Bursaspor

Bursaspor were founded on 1 June 1963 after the merger of five local İzmit–Bursa-region clubs: Acar İdman Yurdu, Akınspor, İstiklal, Pınarspor and Çelikspor. The new entity adopted the name “Bursaspor”, while the colours green and white drawn from the Bursa city flag and long used by the local game were chosen as the official palette for all branches of the club.

The club were registered with the Turkish Football Federation for the 1963–64 season in the second tier, and played their first official match on 21 September 1963 against İzmir Demirspor at İzmir Alsancak Stadium an occasion reported locally as the symbolic beginning of “Green-Whites” football at national level.

Rapid consolidation followed. In 1966–67 Bursaspor won promotion to the top flight after a dominant campaign in the second tier, winning 19 of 30 league matches and finishing eight points clear of runners-up Samsunspor; the Green-Whites’ balanced goal difference and strong spring sequence were singled out in the contemporary press as decisive. Their early years in the top division featured solid mid-table finishes and a growing matchday culture at Bursa Atatürk Stadium, which quickly became known for compact, high-energy crowds.

Bursaspor’s first national silverware arrived in 1971 when they defeated Fenerbahçe 1–0 after extra time to win the Prime Minister’s Cup regarded at the time as a showpiece between the country’s leading clubs and a key milestone for “Anadolu” teams. In 1973–74 Bursaspor reached the Turkish Cup final and thereby qualified for the 1974–75 European Cup Winners’ Cup; they eliminated Finn Harps and Dundee United en route to the quarter-finals before bowing out to Dynamo Kyiv, gaining valuable continental experience in the club’s first extended European run.

The club’s first and to date only Turkish Cup triumph came in 1986, defeating Altay 2–0 in the Ankara final; the victory prompted a civic celebration in Bursa and qualified Bursaspor for the 1986–87 Cup Winners’ Cup, where they were eliminated in the first round by Ajax, who went on to win the tournament.

A turbulent spell in the mid-1980s saw the Green-Whites relegated at the end of both the 1985–86 and 1986–87 campaigns, though the latter demotion was subsequently overturned by a Council of State ruling in 1987 after disciplinary and procedural appeals. Further instability ultimately led to relegation again in 2004. The rebuild that followed culminated in Bursaspor winning the second-tier title in 2005–06 and returning to the Süper Lig on 16 May 2006 a promotion widely seen as the foundation for the modern era that would, four years later, bring the club its historic national championship.

Promoted in 2006 and rebuilt under head coach Ertuğrul Sağlam, Bursaspor began the 2009–10 campaign fast and reached the summit by December. A 1–0 home win against Galatasaray and a 2–3 victory away at Beşiktaş set the tone for a side that mixed intense pressing with rapid transitions led by playmaker Pablo Batalla and winger Ozan İpek.

The team’s most emphatic result came in spring with a 6–0 defeat of İstanbul BB, while league leaders Fenerbahçe were simultaneously held in critical fixtures, trimming the gap at the top. Bursaspor again reached the Turkish Cup quarter-finals, but attention increasingly focused on the league, where Batalla’s control between the lines and İpek’s direct running supplied a season-high xG and chance-creation rate for the club in the Opta era.

With eight games left Bursaspor were five points clear; then a blip allowed Fenerbahçe to edge ahead with five weeks to go. The title race therefore went to the final day on 16 May 2010. In Bursa, Sağlam’s side beat Beşiktaş 2–1 thanks to second-half goals—securing the points they needed irrespective of events in Istanbul—while at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium Fenerbahçe could only draw 1–1 with Trabzonspor, a result confirmed over the public-address system that triggered premature celebrations and then pitch invasions as news filtered through that Bursaspor were champions by a single point (75 to 74).

The championship was historic on several counts. Bursaspor became only the sixth club ever to win the Süper Lig and the first team outside Istanbul to do so since Trabzonspor in 1983–84, ending more than a quarter-century of dominance by the “Big Three”. Sağlam, who had taken the job after a difficult spell at Beşiktaş, was widely praised for blending academy products (Sercan Yıldırım, Volkan Şen) with shrewd signings (İbrahim Öztürk, Zafer Yelen and others) and for installing a compact 4-2-3-1 that could morph into a front-foot 4-4-2 in transitions.

As champions, Bursaspor qualified directly for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League group stage—a club first—and were drawn with Manchester United, Valencia and Rangers. Although outmatched, they registered landmark nights: their first Champions League goal against Valencia and a closing-day 1–1 draw with Rangers in Bursa to claim their maiden point in the competition. When Bursaspor visited Ibrox earlier in the campaign they wore an all-white strip rather than their traditional green to avoid stoking tensions because of Rangers’ rivalry with green-clad Celtic.

Bursaspor finished the league with 75 points (W23-D6-L5), one clear of Fenerbahçe, and the division’s best defensive record. Batalla and İpek led the club scoring charts with eight league goals apiece, while Ivan Ergić and Bekir Ozan Has anchored midfield in front of a back line marshalled by Ömer Erdoğan. The club’s fan base, the Teksas and Bursasporluyuz groups, were credited with turning the Bursa Atatürk Stadium into one of the league’s most intimidating venues during the run-in.

In winning the Süper Lig Bursaspor joined an exclusive roll of honour and delivered one of the most surprising title stories of the European season an achievement regularly bracketed with Leicester City’s 2015–16 Premier League triumph for its improbability and enduring cultural impact on Turkish football.

Key figures: Ertuğrul Sağlam (head coach); Pablo Batalla, Ozan İpek, Ömer Erdoğan, İbrahim Öztürk, Bekir Ozan Has, Volkan Şen, Sercan Yıldırım.

In the following years, Bursaspor remained a competitive mid-table side in the Süper Lig, occasionally challenging for European spots. They reached the Turkish Cup final in 2012, but were defeated by Fenerbahçe. The club again made it to the final in 2015, this time facing Galatasaray, but once more finished as runners-up. Despite these cup runs and finishing mid-table or just outside European qualification places for several seasons, the club gradually began to decline due to mismanagement, frequent managerial changes, and growing financial instability.

By the late 2010s, Bursaspor was struggling significantly. Mounting debts and administrative turmoil led to a deterioration of on-field performance. In the 2018–19 Süper Lig season, the club was relegated on the final day, ending their 13-year stay in the top flight. This marked the first relegation since their return to the Süper Lig in 2006.

Bursaspor competed in the TFF First League (second division) for three consecutive seasons but failed to mount a serious promotion challenge. Continued financial issues and instability — including transfer bans and unpaid player wages — plagued the club. As a result, they were relegated again, this time to the TFF Second League (third tier), at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Off the pitch, the club was increasingly constrained by its debt burden and administrative sanctions. They were banned from signing new players due to unpaid debts and faced growing unrest among supporters and former players.

The situation worsened, and on April 7, 2024, Bursaspor suffered a 1–2 home defeat against 1461 Trabzon FK, mathematically confirming their relegation to the TFF Third League — the fourth tier of Turkish football — for the first time in the club’s history. The fall from national champions to the fourth division in just 14 years marked one of the steepest declines in Turkish football history. However, in the 2024–25 season, the club managed a strong campaign in the Third League, finishing first in their group with 21 wins out of 30 matches and earning promotion back to the TFF Second League for the 2025–26 season, giving hope to fans for a potential long-term recovery. Despite these challenges, Bursaspor maintains a passionate fanbase and continues to operate with hopes of revival, driven by youth development and the legacy of its former glories.