HISTORY OF FENERBAHÇE
1823
The First Football Game in Kuşdili Meadow
Almost years and years have passed since the first football game, in its current sense, was first played in England in 1823. Finally, when the dates reached the 1890s, the British living in Moda were thoroughly impressed by this enjoyable sport and started playing football in the wide areas of Kadıköy, where those lush green lands were located. It was natural and even inevitable that this game, which was very enjoyable to watch, would arouse the interest of the Turkish youth in the surrounding area and make them love this sport. However, due to the monarchy regime that existed at that time, it was forbidden for Muslim Turks to establish societies or even become members of existing societies, so only Greek young people could accompany the British young people playing football in the Kadıköy Meadows. Nevertheless, these football matches or trainings held almost every evening, especially in Kuşdili Meadow, attract the attention of a large part of the people of Kadıköy, and people come from Kalamış, Moda, Kuyubaşı, and Karamış for this football game, which is usually played in the evenings for pleasure. In fact, groups of people from around Haydarpaşa were attracted to watch this game in small or large groups, depending on the day and weather. Most of the people of Kadıköy would rise up in the late afternoon, and if it was not a Friday or Sunday, that is, if Komik Hasan's tuluat troupe was not performing in the shabby theater on the edge of Kurbağalıdere, they would set out towards Kuşdili Meadow. No, if it is Friday or Sunday, towards Moda or towards the Pastor's Meadow , where the current Fenerbahçe Stadium is located.They would set out towards (*1). Hairless young people with shoulder-to-shoulder hair and twisted moustaches, grandmothers and middle-aged women with their tall children, Arab sisters, eternities, gentlemen who are tired of sleeping in the coffee house, surround the meadow here, women spread the rugs they brought, some of the men sit cross-legged on the ground, some of them sit on the ground, some of them in large sizes. Some would sit on a stone, some would stand. Water sellers, ice cream sellers, wafer sellers, bagel sellers, balloon sellers, Eyüp toy sellers, in short, all kinds of vendors would appear here, making this place no different than a fairground. In the area that would be the field in the middle, a group of men with bodies like doors, heads uncovered, colorful shirtsleeves rolled up, chests exposed, and shorts from legs to kneecaps were running breathlessly, bumping into each other, huddled up and down, as if they were playing ball. Some young people, who took an example from these football games, became eager to play ball like them in the fields or wide meadows in Kadıköy, and went around in a chaotic manner, from place to place, and the one who hit the ball the most was considered to be the one who lifted it to the highest heights. However, after a while, in other words, as the 1900s approached, the English young people living in Moda started to play modern football and therefore presented the football they played in a more watchable way, which caused some tension in the hearts of the young people from Kadıköy who watched them with admiration. It causes movements, and their desire to form an organized team like them turns into an indispensable passion.
Kadıköy and Fenerbahçe
1884
Kadıköy side of Istanbul; A unique region where God was absolutely privileged when creating the earth... In Istanbul, where history has not yet reached the year 1900, it is literally a dream town with its Kalamış, Fenerbahçe, Caddebostan, Suadiye and Moda... As far as the eye can see. In this region with empty plots and lush green meadows, the years when nature seemed to encourage people to do sports... And while the silhouette of Istanbul reflected and waved from far away on the sea, a lighthouse blinking on Fenerbahçe Cape, showing the way, was a place where it would lead Turkish sports. It was as if Kadıköy had started to shine with the pride of being a symbol of the club, longing for the days when it would shine with the same enthusiasm towards the Islands, the Marmara, and even further into the distant years. He was waiting for the days when he would present his team first to his relatives and then to the future...
Kadıköy Football Association
1890
In the 1890s, when the La Fontaine, Giraud, Whittall, Charnaud, Pears and Armitage families, among the British families living in Moda, Istanbul, had just started playing this game among themselves in the meadows of Kadıköy and Moda, the British families living in Izmir started playing this game in the meadows of Bornova. They had already started playing (*2). Because Thessaloniki and Izmir, two comfortable cities far from the capital Istanbul in terms of social and administrative terms, were the lands where the Ottoman Empire first found supporters for the game of football in the 1870s. Since the game of football could not develop among the Muslim Turks at that time due to the influence of religious beliefs, thus It was played for the first time on Ottoman lands by non-Muslim and Levantine citizens (foreign nationals settled in the country).
