FOOTBALL TEAMS

F.C BARCELONA

large_barca_1-1458657834.pngFutbol Club Barcelona (Catalan pronunciation: [fubˈbɔɫ ˈkɫub bərsəˈɫonə] ( listen)), commonly known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça,[note 1] is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto “Més que un club” (More than a club). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the second most valuable sports team in the world, worth $3.56 billion, and the world’s second richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €560.8 million.[2][3] The official Barcelona anthem is the “Cant del Barça”, written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs.[4]

Domestically, Barcelona has won 24 La Liga, 28 Copa del Rey, 12 Supercopa de España, 3 Copa Eva Duarte and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football, Barcelona has won five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, a shared record five UEFA Super Cup, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a record three FIFA Club World Cup and a shared record two Latin Cup trophies.[5] Barcelona was ranked first in the IFFHS Club World Ranking for 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015[6][7] and currently occupies the third position on the UEFA club rankings.[8] The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid; matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico.

Barcelona is one of the most supported teams in the world, and has the largest social media following in the world among sports teams.[9][10][11] Barcelona’s players have won a record number of Ballon d’Or awards (11), as well as a record number of FIFA World Player of the Year awards (7). In 2010, three players who came through the club’s youth academy (Messi, Iniesta and Xavi) were chosen as the three best players in the world in the FIFA Ballon d’Or awards, an unprecedented feat for players from the same football school.

Barcelona is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division, along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid. In 2009, Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the continental treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League, and also became the first football club to win six out of six competitions in a single year, completing the sextuple in also winning the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.[12] In 2011, the club became European champions again and won five trophies. This Barcelona team, which reached a record six consecutive Champions League semi-finals and won 14 trophies in just four years under Pep Guardiola, is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest team of all time.[13][14][15] By winning their fifth Champions League trophy on 6 June 2015, Barcelona became the first European club in history to achieve the continental treble twice.

F.C REAL MADRID

fft226_mf3116056Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Spanish pronunciation: [reˈal maˈðɾið ˈkluβ ðe ˈfuðβol]; Royal Madrid Football Club), commonly known as Real Madrid, or simply as Real outside Spain frontiers,[5] is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain.

Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the team has traditionally worn a white home kit since inception. The word Real is Spanish for Royal and was bestowed to the club by King Alfonso XIII in 1920 together with the royal crown in the emblem. The team has played its home matches in the 85,454-capacity Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in downtown Madrid since 1947. Unlike most European sporting entities, Real Madrid’s members (socios) have owned and operated the club throughout its history.

The club was estimated to be worth €3.24 billion ($3.65 billion) in 2015, and in the 2014–15 season it was the world’s highest-earning football club, with an annual revenue of €577 million.[6][7][8] The club is one of the most widely supported teams in the world.[9] Real Madrid is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division, along with Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably El Clásico with Barcelona and the El Derbi madrileño with Atlético Madrid.

Real Madrid established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football during the 1950s, winning five consecutive European Cups and reaching the final seven times. This success was replicated in the league, where the club won five times in the space of seven years. This team, which consisted of players such as Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Francisco Gento, Raymond Kopa, and José Santamaría, is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest team of all time.[10][11][12][13]

In domestic football, the club has won a record 32 La Liga titles, 19 Copa del Rey, nine Supercopa de España, a Copa Eva Duarte, and a Copa de la Liga.[14] In international football, the club has won a record 11 European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, a joint record three Intercontinental Cups, two UEFA Cups, three UEFA Super Cups and a FIFA Club World Cup.

Real Madrid was recognised as the FIFA Club of the 20th Century on 23 December 2000, and named Best European Club of the 20th Century by the IFFHS on 11 May 2010. The club received the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit in 2004. The club is ranked first in the latest IFFHS Club World Ranking, setting a new ranking-points record.[15] The club also leads the current UEFA club rankings.[16]

