Rams Park
Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex, commonly known as Ali Sami Yen Stadium, branded as Rams Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium serving as the home ground of the Süper Lig club Galatasaray. It is located in the Seyrantepe quarter of the Sarıyer district, on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. The all-seater stadium has the capacity to host 53,978 spectators during football games. Rams Park is part of the Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex, named after the club's founder.
Rams Park was the first stadium in Turkey that met the UEFA Euro 2016 requirements during the country's bid to host the European Championship. In 2011, Rams Park was one of the six nominees for the Venue of the Year and New Venue categories of the Stadium Business Awards. Galatasaray S.K. won the Süper Lig in the first season at Rams Park. Rams Park and Galatasaray S.K. were mentioned in the first chapter of Tom Clancy's 2012 novel Threat Vector.
Rams Park is one of the potential venues for the UEFA Euro 2032.
In 2025, Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi Rams Park ranked second on the World Economic Forum's list of the world's seven most environmentally friendly stadiums.
History
Association football was first played in Istanbul by some British players in a field known as Papazın Çayırı in the area that is now the site of Fenerbahçe's Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium. With the opening of the Taksim Stadium in 1921, it was this new stadium that became the new football headquarters. In the urban development of 1939, the military barracks in which the Taksim Stadium was located was demolished in 1940. The stadium was thus lost. During this period, Fenerbahçe bought the land encompassing Papazın Çayırı and built the Fenerbahçe Stadium, while the Beşiktaş Club moved into the Şeref Stadium, located in the area where today's Çırağan Palace Hotel stands. It was Galatasaray that experienced the biggest problem with the use of a stadium in that period.The first steps to overcome this problem were taken in the initial years of the 1930s. The first initiative to acquire a plot of land for Galatasaray was in 1933, when the then president of the club Ali Haydar Barşal showed an interest in a mulberry orchard in Mecidiyeköy. In the period between 1933 and 1935, negotiations with the government resulted in the allocation of a plot of land outside of the city limits in Mecidiye Köyü for a stadium to be built for Galatasaray. Excavations for the construction began in 1936. The President of the Turkish Sports Organization at the time, Adnan Menderes, provided financial assistance for the project. However, the efforts were left in the excavation stage.
In 1940, the matter of the stadium came up again under the presidency of Tevfik Ali Çınar. The same plot of land was leased to Galatasaray for a term of 30 years at a symbolic yearly rental fee of 1 lira. Galatasaray thus acquired the right to the use of the land. In leasing the land, Galatasaray committed to building a modern stadium as well as a bicycle velodrome. The construction could not start, however, due to limited funds and the general atmosphere of the war years. In 1943, Osman Dardağan led an initiative to build a modest stadium that would answer the immediate need. In the atmosphere of war, only a small open tribune was allowed in the stadium, which was set on a field of earth and inaugurated under the presidency of Muslihittin Peykoğlu in 1945. However, its distance from the city center in those days, its inaccessibility by public transportation, and the rough winds that characterized the district were factors that contributed to a long period in which the stadium would lay idle and football games never took place.
When the İnönü Stadium in the center of the city was opened in that period, Galatasaray abandoned the stadium building project in Mecidiyeköy, putting the project aside before fruition. In 1955, 30 more years were added to the right of utilization agreement, which at the time had 22 years to go, extending the terms until 2007. When the Club failed to undertake the building of the Stadium, the project was taken on by the Physical Education General Directorate. The construction started in 1959. In 1961, during the presidency of Refik Selimoğlu, a new agreement was signed with the Physical Education General Directorate whereby the utilization rights of the newly completed stadium were explicitly given to Galatasaray.
The stadium was opened on an eventful December 20, 1964. In the midst of the extreme crowds present, panic broke out, resulting in the death of one spectator and the injury of 80 others. In 1965, the stadium was illuminated for the first time. Despite this, however, not many night games were played. At the beginning of the 1970s, the stadium was abandoned for another period during which the İnönü Stadium began to be used again. In the 1970s, the stadium was mostly used by Galatasaray for training sessions. In those years, it remained in a squalid state of neglect.
