Süper Lig facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Süper Lig

Organising body	Turkish Football Federation (TFF)
Founded	21 February 1959; 66 years ago (1959-02-21)
Country	Turkey
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Number of teams	19 (since 2024–25)
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	TFF First League
Domestic cup(s)	Turkish Cup Turkish Super Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League
Current champions	Galatasaray (24th title) (2023–24)
Most championships	Galatasaray (24 titles)
Most appearances	Umut Bulut (515)
Top goalscorer	Hakan Şükür (249)
TV partners	List of broadcasters
Website	tff.org

The Süper Lig (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈsypæɾ liɟ], Super League), officially known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the Turkish Football Federation. In the 2023-2024 season, twenty clubs compete, where a champion is decided and three clubs are promoted from, and another four relegated to the 1. Lig. The season runs from August to May, with each club playing 38 matches. Matches are played Friday through Monday.

The league succeeded the Turkish Football Championship and the National Division, both being former top-level national competitions. The Süper Lig is currently 9th in the UEFA coefficient ranking of leagues based on club performances in European competitions over the last five years. A total of 75 clubs have competed in the Süper Lig, but only six have won the title to date: Galatasaray (24), Fenerbahçe (19), Beşiktaş (16), Trabzonspor (7), Başakşehir (1) and Bursaspor (1).

History

Football in Turkey stems back to the late 19th century, when Englishmen brought the game with them while living in Salonica (then part of the Ottoman Empire). The first league competition was the Istanbul Football League, which took place in the 1904–05 season. The league went through several variations until the creation of the Millî Lig (Süper Lig) in 1959. Between the creation of the Istanbul League and Millî Lig, several other regional leagues took place: Adana (1924), Ankara (1922), Eskişehir (1924), İzmir (1924), Bursa (1924), and Trabzon (1922), to name a few. The first competition to bring forth a national champion was the former Turkish Football Championship, which began in 1924 and continued until 1951. The championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of each of the country's top regional leagues. The National Division (Turkish: Millî Küme) was the first national league competition in Turkey. Started in 1937, the National Division consisted of the strongest clubs from the Ankara, Istanbul, and İzmir leagues. The championship lasted until 1950.

Fenerbahçe–Galatasaray match in the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium

The Federation Cup was established in 1956 to decide a national champion. This champion would go on to participate in the European Cup. The competition was held for two seasons until it was replaced by the Millî Lig. Beşiktaş won both editions and qualified for the European Cup during the two-year span. However, since the TFF failed to register their name for the draw in time, Beşiktaş could not participate in the 1957–58 season after all.

The top clubs of Ankara, Istanbul, and İzmir competed in the 1959 Turkish National League. The first season took place in the calendar year of 1959, instead of 1958 to 1959, since the qualifying stages took place in 1958. The 16 clubs who competed in the first season were: Adalet (Istanbul), Altay (İzmir), Ankaragücü (Ankara), Ankara Demirspor (Ankara), Beşiktaş (Istanbul), Beykoz (Istanbul), Karagümrük (Istanbul), Fenerbahçe (Istanbul), Galatasaray (Istanbul), Gençlerbirliği (Ankara), Göztepe (İzmir), Hacettepe Gençlik (Ankara), İstanbulspor, İzmirspor, Karşıyaka (İzmir), and Vefa (Istanbul). The first champions were Fenerbahçe and the first "Gol Kralı" (top scorer) was Metin Oktay. No clubs were promoted or relegated at the end of the first season.

The 2. Lig (Second League) was created at the start of the 1963–64 season and the Millî Lig became known as the 1.Lig (First League). Before the foundation of a second division, the bottom three clubs competed with regional league winners in a competition called the Baraj Games. The top three teams of the group were promoted to the Süper Lig. After the foundation of a new second division in 2001, known as the 1. Lig, the formerly titled 1. Lig was rebranded as Süper Lig. The Süper Lig is home of the Fenerbahçe–Galatasaray derby, the most watched football game in Turkey. It is considered to be one of the best and most intense in the world, being ranked among the greatest football rivalries of all time by various international sources.

On 12 December 2023, the Turkish Football Federation suspended all league games indefinitely following an incident during a match between MKE Ankaragucu and Caykur Rizespor which involved fans being able to successfully invade the pitch and people, including recent MKE Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca, being arrested after attacking referee Halil Umut Meler. Koca would resign from MKE Ankaragucu as well. However, on 13 December, the same day Meler was discharged from the hospital it was soon agreed that Super Lig matches would resume on 19 December.

Format

The Süper Lig championship trophy, used from 2015.

There were 18 clubs in the Süper Lig until 2020. 20 Clubs are competing in the Süper Lig starting from 2020. During the course of the season (from August to May) each club plays the others twice (a double round robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 38 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head record, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the head-to-head record and then goal difference determine the winner. The three lowest placed teams are relegated to the 1. Lig and the top two teams from the 1. Lig, together with the winner of play-offs involving the third to seventh placed 1. Lig clubs are promoted in their place.

