How many sports clubs are there that actually have their roots in some mythical stories? Obviously, Galatasaray’s history does not go back to Ancient Greek times, but when you ask the question “How was Galatasaray founded?,” you always listen to the same old fascinating story: During a hunting excursion, II. Bayezid, an Ottoman Sultan from the 15th Century, becomes a guest of an old wise man, Gül Baba, who presents him with two roses, one red and one yellow. The sultan, impressed by this gesture, offers the wise man whatever he wishes. Gül Baba shows him a piece of land overlooking the Bosphorus, and asks him to build a school there.
However, history tells us a different story: Gül Baba was actually one of Suleiman the Magnificent’s teachers, and therefore he would not have been an old wise man during II. Bayezid’s rule. Accordingly, Galatasaray’s colors, the red and yellow, were chosen, not because of the roses, but due to the lack of other color fabrics, so a few young men had to opt for the red and yellow for their first uniforms, some four hundred years later after Gül Baba. Even if most of this is just myth, there are also several unquestionable facts about how Galatasaray was founded.
Galatasaray was founded in 1481 as one of the Sultani schools in order to educate future
statesmen and diplomats of the Ottomans. In 1868, the school, with a strong European
influence, started education in French and turned into a modern lycee. At the begining of the 20th century, many sports had started for the first time in the Empire at Galatasaray. Gymnastics, for example, was definetely becoming more popular among students.
A young Galatasaray student, Ali Sami Yen, watched his first football game, held among the British community who lived in Istanbul. When he shared his experience with his friends
at Galatasaray, Turkish students began to play football for the first time.
His passion for the sport, led him to begin thinking about establishing a club in 1903. Ali Sami Yen leading the way, Galatasaray students, in the back rows of a literature class, founded a non-official football club. Two years later, in 1905 the club was officially founded and Galatasaray played its first match against the French Faure School on November 26th, 1905.
Galatasaray was also the pioneer in others sports, such as waterpolo, ice hockey, field hockey, boxing, etc. in Turkey. Obviously, traditional sports had their roots before the turn of the century in Turkey, but modern sports started to develop at Galatasaray when a sports teacher, Prof. Moiroux, arrived from France. His students followed in his footsteps and became the pioneers of modern sports in Turkish history.
With the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923,a brand new era started in Turkey’s history. However, little had changed for the Galatasaray School. Galatasaray
produced prime ministers, ministers, diplomats, businessmen, scientists, with a solid background in literature, foreign languages, natural sciences and philosophy, as well as
sportsmen for the club that competed in several sports.
Football, with the establishment of the Istanbul League and later the Turkish Professional League, was always in the spotlight, but Galatasaray continued to compete for the
championship in all other sports as the club of the school.
Hundreds of cups and medals are showcased at the Galatasaray Museum within the school today, as a shining example of some hundred successful years in Turkish sports.
Galatasaray Football Team’s will and passion to succeed in Europe started in the 1956-57 season, when Galatasaray competed in the European Champion Clubs Cup for the first time. In the 1988-89 season, Galatasaray played in the semifinals of the tournament. In the Cup Winners Cup, Galatasaray reached the quarter-finals in the 1991-92 season.
Galatasaray’s most successful spell was in the 1999-2000 season, when the team won the UEFA Cup, as the undefeated champion throughout the tournament, and won the Super Cup, beating The Champions’ League winners Real Madrid.
With 17 domestic championships with three stars on their uniforms, and a squad of nine players that formed the backbone of the World Cup Third Place holder Turkish National team. Galatasaray will once again compete for all the championships available this upcoming season.
