Samsunspor


Samsunspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional association football club based in the city of Samsun, on the southern coast of the Black Sea. The club competes in the Süper Lig, the top tier of the Turkish football league system.
Established as the football branch of Samsunspor Sports Club, the team attained professional status on 30 June 1965. Initially hosting matches at the City Stadium, Samsunspor moved to the 19 Mayıs Stadium in 1975, and since the 2017–18 season have played their home games at the newly constructed Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium, which has a capacity of over 33,000.
Samsunspor is the most successful football club from the province of Samsun. The club has spent a total of 23 matchdays at the top of the Süper Lig table, ranking seventh in that metric behind clubs such as Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş, Trabzonspor, Bursaspor, and Sivasspor. Samsunspor ranks eleventh in the all-time Süper Lig table by points and holds the record for the most championships won in the TFF First League, the country's second tier. The club has been promoted to the Süper Lig on seven occasions and relegated the same number of times, holding a record in both categories.
The team traditionally wears red and white kits and maintains a fierce regional rivalry with fellow Black Sea club Trabzonspor. Matches against Trabzonspor and other regional sides are referred to as the "Black Sea Derby".
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History

First years

Samsunspor stepped into professional leagues for the first time in the second football league, today's TFF First League in the 1965–66 season. The opponent of Samsunspor, who played the first professional league match on 5 September 1965, was Yeşildirek S.K. Samsunspor won the match 1–0 with the goal scored by Nihat Serçeme. Thus Nihat made history as the player who scored Samsunspor's first league goal. In this first season of the league, Samsunspor became 5th in the White Group. The club also competed in the Turkish Cup that year. They reached round two after defeating Güneşspor in the first round, but would go on to lose 2–1 to Petrolspor. The following season was more successful, as the club placed second in the 2. Lig, six points behind champion Bursaspor. In the Turkish Cup, the club reached the semi-finals, defeating Konyaspor, Adanaspor, Manisaspor, Galatasaray, and Fenerbahçe along the way. They met Göztepe in the semi-finals, eventually losing 5–2 on aggregate. Samsunspor finished second in the 2. Lig and were knocked out in the first round of the Turkish Cup in 1967–68.
The club earned their first promotion to the 1. Lig in 1969. They finished first in the Beyaz Grup of the 2. Lig, six points ahead of runners-up Boluspor. Because there were two groups, the winners of each group played each other in a final game to decide the champion and the runner-up. Ankaragücü beat Samsunspor 1–0 in the final. Samsunspor finished fifth in their first season in the 1. Lig, five points away from securing a spot in the Balkans Cup. The club finished with a record of eleven wins, nine draws, and ten losses, while scoring 24 goals and allowing 28. Samsunspor finished tenth the following season and were knocked out of the first round of the Turkish Cup for the second year in a row. After competing in first tier for five seasons, Samsunspor completed the league in the 15th place with 24 points in the 1974–75 season and relegated to the 2nd Football League. Upon this, coach Basri Dirimlili was dismissed and Kamuran Soykıray was brought back to the team. 1975–76 Football League season Soykıray again made the club White Group leader and Samsunspor has moved to the First Football League. In the same season, Samsunspor won Ministry of Youth and Sports Cup after Bursaspor II was defeated 2–1.

Golden ages

In the late 1970s, Ender Cengiz, who was then the club chairman, introduced the return to roots policy, aimed at bringing back local talent to strengthen the soccer team. In the mid-1980s, Samsunspor has achieved some of its major successes in the first tier of Turkish Football. After the promotion from second tier in 1984–85, Samsunspor finished First League at 3rd place with 33 goals scored by Tanju Çolak in 1985–86 season. The next season, the club had one of the best season in its history. Ranking again 3rd in the league where Tanju Çolak scored 25 goals, the team rose to the semi-finals in the Federation Cup. The next season, Samsunspor finished the league in fourth place and reached the final in the Turkish Cup. Until the cup final, Nevşehirspor, Uşakspor, Kocaelispor and Ankaragücü were eliminated but lost to Sakaryaspor as a result of the two-legged final.