• 16 clubs: 1959
• 20 clubs: 1959–1962
• 22 clubs: 1962–1963
• 18 clubs: 1963–1964
• 16 clubs: 1964–1966
• 17 clubs: 1966–1968
• 16 clubs: 1968–1981
• 17 clubs: 1981–1982
• 18 clubs: 1982–1985
• 19 clubs: 1985–1987
• 20 clubs: 1987–1988
• 19 clubs: 1988–1989
• 18 clubs: 1989–1990
• 16 clubs: 1990–1994
• 18 clubs: 1994–2020
• 21 clubs: 2020–2021
• 20 clubs: 2021–2022
• 19 clubs: 2022–2023
• 20 clubs: 2023–2024
• 19 clubs: 2024–present

Qualification for European competitions

The champions and runners-up qualify for the second qualifying round of the Champions League. The third place and the Turkish Cup winners qualify for the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. If the Turkish Cup winner has already qualified for European competition through their league finish, then the team that finishes fourth in the league takes their place.

Media coverage

Domestic

On March 2, 2024, Turkish Football Federation stated that Qatari media group BeIN has renewed its rights to broadcast Turkey's top flight matches for three more years, until 2027. BeIN will pay $182 million-a-year to broadcast Turkey's Süper Lig and TFF First League. As such, Süper Lig will become the 6th most valuable football league after the Big Five leagues in Europe.

UEFA ranking

As of April 18,  2024 (2024 -04-18)^[update]

Süper Lig ranks 9th in UEFA Country Rankings 2024. The league made a big breakthrough in the early 90s and became one of the most valuable leagues in Europe. Süper Lig achieved the best ranking in its history in 2001 by rising to 7th place. In 1982, the league dropped to 28th place, achieving the worst ranking in its history.

Ranking			Member association	Coefficient
2023	2024	Mvmt		2019–20	2020–21	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Total
8	8	–	Belgian Pro League	7.600	6.000	6.600	14.200	14.200	48.600
12	9	+3	Turkish Süper Lig	5.000	3.100	6.700	11.800	12.000	38.600
15	10	+5	Czech First League	2.500	6.600	6.700	6.750	13.500	36.050

Süper Lig UEFA ranking by years

1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
18	19	20	19	15	18	19	21	21	22
1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
18	19	17	18	19	23	23	23	22	23
1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
25	25	28	27	26	27	26	24	26	24
1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
24	23	18	13	12	10	11	8	14	14
2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
11	7	8	10	10	11	15	14	11	11
2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
11	10	11	10	11	12	11	10	10	10
2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
11	13	20	12	9

Clubs

Stadiums and locations

Champions

Only six clubs have been champions since the introduction of the Super League: Galatasaray 24 times, Fenerbahçe 19 times, Beşiktaş 16 times (see note below), Trabzonspor 7 times, and Bursaspor and Başakşehir once each.

Teams in bold compete in the Süper Lig as of the 2023–24 season.

Club	Champ­ions	Runners-up	Winning seasons	Runners-up seasons
Galatasaray	24	13	1961–62, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23, 2023–24	1956–571, 1957–581, 1959, 1960–61, 1965–66, 1974–75, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1990–91, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2013–14, 2020–21
Fenerbahçe	19	25	1959, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1995–96, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2010–11, 2013–14	1959–60, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
Beşiktaş	16	14	1956–571, 1957–581, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1994–95, 2002–03, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2020–21	1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1973–74, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2006–07
Trabzonspor	7	9	1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 2021–22	1977–78, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2010–11, 2019–20
Başakşehir	1	2	2019–20	2016–17, 2018–19
Bursaspor	1	—	2009–10

¹ Beşiktaş formally requested that championships won in the 1956–57 and 1957–58 editions of the Turkish Federation Cup be counted as Turkish Professional First Division championships to the Turkish Football Federation. The Cup was established in 1956 to find a national champion to represent Turkey, after UEFA decided that only national champions could participate in the European Cup. Beşiktaş had therefore earned the right to represent Turkey in the European Cup in the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons. The ruling on this matter was announced in a press release on March 25, 2002, which indicated that the championships won by Beşiktaş in the Federation Cup would be counted as national league championships.

Star rating system

The honor of Golden Stars was introduced in football to recognize sides that have won multiple championships or other honours by the display of gold stars on their team badges and jerseys. In Turkey, clubs are permitted to place a golden star above their crest for every five national championships won. As of the 2023–24 season season Galatasaray are permitted four golden stars, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş are permitted three golden stars, and Trabzonspor are permitted one golden star to be placed above their crest on their jerseys.

League participation

As of 2024, 75 clubs have participated. Note: The tallies below include up to the 2023–24 season. Teams denoted in bold are current participants.

Player records

• Bold denotes players still active in the league.
• All players are Turkish unless otherwise indicated.

Sponsorship

Official match ball

• 2008–2010: Nike T90 Omni
• 2010–2011: Nike T90 Tracer
• 2011–2012: Nike Seitiro
• 2012–2013: Nike Maxim
• 2013–2014: Nike Incyte
• 2014–2015: Nike Ordem 2
• 2015–2016: Nike Ordem 3
• 2016–2017: Nike Ordem 4
• 2017–2018: Nike Ordem 5
• 2018–2020: Nike Merlin
• 2020–2021: Adidas Uniforia
• 2021–2022: Adidas Conext 21 Pro
• 2022–present: Puma Orbita

See also

In Spanish: Superliga de Turquía para niños

• Turkish Football Championship
• Turkish National Division
• List of foreign Süper Lig players
• List of Süper Lig top scorers
• List of Turkish football champions
• Süper Lig all-time table
• List of domestic football league broadcast deals by country