FENERBAHCE

fenerbahce-duvar-kagitlari-2016 (7).jpgFounded as a football club in 1907 in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, by Ziya Songülen (then Nurizade Ziya Bey), Ayetullah Bey and Enver Necip Okaner (then Enver Necip Bey). This group of individuals founded the club secretly in order to keep a low profile and not get into any trouble with the strict Ottoman rule. So strict that the Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, forbade the Turkish youth to set up a club or engage in the game of football played by the English families that was watched in envy. The club’s name comes from Fenerbahçe, a neighbourhood in Istanbul. Being one of the most supported clubs[1] in Turkey, Fenerbahçe is a multi-sports club and competes in football, basketball, volleyball, athletics, swimming, sailing, rowing, boxing and table tennis with many major honours and titles won in each branch. The club has 309,026 paid members as of 16 September 2012.[2] Ziya Songülen was elected the first President of the club, Ayetullah Bey became the first General Secretary, and Enver Necip Okaner was given the post of the General Captain.[3] The lighthouse situated on the Fenerbahçe cape was a big influence on the design of the club’s first crest, which sported the yellow and white colors of daffodils around the lighthouse. The kits were also designed with yellow and white stripes.[3] The crest and the colors of the club were changed in 1910 when Hikmet Topuzer redesigned the badge and Ziya Songülen changed the colors to yellow and navy, from then on the iconic colors of the club. Fenerbahçe’s activities were kept in secrecy until a legislation reform in 1908, when, under a new law, all football clubs had to register to exist legally.[3] Fenerbahçe joined the Istanbul League in 1909, finishing fifth in their first year. The founding line-up included Ziya Songülen, Ayetullah Bey, Necip Okaner, Galip Kulaksizoglu, Hassan Sami Kocamemi, Asaf Bespinar, Enver Yetiker, Sevkati Hulusi Bey, Fuat Hüsnü Kayacan, Hamit Hüsnü Kayacan, and Nasuhi Baydar.[4] Fenerbahçe played against the staff of the Royal Navy that occupied Istanbul during the Turkish War of Independence. Some British soldiers formed football teams that were named after the players’ speciality, for example Essex Engineers, Irish Guards, Grenadiers, and Artillery. These teams played against each other and against local football teams in Istanbul. Fenerbahçe won many of these matches.[5] The Turkish Football Federation founded a professional national league in 1959, which continues today under the name of the Süper Lig. Fenerbahçe won the first tournament, beating Galatasaray 4–1 on aggregate.[6] The next year, Fenerbahçe participated in the UEFA European Cup for the first time. They qualified through a 4–3 win over Csepel SC. They lost their first round game to OGC Nice 1–5 in a playoff game after drawing on aggregate.[7] They were also runners-up three times.[8][9] In the Balkans Cup 1966–67 (a competition set up for Eastern European clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia that existed between the 1960–61 and 1993–94 seasons), Fenerbahçe won the cup after three matches against Greek club AEK Athens, making them the first Turkish club to win a non-domestic competition. This success would remain unparalleled by a Turkish club until Sarıyer and Samsunspor won the cup many years later in the 1990s.[10]

BESIKTAS

besiktas-taraftar-resimleri-0Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü (Turkish pronunciation: [beˈʃiktaʃ], English: Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club), known as simply Beşiktaş (spelled: Beshiktash), is a Turkish sports club founded in 1903, and based in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul.

The club’s football team is one of the most successful teams in Turkey, having never been relegated to a lower division. The club last won the Turkish Süper Lig championship during the 2015–16 season.

The home ground of Beşiktaş is Vodafone Arena, a 41,903 all-seater capacity stadium located next to Dolmabahçe Palace.

The club also competes in other branches including basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, boxing, wrestling, chess, bridge, gymnastics, rowing, table tennis, paralympic sports, eSports and beach football.[6]
Beşiktaş was established in 1903 during the late Ottoman period. A group of 22 young individuals gathered on certain days of the week to perform bodily exercises in the Serencebey neighborhood of Beşiktaş. They began in the fall of 1902, in the garden of the mansion of Osman Paşa, who was then a part of the Medine Guard. The various sporting activities that these youths participated in included the horizontal bar, parallel bar, wrestling, weight lifting and gymnastics. They included such members as the sons of Osman Paşa, Mehmet Şamil and Hüseyin Bereket, and other youths of the neighborhood – Ahmet Fetgeri, Mehmet Ali Fetgeri, Nazım Nazif, Cemil Feti and Şevket. At that time, the Sultan Abdul Hamid II was having secret agents go around the city, reporting on any gatherings that might be political in nature. When these agents heard about the group, a raid was conducted and the exercising youths were taken to the police station. The tense situation was relaxed as some of these youths were close to palace officers. Since football was in disfavor in those days, they only participated in bodily exercises. In fact, Şehzade Abdülhalim, who had relations with the Palace, supported these youths and started to watch their practices frequently. Famous boxer and wrestler Kenan Bey came to the practices and started to show the group wrestling and boxing tricks.

GALATASARAY

downloadGalatasaray Spor Kulübü, also known as Galatasaray is a Turkish professional football club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. It is the association football branch of the larger Galatasaray Sports Club, itself a part of the Galatasaray Community Cooperation Committee which includes the prestigious Lycée de Galatasaray, where the football club was founded in October 1905 consisting entirely of students members.

Galatasaray is the most successful Turkish football club. They have won 7 domestic trophies, including 20 Süper Lig titles, a 17 Turkish Cups and a 13 Turkish Super Cups. It is one of three teams to have participated in all seasons of the Turkish Süper Lig since 1959, following the dissolution of the Istanbul Football League, and are the only club to have won the Süper Lig in four successive seasons.

Internationally, Galatasaray has won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000, becoming the first and only Turkish team to win a major UEFA competition. In the 1999–2000 season, the club achieved the rare feat of completing a quadruple by winning the Turkish Süper Lig, the Turkish Cup, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in a single season. Galatasaray is also the only Turkish club to have been ranked 1st on the IFFHS World Rankings.[7]

Since 2011, the club’s stadium is the 52,652 capacity Türk Telekom Arena in Seyrantepe, Istanbul. Previously, the club had played at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, as well as a succession of other grounds in Istanbul, which included groundshares with Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe at the Taksim Stadium and İnönü Stadium.

The club has a long-standing rivalry with other major Istanbul teams, namely with Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe. The derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe is dubbed the Kıtalar Arası Derbi (English: Intercontinental Derby) due to the location of their headquarters and stadiums on the European (Galatasaray) and Asian (Fenerbahçe) sides of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul.

As a result of the team’s twentieth championship for the 2014–15 season of the Süper Lig, their logo hereafter contains 4 stars representing their 20 championships for the league. Each star corresponds to the team’s 5 championships.