The match competition between the first families who were introduced to football in Moda and the British embassy staff in Istanbul was followed by the Istanbul-Izmir competition with the establishment of "Football Club Smyrne" in Izmir in 1894 (*3). When James La Fontaine, who pioneered football in Izmir, settled in Istanbul in 1889, he saw the British playing a mixture of football and rugby in Kadıköy, and quickly established friendship with them and made them accept the football game he knew better. When the dates show 1897, James La Fontaine and his friends gathered for the first time as a football team under the name of Kadıköy Football Association on the Kadıköy side . The British, Greek and Armenian young people who made up the team continued their games, which they usually played with British sailors coming to Istanbul on a voyage, in the meadows of Kadıköy. And every afternoon, they made the large audience (which we presented extensively in the first episode) watch it. These competitions attracted the attention of the public so much that the "Football Association" team started to play mutual football matches with the "Izmir Mixed" within two years.
Black StocKings FC is Established
1899
However, during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II, Turkish youth were prohibited from forming associations in order to protect the existing monarchy regime. This situation aroused not only sadness but also, of course, anger and ambition among the Muslim Turkish youth of Kadıköy, who were deprived of the opportunity and pleasure of playing football in their own land where foreigners and minorities played football, and who could only watch with envy this attractive game that they wanted to play by mingling with them. . Fuat Hüsnü (Kayacan), a naval student who took all kinds of risks, and Reşat Danyal and Mehmet Ali, former military officers, and their friends who hit the leather ball in the land called Papazın Çayırı in Kuşdili, aimed to end this longing, and in 1899, In order to escape the attention of the spies and reporters of the period and to protect themselves from their anger , they were establishing Black Stockings FC (Black Stockings Football Club) under an English name . However, this first Turkish sports and football community, formed by Turkish youth with black socks and red tops, was raided by spies in their first match and was immediately dispersed.
The Real Founding Year of Fenerbahçe
1899
The most important point to note here is; The young people who pioneered this first attempt of Fenerbahçe Sports Club under the name of Black Stockings FC in 1899 and the young people who gathered under the names of Kadıköy Football Club (1902) and Fenerbahçe Football Club (1907), which were to be established in the following years, were generally the same people. Therefore, FENERBAHÇE CLUB was established unofficially in 1899, but since it was closed twice, it could only start its activities in 1907, the year of its official establishment. It can be seen that; The names Black Stockings FC or Kadıköy Football Club are a means to an end (*4). Additionally, when the lists of football clubs established in Istanbul are examined; Moda Football Club (1896), Cadi-Keuy Football Club (1899) and Imogen (1900) were founded by British nationals, Elpis (1900) was founded by Greeks, Black Stockings (1899), Beşiktaş, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe clubs were founded by Ottoman nationals. It is already seen that they are. (*5)
Waiting for the Establishment in Kadıköy
1900
The sun has just met the 1900s. While every district of Istanbul is illuminated with the same warmth and generosity, the sky on the Kadıköy side is always hazy, as if it were always closed. Kuşdili Meadow looks sad, Priest's Meadow seems pale. In Fenerbahçe, the gardens are flowerless, the canaries in the mansions are silent, the roses and nightingales are sulking... Because the desires of Turkish youth, who are passionate about sports, to establish a club in Kadıköy were blocked twice by the "palace", while the same requests of our Levantine and non-Muslim citizens were given permission by the same palace. It seems like our youth from Kadıköy have been defeated twice against the palace regime. That's why all the people of Kadıköy are silent, a little wounded, the wind blowing in Kalamış is like a sadness, and the "White Lantern" flashing in Fenerbahçe is like a sadness. This is why; victorious, as if defeated on this road...
And while the silhouette of Istanbul on the sea flows to the shore in curtains from far away, the helpless peninsula, like "LIGHTHOUSE WITHOUT LIGHT, GARDEN WITHOUT FLOWERS", looks sadly towards the horizons of the palace on the opposite shore and looks at the building permit. In his dream of coming out, he recites the lines "If there will be a morning in this country one day, Haluk." with a wounded heart but a heart full of hope, as if he is waiting for help from the government door...
