Antalyaspor
In Turkey, interest in football really began when regional leagues started to give place to a national league and in 1959 the “National League” was established to include the entire nation. One year later it changed its name into the Turkish First Football League and consisted of large cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and Adana. The Turkish Football Federation gave permission in 1965 for football teams in various provinces of Turkey competing in regional leagues to unite and compete as a single team on behalf of their city. These events compelled the Antalya Regional Directorate of Physical Education District Advisory Board to get into action and on 5 June 1966 the professional team of Antalyaspor was created.
Antalyaspor first joined the professional league in the 1966-1967 season when it competed in the 1st Division, then known as the Turkish Professional 2nd Division. It competed in the 2nd Division until it became champion in the 1981-1982 season and earned a promotion to the 1st Division or Süper Lig as it is called today. Antalyaspor was renamed Medical Park Antalyaspor after accepting a sponsorship deal with the Medical Park Hospitals Group on 20 July 2010 for a 4 year period. However, after this period came to an end the sponsorship wasn’t renewed and today the team continues to compete under its previous name Antalyaspor.
Antalyaspor finished the 1981-1982 season as league champions and was promoted to the 1st Division. After playing three seasons in the 1st Division, it finished in 17th place during the 1984-1985 and was relegated to the 2nd Division. Competing for one season in this division Antalyaspor became champion again and earned the right to play in the 1st Division during the 1986-1987 season. But it came last at 18th place in that season and was once more relegated to the 2nd Division. Playing for seven seasons in this division, Antalyaspor rose to the 1st Division through play-offs in the 1993-94 season. During its eight year stint in this division, Antalyaspor achieved its best result in league history when it finished at sixth place scoring 49 points in the 1998-99 season. It was relegated at the end of the 2001-02 season. Antalyaspor competed in the Türk Telekom League A, as it was known then, for four seasons and by completing the 2005-06 season at second place it won the right to play in the Turkcell Super League in the 2006-07 season. Pavel Straka scored the team’s 500th goal in the Super League in a match against Kayseri Erciyesspor on 3 December 2006. But after the matches played in the last week of the 2006-2007 season, it finished the league in 16th place and was relegated. Antalya took its place in the Bank Asya 1st Division and completed the league in second place and was thus automatically promoted to the Turkcell Super League in the 2008-09 season. The team stayed in the league that season. In the 2009-10 season it collected 49 points as it had during the 1998-99 season, but broke the old record with a +11 goal difference. Footballer Necati Ateş, who scored the club’s 600th goal, is the first and only player of the red-white club to score more than 100 goals, which he achieved during the 2010-11 season. The team finished the 2010-11 season in 11th place. Antalyaspor completed the Sports Toto Super League in the 2011-12 season ranked 15th.
Antalyaspor went through a major overhaul after the 2011-12 season and began the 2012-13 season by almost renewing most of its squad. It displayed the best first half performance in team history when it earned 30 points and finished the first half of the Sports Toto Super League at 3rd place, which also included a five-game winning streak. It finished the 2012-13 season at 7th place with 47 points because of a fluctuating performance in the second half of the league. The team started the 2013-14 season with a new club president and coach, but could only reach 17th place and bade farewell to the league after 5 seasons. After a one-year stint in the second division and finishing third in the play-offs, Antalyaspor was again promoted to the Sports Toto Super League and will compete in that league in the 2015-16 season.
Stadium
Antalyaspor played its matches in the 7500-seater Mardan Stadium during the 2010/2011 season, but decided to switch to the Akdeniz University Stadium after the 2011/2012 season. The club's main stadium, the Antalya Atatürk Stadium, was closed because of the danger of collapse and began to be dismantled in 2014. The new stadium is planned to be completed in 2016.
Emblem
The club's emblem consists of a red frame and lines on a round white surface. Within the club's emblem, the letter A represents Antalya and the letter S represents the word sport. Between the letters A and S, one of the city’s main icons, the Fluted Minaret, is illustrated in red. The three bands on the Fluted Minaret represent the three teams İlk Işıkspor, Ferrokromspor and Yenikapı Suspor that constitute Antalyaspor. Under the Fluted Minaret, the foundation year 1966 can be seen.
Other Branches
Under the umbrella of Antalyaspor Club Association first started with the Table Tennis and Waterball branches were and in 2012 the Handball, Swimming, Badminton, Judo, Cycling, Chess, Bridge branches were opened. The red-white club operates a total of nine different branches, including six Olympic branches.
Website: http://www.antalyaspor.com.tr
