General Introduction

As with all of our guides, if there is anything missing from the following pages that you need to know then feel free to drop us an email and we'll do our best to find it out for you.

Brief Ground Location

The stadium is located, unsurprisingly, in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, which is on the European side of the city, near to the Dolmabahce Palace and the Bosphorus.

Brief Club History

The club was formed in the early part of the 20th century, initially as a gymnastics club in 1903. The football team were formed in 1911, after the merger of two clubs set up in the Besiktas district of the city under the auspices of the Besiktas Ottoman Gymnastics Club. The football team fast became one of the most popular branches of the club.

Besiktas have gone on to become one of the foremost teams in Turkish football, having won the national league on 18 occasions in its various guises, as well as being 13 times champions of the Istanbul league.

Fans & Foes

Naturally the biggest rivalry is with their city neighbours, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. The fact that these three are also historically the most successful sides in Turkey only adds spice to their derby meetings, which can be incredibly bad-tempered affairs.