20 January disaster

At the start of the 1988–89 season, Samsunspor began training under head coach Nuri Asan with a pre-season camp in Uludağ. The team collected 19 points during the first 18 matches of the league. On 20 January 1989, while traveling to their first match of the second half of the season against Malatyaspor, the team was involved in a traffic accident.
Around 9:30 am, near Havza, the club's bus collided with a truck and plunged down a cliff. The first aid to the injured Samsunspor players came from the Çarşambaspor delegation, who happened to be passing by en route to their own match against Diyarbakırspor. Çarşambaspor's officials, players, and staff pulled the injured out of the wreckage and transported them to Havza State Hospital, also donating blood. Many survivors suffered serious injuries or lifelong disabilities.
Head coach Nuri Asan, players Muzaffer Badalıoğlu and Mete Adanır, and the bus driver Asım Özkan died at the scene. Player Zoran Tomić fell into a coma and died six months later in Yugoslavia. Equipment manager Halil Albayrak and players Emin Kar and Erol Dinler were permanently disabled and retired from football. Burhaneddin Beadini was injured and voluntarily retired from football one year later. Players Yüksel Öğüten, Fatih Uraz, Şanver Göymen, Kasım Çıkla, and Uğur Terzi were injured but eventually continued their football careers. Another survivor, Orhan Kılınç, continued playing football but died in another car accident in 1994. Club manager Yüksel Özan also survived the crash with injuries.
After the accident, leading figures from Turkey's political and sporting world – including President Kenan Evren, Prime Minister Turgut Özal, Speaker of Parliament Yıldırım Akbulut, Minister of National Education, Youth, and Sports Hasan Celal Güzel, SHP chairman Erdal İnönü, DYP chairman Süleyman Demirel, Trabzonspor President Mazhar Afacan, and Malatyaspor President Metin Çağlayan – offered their condolences to Samsunspor. Due to the accident, Samsunspor was unable to complete the remainder of the season. They were ruled to have lost all remaining matches by default 3–0 defeats. However, the Turkish Football Federation granted the club a special status, allowing them to remain in the league, and they were declared the "Honorary Champions" of that season.
In memory of the tragedy, Samsunspor added black to its traditional red and white club colors. The disaster is chronicled in Mehmet Yılmaz's book Samsunspor: Red, White, Black published by İletişim Publishing in 2009, and in Hakan Dilek's book This Is How It Was, also by İletişim Publishing.
The idea of erecting a memorial monument for the tragedy was proposed several times but had not been realized until 2020, when concrete steps were finally taken. The Samsun Metropolitan Municipality erected a monument in the Samsun National Garden, and Samsunspor built another in front of the Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium. Although the club's Board of Elders also proposed a project for an additional monument, progress was stalled because the municipality did not allocate a location.

Era of stability and recent success

Following the 1989 accident, Samsunspor rebuilt its squad using funds from donation campaigns, but was relegated in the 1989–90 season. After bouncing between divisions for several years, the club earned promotion to the top flight again in 1992–93. Samsunspor then entered its most stable period, remaining in the Süper Lig for 13 consecutive seasons from 1993 to 2006. During this era, the club finished 5th in 1993–94 and reached the Turkish Cup semi-finals. Samsunspor under Romanian coach Gheorghe Mulțescu also won the 1993–94 Balkan Cup, becoming the last Anatolian club to do so.
The club participated in European competitions twice: the 1997 and 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup. In 1998, Samsunspor reached the semi-finals, defeating Crystal Palace before falling to Werder Bremen. The highlight of the later years was Serkan Aykut becoming top scorer of the 1999–2000 Süper Lig with 30 goals, a record unmatched by any Samsunspor player since.
In the 2005–06 season, Samsunspor was relegated from the Süper Lig after 13 years in the top flight. After spending several years in the 1. Lig, the club earned promotion in the 2010–11 season. However, Samsunspor was again relegated after the 2011–12 season. In subsequent seasons, the team reached the promotion playoffs multiple times but failed to return to the Süper Lig. In the 2017–18 season, facing severe financial problems, the club was handed over to trusteeship for the first time in its history, and was relegated to the third tier.
In 2018, former president İsmail Uyanık led the corporatization process, resulting in the formation of Samsunspor Football Club Joint Stock Company. Yüksel Yıldırım later acquired the majority shareholding.
Under new ownership, the club invested heavily in infrastructure and player recruitment. Samsunspor won promotion from the 2. Lig in 2019–20 and returned to the Süper Lig in the 2022–23 season. The corporatization era saw total investments of €65 million. In 2024, FIFA imposed a two-window transfer ban on the club. Although the ban was temporarily lifted, it resumed in the 2024–25 season.
Samsunspor will play in the UEFA Conference League for the first time in their history during the 2025–26 season. Despite facing a transfer ban during the 2024–25 season, the team achieved a remarkable third-place finish in the Süper Lig, securing qualification for the Europa League play-off round.