Establishment of Kadıköy Football Club
1901
But still, in the past few years, some of the same young people, together with the new ones, regularly gathered at Hurşit Ağa's coffee house, right near the Kurbağalıdere Bridge (opposite the current stadium), and in 1901, this time changing the name, they formed a club called Kadıköy Football Club. They were working on establishing a new team. We come across detailed information on the subject in the article titled "The First Football in Kadıköyü", written in 1951 in the History Treasure Magazine by the master Sermet Muhtar Alus, who portrays the recent history he lived in with all its details in his writings:
(It is as the original): "The music master of the time According to Sine Kemani Nuri Bey's narration, the first Turkish youth who were interested in football decided to establish a club and unite more tidily. Soon, they fulfilled their desire and chose the dress; the shirt was blue, the collar and sleeve covers were white, the other sides were red, the trousers were blue. They are also white. They started playing matches among themselves in the meadows of Kuşdili Priest. Their main aim (their biggest wish) is to reach the level of the team (consisting of the British and Greeks) in Moda and to beat them. According to the narration of Sine Kemani Bay Nuri, one of the former gymnasts and trainers, they were the first to play Let's count: Himself (Nuri Bey), Emced Bey, Mehmet Ali and his brother Neşet Beys, Reşat Danyal Bey, Hafız Mustafa, Artillery officer Cevdet Bey, Eşref Bey, Hüsnü Pasha zade Bahriyeli Fuat Bey, Mekteb-i Sultani's Daniş, Tahsin ( Poet Tahsin Nahit) Bey, Sarı Şevki.
Servet, the French daily newspaper owned by Baba Tahir, the owner of Weekly Information Magazine, published an encouraging article about these matches. One of the notorious spies (undercover police officers), who did not miss the opportunity, immediately sent the news to Sultan Hamid: "The youth of Kadıköy have formed a society under the protection of the Crown Prince Reşat Efendi (Sultan Reşat). "As your servant, I call upon your imperial attention (I draw the attention of my sultan). Edict."
And of course, these attempts were again prevented by the regime and religious pressure due to football being considered haram, but also by the raid of the police force as a result of tighter spy pressure, and the young people of Kadıköy were once again dispersed. What a sad fate that, while the "Tatavla - Heraklis Gymnastics Club" was established in Tatavla (Kurtuluş) with the initiative of a group of Greek citizens on April 6, 1896, which coincided with the opening day of the Olympics in Athens (*6), two years after that "Kadıköy Football Club", which was later tried to be established by consisting entirely of Turkish youth, was immediately closed down due to the current regime, and its founders barely escaped exile. This situation would delay the development of Turkish sports in the way of clubs for at least 5 years, and the foundation of football-oriented sports in our country would be laid with foreign domination and understanding (* 7).
Although our foreign (Levantine) and non-Muslim citizens living on both the Pera side and the Kadıköy side of Istanbul gained the right to live the first clubs they established with ceremonies, both of the brave attempts made by our Turkish youth from Kadıköy, whose hearts beat with the love of sports, could not be realized. It does not extinguish this fire within them, on the contrary, with the fact that no force can prevent them from establishing a football club in Kadıköy, they only have a few years to establish a club whose name is not yet known but which will come out of the heart of Kadıköy and have millions of fans in the future. It was as if they felt that he was staying.
The Real Founding Year of Fenerbahçe
1901
The most important point to note here is; The young people who pioneered this first attempt of Fenerbahçe Sports Club under the name of Black Stockings FC in 1899 and the young people who gathered under the names of Kadıköy Football Club (1902) and Fenerbahçe Football Club (1907), which were to be established in the following years, were generally the same people. Therefore, FENERBAHÇE CLUB was established unofficially in 1899, but since it was closed twice, it could only start its activities in 1907, the year of its official establishment. It can be seen that;
The first "Football League" days in Istanbul
1906
Yes, tyranny; In other words, the "absolute domination" regime that existed at that time prohibited the Turks from the right to establish a society in our country or to do sports within this body. For this reason alone, Mr. Fuat Hüsnü (Kayacan) and his friends, consisting entirely of Turkish youth, attempted to establish Fenerbahçe Sports Club, both the "Black Stockings FC" which they wanted to establish under an English name without giving a Turkish name in 1899, and Even though they wanted to change their name and establish "Kadıköy Football Club" in 1902, the palace prevented them. This situation would cause the first sports clubs established in our country to be formed by foreigners and non-Muslims (*8), and would delay the development of Turkish sports in the way of clubs by at least 5 years, resulting in the foundation of football-oriented sports in our country being laid with "foreign domination and understanding.