In 1981, grass was planted on the field and the stadium was opened again. The lighting system was renewed in 1993, after which night games began to be played once more. In the same year, the system of combined tickets was initiated in Turkey at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium. Also in the same year, the stadium was furnished with seats to replace the old benches. The capacity of the stadium was thus reduced from 35,000 to an all-seater capacity of 22,000. In 1997, the Galatasaray administration assigned a Canadian architectural firm for the task of designing Turkey's first multi-function, modern stadium to be built in place of the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, which was planned to be torn down.
On 10 December 2013, a UEFA Champions League match between Galatasaray and Juventus had to be abandoned due to heavy snow in the 32nd minute with the score 0–0, the remaining minutes of the match were played the next day.
New stadium projects
Faruk Süren project
The new stadium project was launched in 1998 and it attracted wide interest. During the promotion of the modern loge system, the entire loge section was sold at a symbolical fee. The proposed capacity was 40,484. However, the mayor and the state did not allow of a stadium to be built.Mehmet Cansun project
Over the period of 2001–2002, a revision was made in the project with an eye toward reducing the amount needed for financing but this time, although costs were brought down, the economic crisis of 2001 stood in the way of overcoming the financial issue. Capacity was reduced to 35,000.Özhan Canaydın: Back to Süren's project
In the 2002–04 season, the old project came up again but was abandoned in favor of building a new and modern stadium. Again, financing needs could not be met. After a general renovation that took place in the 2004–05 season, the club returned to the Ali Sami Yen Stadium. Following the 1999 İzmit earthquake, the old Open Tribune was demolished and replaced in the 2005–2006 season for safety reasons.Özhan Canaydın: Leaving Mecidiyeköy, new home in Aslantepe
Because Mecidiyeköy was now a part of the city center, state authorities objected to the expansion of the stadium in this district. A new piece of land was suggested to Galatasaray as an alternative.The search for financing for the new stadium that would be built on this new plot continued over the period of 2004–07. In 2007, discussions with state authorities regarding the erection of a new Galatasaray stadium in Aslantepe yielded positive results. It was decided that the new stadium would be built within two years on the new land plot that would be transferred to Galatasaray, in exchange for the club's property in Mecidiyeköy on which the Ali Sami Yen Stadium stood.
A dream comes true
At the end of 2007, ten years after the initial announcement of the project in 1997, the groundbreaking for the new stadium was carried out at a ceremony attended by state officials. The old project was put aside and a new project was contracted to Mete Arat in Germany.2008, In Galatasaray's last year at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, the Lower Closed Tribune was renovated in line with UEFA standards.
2009, The construction of the new stadium, the Rams Park, gained speed when the contracting company was changed.
2010, It was announced that the official opening of the new stadium would take place on January 15, 2011, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presiding. But in the opening ceremony, he was protested by spectators of Galatasaray.
Project overview
Aslantepe
In recent years, numerous proposals had been put forward to demolish the current stadium and build a new, larger one on the same location, but this was impossible due to the lack of space. Finally, the club's stadium, Ali Sami Yen Stadium, was now going to be replaced with a new stadium near Maslak financial district. The former name of the district, Seyrantepe, was changed to Aslantepe after Galatasaray purchased the land; Aslan being Galatasaray's symbol. The idea was to realize a stadium on the model of Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The stadium will feature a retractable roof—the first of its kind in Turkey.Auction process
Galatasaray has been in cooperation with TOKİ.Among the four companies that tendered proposals, the best offer was put forward by the Eren Talu Architecture – ALKE Partnership. The contract for the tender held for the construction of Galatasaray's new stadium was signed between TOKİ and Eren Talu-ALKE consortium on 23 October 2007.
The contract of the tender was realized by TOKİ and came to be known as the "Aslantepe Tender", covering the construction of a multipurpose sports complex with 52,652 spectator capacity on Aslantepe premises in return for building "Urban Social Infrastructure Areas" on 34.640 sq meters of land on which the present Ali Sami Yen Stadium is located.
There is a set period of 720 days for the construction of the stadium that will be built on the Aslantepe premises. The box count is 198 Part of the catering areas Turk Telekom Stadium consists of, is a VIP lounge room, VIP Market Area, Premium Food Court, Galatasaray Museum, Galatasaray Mega Store, 11 Galatasaray Store and a VIP restaurant. The modern stadium, contains five top and four underground levels.