Colors and crest

Samsunspor's traditional colors are red and white. The club has consistently used this color scheme throughout its history, both in its home kits and club branding. The club's crest features a red-bordered shield with a depiction of the statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on horseback – a monument located in Samsun commemorating Atatürk's landing in the city to start the Turkish War of Independence. Above the image, the club's name "SAMSUNSPOR" appears in bold red letters on a white background, with the foundation year "1965" placed below the central graphic.
The crest symbolizes both the city's historical importance in Turkish history and the club's strong identity as one of the leading teams from the Black Sea region. The red and white colors represent passion, energy, and the club's enduring connection with the people of Samsun. Throughout its history, Samsunspor has made only minor adjustments to the design of its crest, retaining the same core visual elements of the statue, colors, and shield format.

Rivalry with Trabzonspor

One of Samsunspor's most notable rivalries is with Trabzonspor, another major club from the Black Sea region of Turkey. The rivalry is fueled by geographical proximity and regional pride, with both clubs representing their respective cities on the national stage.
While Trabzonspor has historically achieved greater success in terms of national titles, matches between the two clubs are highly anticipated and fiercely contested. For Samsunspor supporters, games against Trabzonspor are seen as a showcase of the club's competitive spirit and deep connection to the local community.
The rivalry highlights the Black Sea region’s passionate football culture and often features intense atmospheres both in Samsun and Trabzon. It remains one of the key fixtures in Samsunspor's calendar, embodying the pride of Samsun in Turkish football.

Supporters

Samsunspor's main ultra supporters, known as Şirinler, were founded in 1986 and derive their iconic name from the beloved cartoon. They are the most active ultras group, famous for their "light march" – thousands of fans processioning with flares from Çiftlik avenue to the stadium, turning the city red before match days.
Pioneers in fan culture, Şirinler launched Samsunspor's first fan website, launched official scarves and polar fleece, and operated an online radio. They disbanded in 1993 to form the 1965 Genç Samsunsporlular, later re-forming as Yeni Şirinler. In 2011, they faced a one‑year stadium ban for profane chants, but famously returned just 42 days later.
Organized into sub‑groups, Şirinler maintain alliances with other Turkish ultras – including Ankaragücü and Bursaspor – and actively engage supporters via social media under names like Forza Şirinler and Ultras Şirinler.

Stadium

In the early years, football matches in Samsun were played on the grounds of the Dârülmuallimîn School. In the early 1930s, a field called Fener Stadium was built in a marshy area named Fener, but due to poor conditions, the site was reconstructed in 1932. In 1951, basic improvements such as wire fencing, open stands, showers, and treatment facilities were added. This stadium remained the only stadium in Samsun during the amateur era and was also used by Samsunspor.
In 1958, the construction of the Samsun Şehir Stadyumu provided a modern facility where Samsunspor began hosting its matches. The club also celebrated its first league championship at this venue during the 1968–69 season. The team continued to use the City Stadium for nine seasons after turning professional, before relocating to the Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium. On 23 February 1975, Samsunspor played its first match at the 19 Mayıs Stadium against Trabzonspor. The final match at this venue was played on 20 May 2017 against Bandırmaspor in a TFF First League fixture.
Since 29 July 2017, Samsunspor has played its home games at the new Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium, a modern 33,919-seat venue that opened with a friendly match against Ankaragücü. The stadium currently meets UEFA standards and is capable of hosting international competitions.

Ownership and finances

Following relegation to the 2. Lig for the first time in its history in the 2017–18 season, Samsunspor entered a period of financial and structural turmoil. A court-appointed trustee took control of the club after the existing management resigned. Investigations were launched into previous board members for alleged misconduct and mismanagement.
During this period, former club president İsmail Uyanık announced his intention to run again for the presidency, contingent on permission to corporatize the club. Following approval at an extraordinary general assembly, Uyanık was elected president for a third term. On 8 August 2018, Samsunspor Futbol Kulübü Anonim Şirketi was officially established, separating the football branch from the parent club as a distinct legal entity. The company was registered with the Samsun Chamber of Commerce and Industry under registration number 34405, with an initial capital of ₺500,000. The ownership structure was initially 67% Yıldırım Holding and 33% İsmail Uyanık.
However, after six months, Yıldırım Holding Chairman Ali Rıza Yıldırım withdrew from the project, and Yüksel Yıldırım acquired the 67% stake. Consequently, Yılport Samsunspor became the name used for competition purposes, reflecting the sponsorship of Yılport Holding, led by Yüksel Yıldırım. Under the new ownership, the club prioritized both first-team success and the development of youth talent. Partnerships were signed with local clubs such as Erbaaspor and over thirty amateur clubs in the Samsun region. In parallel, the Samsunspor Football Academy was restructured and an international collaboration was established with Belgian club KRC Genk for youth development. By June 2019, the club had cleared its existing debts of ₺32,206,979.

