Istanbul Football League

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The Istanbul Football League (Turkish: İstanbul Futbol Ligi) was founded as a regional football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empire, in 1904. The Istanbul League was the first football organization ever in the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey. In the inaugural 1904–05 season the matches between the four teams, Moda FC, HMS Imogene, Elpis FC, and Cadi-Keuy FC were played on Sundays, leading to the name of the league, Istanbul Sunday League. Henry Pears, an Englishman and one of the three founders, promised to ultimately award the shield to the club with the most championships won during the initial 10 years.

The Istanbul Friday League was founded in 1915 and replaced the Istanbul Sunday League. Seven teams participated in its inaugural 1915–16 season. From 1923–24 to 1950–51 the league was called Istanbul League. The name was later changed and became Istanbul Professional League in the 1952 season, as professionalism was introduced by the Turkish Football Federation in 1951.

Fenerbahçe are the most successful club, having won the league a record 16 times in total.

^[1][2][3]

• 
  Cadikeuy Football Club 1905-06 Champion
• 
  Moda FC 1907-08 Champion
• 
  Galatasaray SK 1908-09 Champion
• 
  Galatasaray SK 1909-10 Champion
• 
  Galatasaray SK 1910-11 Champion
• 
  Fenerbahçe SK 1911-12 Champion
• 
  Fenerbahçe SK 1913-14 Champion

• 
  Galatasaray SK 1915-16 Champion
• 
  Altınordu İdman Yurdu 1916-17 and 1917-18 Champion
• 
  Fenerbahçe SK 1920-21 Champion
• 
  Galatasaray SK 1921-22 Champion
• 
  Fenerbahçe SK 1922-23 Champion

• 
  Beşiktaş JK 1923-24 Champion
• 
  Galatasaray SK 1924-25 Champion
• 
  Galatasaray SK 1925-26 Champion
• 
  Galatasaray SK 1926-27 Champion
• 
  Galatasaray SK 1930-31 Champion
• 
  Istanbulspor 1931-32 Champion
• 
  Besiktas JK 1938-39 Champion

• 1952 Beşiktaş JK
• 1953 Fenerbahçe SK
• 1954 Beşiktaş JK
• 1955 Galatasaray SK
• 1956 Galatasaray SK
• 1957 Fenerbahçe SK
• 1958 Galatasaray SK
• 1959 Fenerbahçe SK

*Galatasaray in the Istanbul Football Union League and Fenerbahçe in the Istanbul Champions League became champions.

