growth in membership and in diversity football became the natural focus by 1911.

All games for Besiktas are held at the Besiktas Inonu Stadium in Istanbul.  With a capacity of 32,145 it was hailed as the first modernized stadium for football in the city.  From the stands of the stadium one can see the Bosphorus and two continents—Europe and Asia.  This locale of the stadium has increasingly become regarded as a sacred place due to the intense competitions that have occurred and have the distinction of attaining the highest decibel level during a football match:  132dB.

The biggest wing of supporters for Besiktas are the Carsi.  Long held as outspoken and infamous for their chanting and other antics.  They do have a rivalry with other Turkish clubs but none really have come close to the domination exhibited by Besiktas and they are at the forefront of competitive football in Turkey.

Besiktas has won the Turkish Football Championship twice, the National League 3 times, the Super Lig 11 times, the Turkish Cup 8 times and other victories across Turkey’s plethora of national championships.  Some of the highlights are 4 victories in the Spor-Toto Cup and 13 victories in the Instanbul Football League.  Internationally, the club has won the Efes Pilsen Cup and made it to the Quarterfinals of the European Cup.  In addition, Besiktas also made it to the Quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup in 2003.

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