Kit history and sponsorship

During the club's amateur era, Samsunspor's kits were not standardized, and early players typically wore black and white kits with varying designs. With the start of professional competition in the 1965–66 season, the club introduced standardized kits, wearing solid red and solid white kits. In the following season, the club introduced striped kits for the first time, with a red kit used as the away version, complemented by white shorts and red-white socks.
In the 1968–69 season, Samsunspor wore white shirts with white shorts and red-white socks for the first time. The 1971–72 season saw the debut of the club's first custom-designed kit: a white shirt with two horizontal red stripes. In 1973–74, the club wore a halved kit.
Until the 1977–78 season, kits were sourced from various local suppliers. That season marked the first time Samsunspor partnered with an official kit manufacturer, wearing Umbro kits for one season. Between 1981 and 1982, after producing its own kits, Samsunspor began using Adidas kits. In the following decades, the club partnered with other kit suppliers including Puma, Lotto, Erreà, Lescon, LiG, Kappa, and Macron.
Samsunspor's first shirt sponsorship appeared in 1982–83, when Hasbi Menteşoğlu sponsored the kit with "Menteşoğlu" printed on the shirt. Over the following years, sponsors included VakıfBank, Fotospor, Panasonic, Bayındır, Metro Turizm, Sarelle, Tadelle, Turkcell, Yeşilyurt, and Bank Asya. From 2011 to 2015, Samsunspor featured Spor Toto on its shirts. In 2018, Samsunspor entered into a naming rights and shirt sponsorship agreement with Yılport, a subsidiary of Yıldırım Holding. The club adopted the name Yılport Samsunspor for the football team, and Yılport also appeared on the kits as the main sponsor.

Honours

Statistics

League participations

  • Süper Lig: 1969–1975, 1976–1979, 1982–1983, 1985–1990, 1991–1992, 1993–2006, 2011–2012, 2023–
  • 1. Lig: 1965–1969, 1975–1976, 1979–1982, 1983–1985, 1990–1991, 1992–1993, 2006–2011, 2012–2018, 2020–2023
  • 2. Lig: 2018–2020


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European competitions record

Samsunspor competed in European competition for the first time in 1993. The club took part in the last edition of the Balkans Cup, defeating Pirin Blagoevgrad before facing PAS Giannina in the final. The first leg took place in Greece, which Samsunspor won 3–0. The second leg took place in Turkey, where Samsunspor sealed the championship with a 2–0 win. The club competed in the 1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup after finishing in ninth place. They were drawn into Group 6 alongside Hamburger SV, FBK Kaunas, Leiftur Ólafsfjörður, Odense Boldklub. Samsunspor finished second with nine points and were unable to advance. The club qualified for the Intertoto Cup again the following season. Drawn against Danish club Lyngby Boldklub, Samsunspor took a 3–0 lead in the first leg. The club faced a scare in the second leg, advancing by one goal on aggregate after losing the match 1–3. They faced English club Crystal Palace in the second round, beating the club four to nil on aggregate. Samsunspor were knocked out of the cup in the semi-finals after losing 6–0 at the hands of Werder Bremen. Samsunspor qualified for the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds for the first time in their history after a 2–2 draw against Trabzonspor on 25 May 2025.

Non-playing staff

Administrative staff

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Coaching staff

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Other departments

Besides football, Samsunspor also operates men's basketball and women's volleyball teams at various levels. At the amateur level, the club has had athletes competing in archery, boxing, judo, and table tennis.

Basketball

Samsunspor basketball team was promoted to the Basketbol Süper Ligi from Türkiye Basketbol Ligi following the 2022–23 season. The team played its home matches at Mustafa Dağıstanlı Sports Hall.
After their relegation at the end of 2023–24 Basketbol Süper Ligi, the club has suspended professional basketball operations.