As a matter of fact, after the Kadıköy Football Club was immediately closed and dissolved due to this current regime, in 1902, people named James Lafontaine and Horace Armitage founded the "Cadıköy Football Club", consisting almost entirely of British people; He founded the football team named (Kadıköy Football Club) and received permission for its establishment (*10). This was followed by the establishment of "Moda Football Clup" by British young people living in Moda in 1903, and the "Elpis (Ümit) Football Team" by Greek citizens from Kadıköy in 1904. James La Fontaine, who organized the first league in Turkey after the British embassy ship "Imogene" founded a football team with the same name in the same year, founded the first football league in Istanbul under the name "Constantinople Football Liege" (Istanbul Football League) in the autumn of 1904. It was drying.
These matches, held under the name of "Sunday League", which was the league organization formed by Cadıkeuy (Kadıköy), Moda, Elpis and Imogene teams, were held in Papazın Çayırı, where today's Fenerbahçe Stadium is located, and were followed with great interest by the public. The first Sunday League championship in 1904 was won by the Imogene Team, and the second Sunday League championship in 1905 was won by the Cadıkeuy (Kadıköy) Football Team. While the dates show the year 1905, Galatasaray Football Team, which was founded by the students of Mekteb-i Sultani (Galatasaray High School) under the roof of the school, started its matches with the Kadıköy Frerler Mektebi (Saint Joseph) team in the Papazın Çayırı location in Kadıköy and officially joined the Istanbul Football League from 1906 onwards. .
1907 towards official establishment
1907
The days when unofficial calendars showed the first leaves of the most beautiful year of 1907... Sultan Abdülhamid II Han seems to be aware that he is living the last year of his 33-year reign based on the oppressive regime. Since he did not have much time or heart left to deal with those who were chasing football balls because of fighting with those who were trying to control his reign, he relaxed the pressure he put on such organizations, even if not officially. Their eyes and hearts have already become somewhat accustomed to the game of football, which has been played by non-Muslims and foreigners for approximately ten years. In the Kördere Field and Kuşdili Meadow on the Kadıköy side, there is no visible trace left of the palace spies who did not let the ball fly in those early years, and the Turkish youth seem to be running around freely, even though they are not wearing official uniforms. Although "Beşiktaş" as a gymnastics club and "Galatasaray" as a football club with the identity of the French School Team were able to carry out their establishment activities on the Istanbul side, the opposite shore, Kadıköy side, was almost another town for that period, almost a provincial city to Istanbul. ..
Finally, the nearness of the awaited days is now felt on this side as well. On the Kadıköy side, the sun is brighter and the flowers are blooming more beautifully in the gardens. In Fenerbahçe, the canaries are singing differently and the lantern on the nose seems to be shining brightly. Because most of the very important days in which the decision and approval will be taken for the establishment of the first Turkish club from the people have passed, and a few of them seem to be coming...
Here, Ziya (Songülen) Bey, the son of the London Embassy Chief Secretary Nuri Bey, the grandson of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Asım and Server Pasha, and Ayetullah Bey , the son of the Operations Army Feriki (major general) Şevki Pasha, were among the young people of Kadıköy who gained strength from the support of the history they lived in. and Enver Necip (Okaner) Bey , the nephew of the famous writer Sami Paşazade Sezai Bey, were laying the first idea for the team they would establish as a result of a meeting they had on the Selam floor of Necip Bey's house at number 3 in Moda Beşbıyık Street. Engineer Nurizade Ziya Bey, a Saint Joseph graduate and one of the rich people of the period who would finance the necessary money, was given the honor of the founding president of the club, Ayetullah Bey, an officer of the Ottoman Bank, was given the job of clerk (secretary), and Naval Officer Necip Bey was given the job of captain and treasurer. They were giving.
With the consensus reached in the same meeting; They would name the club they would establish as Fenerbahçe , inspired by the beauty of the neighborhood they lived in, and they would take their emblem from the shining lantern on Fenerbahçe Cape, and the colors of their jerseys from yellow and white, the colors of the daisies, the cute heralds of spring in Fenerbahçe, which are symbols of jealousy and cleanliness.
The next day, jersey fabrics were purchased from the "Baker Store", Fener crested stationery was ordered, and a conversation with James Lafontaine, who was supposedly the President of the Football Federation at the time, seemed to be receiving a response from him. Now that the name, president, emblem and jerseys of the club to be established were chosen, it was just a matter of bringing together 11 Turkish young people who would register this name by wearing the jerseys. The most important role in this regard is St. Joseph School Turkish Teacher Enver (Yetiker) Bey was responsible.