Season	Club	Top scorer	Goals	Matches	Rate
1928–29	Fenerbahçe SK	Zeki Rıza Sporel (1)	10	9	1.11
1929–30	Fenerbahçe SK	Zeki Rıza Sporel (2)	13	10	1.3
1930–31	Fenerbahçe SK	Zeki Rıza Sporel (3)	17	13	1.31
	Fenerbahçe SK	Fikret Arıcan (1)	17	14	1.21
1931–32	Beşiktaş JK	Hakkı Yeten (1)	8	5	1.60
1932–33	Beşiktaş JK	Hakkı Yeten (2)	10	11	0.91
1933–34	Beşiktaş JK	Hakkı Yeten (3)	10	12	0.83
1934–35	Fenerbahçe SK	Namık Erbay (1)	13	11	1.18
1935–36	Fenerbahçe SK	Ali Rıza Tansı (1)	19	21	0.90
	Fenerbahçe SK	Naci Bastoncu (1)	19	21	0.90
1936–37	Fenerbahçe SK	Esat Kaner (1)	14	10	1.40
1937–38	Beşiktaş JK	Şeref Görkey (1)	16	9	1.78
1938–39	Fenerbahçe SK	Fikret Arıcan (2)	25	15	1.67
1939–40	Galatasaray SK	Cemil Gürgen Erlertürk (1)	30	16	1.88
1940–41	Beşiktaş JK	Şeref Görkey (2)	22	15	1.47
1941–42	Fenerbahçe SK	Melih Kotanca (1)	23	14	1.64
1942–43	Galatasaray SK	Cemil Gürgen Erlertürk (2)	22	11	2.00
1943–44	Beşiktaş JK	Şükrü Gülesin (1)	27	17	1.59
	Fenerbahçe SK	Müzdat Yetkiner[4] (1)	27	16	1.69
1944–45	Beşiktaş JK	Kemal Gülçelik (1)	27	18	1.50
1945–46	Beşiktaş JK	Şükrü Gülesin (2)	11	13	0.85
1946–47	Beşiktaş JK	Şükrü Gülesin (3)	9	14	0.64
	Galatasaray SK	Reha Eken (1)	9	12	0.75
1947–48	Fenerbahçe SK	Halit Deringör (1)	12	13	0.92
	Fenerbahçe SK	Lefter Küçükandonyadis (1)	12	14	0.86
1948–49	Beşiktaş JK	Şükrü Gülesin (4)	13	12	1.08
1949–50	Beşiktaş JK	Bülent Esel (1)	19	14	1.36
1950–51	Beşiktaş JK	Recep Adanır (1)	13	14	1.36
1952	Beşiktaş JK	Şevket Yorulmaz (1)	19	14	1.36
1952–53	Beşiktaş JK	Şevket Yorulmaz (2)	17	18	0.94
1953–54	Fenerbahçe SK	Lefter Küçükandonyadis (2)	14	14	1.00
1954–55	Galatasaray SK	Ali Beratlıgil (1)	14	18	0.78
1955–56	Galatasaray SK	Metin Oktay (1)	19	17	1.12
1956–57	Galatasaray SK	Metin Oktay (2)	17	16	1.06
1957–58	Galatasaray SK	Metin Oktay (3)	19	17	1.12
1958–59	Galatasaray SK	Metin Oktay (4)	22	16	1.38

• Most titles: 16
  • Fenerbahçe SK

• Most consecutive titles: 5
  • Beşiktaş JK (1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1942–43)

• 20–0, Galatasaray SK vs Vefa SK, 1925–26
• 16–0, Fenerbahçe SK vs Anadolu Üsküdar 1908, 1930–31
• 14–0, Fenerbahçe SK vs Topkapı SK, 1938–39
• 14–0, Fenerbahçe SK vs Topkapı SK, 1939–40
• 14–1, Galatasaray SK vs Anadolu Üsküdar 1908, 1914–15
• 13–0, Fenerbahçe SK vs Süleymaniye SK, 1930–31
• 13–0, Beşiktaş JK vs Hilal SK, 1939–40
• 13–1, Fenerbahçe SK vs Davutpaşa SK, 1942–43
• 12–0, Fenerbahçe SK vs Süleymaniye SK, 1915–16
• 12–0, Beşiktaş JK vs Topkapı SK, 1939–40
• 12–1, Galatasaray SK vs Topkapı SK, 1936–37
• 12–1, Beşiktaş JK vs Taksim SK, 1941–42
• 11–0, Galatasaray SK vs Moda-Imogene Muhteliti, 1909–10
• 10–0, Galatasaray SK vs Süleymaniye SK, 1934–35
• 11–2, Beşiktaş JK vs Eyüp SK, 1936–37
• 11–2, Galatasaray SK vs Eyüp SK, 1937–38
• 11–2, Beşiktaş JK vs Eyüp SK, 1937–38
• 11–2, Beşiktaş JK vs Kasımpaşa SK, 1943–44
• 11–2, Beşiktaş JK vs İstanbulspor, 1943–44

Sources

• Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü Tarihi 1907–1957, Dr. Rüştü Dağlaroğlu
• Yüce, Mehmet (2015). İdmancı Ruhlar: Futbol Tarihimizin Klasik Devreleri: 1923–1952. Türkiye Futbol Tarihi (in Turkish). Vol. 2. Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları. ISBN 9789750516955.
• Arıpınar, Erdoğan; et al. (June 1992). Türk Futbol Tarihi 1904–1991 (in Turkish). Vol. 1. Türkiye Futbol Federasyonu Yayınları.