Kasyeri Erciyesspor (Turkey)
This is the story of Kasyeri Erciyesspor.
The start of Kasyerispor was a strange one. The club was a merger between
three clubs in the city, in 1965. Thos three clubs were Erciyesspor, Sanayispor
and Ortaanadoiuspor. The reason for this merger was the request of the then
Turkish Football Federation president, Orhan Sefik Apak, to all amateur clubs
to merge in their respective cities to form one big club to represent their
city in the 2. Lig (Second Division of Turkish Football). The new club,
Kasyerispor submitted the relevant paperwork, officially being founded on July
1st 1966. They competed in the 1966-67 2. Lig. Their first manager
was Erdogan Gurhan and the club competed in the Beyaz Grup (The White Group).
The other group was known as the Red Group. The clubs first official goal was
scored by Yener, when he netted against Ankara Toprakspor. Their first season
saw the club finish 9th place, with nine wins, nine draws and twelve
losses, scoring, scoring 21 goals and conceding 33. That season, the White
Group was won by Bursaspor, whilst the Red Group was won by Mersin Idman Yurdu,
who were champions of the league that season and gained promotion. (Mersin
Idman Yurdu recently dissolved in 2019).
After a few seasons competing in 2.Lig, it wasn’t until the 1972-73
season that they finally gained promotion to the Turkish First Football League,
winning the White Group and beating the Red Group champions, Adana Demirspor to
become the overall League Champions. The clubs first season in the top division
saw them finish 11th out of 16 clubs, winning eight, drawing ten and
losing twelve games out of their 30 matches. That season they scored 18 and
conceded 24. Their most impressive result that season was a 0-0 draw at home to
runners-up Besiktas. The winners of the league that season were Fenerbahçe.
The following season was not as successful, in fact it was as bad as it
could get, with the club finishing rock bottom of the league (16th),
winning only four of their games, drawing twelve and losing fourteen. It was a
season in which was littered with draws and saw the eventual champions,
Fenerbahçe draw thirteen games on their way to the title. Kayserispor only
managed to score fifteen goals that season, conceding 38. It meant they were
relegated back down to compete in 2.Lig once again. The following season saw
them reach the semi-finals of the Turkish Cup (Turkiye Kupasi), beating giants
Galatasaray in the quarterfinals, but losing in the semi-finals to Adana
Demirspor. The 1978 season was also an entertaining one for the Kayserispor
fans as they saw their club score 66 goals that season and playing a brand of
football under their manager, Tamer Kaptan, that was pleasing on the eye. The club wouldn’t stay long in the Turkish
second division and gained promotion in the 1978-79 season via the play-off
system. They had come runners-up in White Group and faced Ankaragucu, who they
beat 3-0 to gain promotion once again to the Turkish Forst Football League. But
gain their time in the top division was short lived, and they were relegated
straight back down the following season, finishing 15th, winning
only six games, drawing thirteen and losing eleven. Amazingly that season, the
club had only lost one game at home, and that was to eventual league champions
Trabzonspor, 1-0. But it was the seven 0-0 draws that were to be their downfall
in the end, and their lack of goals, fifteen in total that season that would
resign them to playing their football in 2. Lig once again. It wouldn’t be
until the 1984-85 season that they would gain promotion for the third time in
their history, winning Group B (The 2. Lig had now been split into three
groups, having been split into four for a few seasons and being named A, B, C
and D) and becoming overall league champions. But again, they were relegated
the following season, coming rock bottom, 19th winning only four,
drawing eleven and losing twenty-one of their 36 games. They also only scored
twenty-one goals and conceding 67 goals that season.
They competed in the second division up until the 1988-89 season when
they were relegated to the Turkish Third Football League. This was no surprise
as the club had been a complete circus act, setting record for most managers in
a single season, hiring and firing no less than eight managers that season. It
took two seasons before they were promoted back to the Turkish second division
(1990-91) and they gained back-to-back promotions, winning Group C in 1991-92
and gaining promotion to the Turkish First Football League once again. Their first season back proved to be a
successful one, when compared to their last stay in the Turkish topflight, as
they finished 12th out of 16, beating the drop by only three points.
They won only seven times that season, drawing eleven and losing twelve. The
1993-94 season was much the same, with the club finishing 12th out
16 again and narrowly staying out of the relegation places by three points
again. They won just eight games that season, drawing seven and losing fifteen.
The 1994-95 season saw the expansion of the league to eighteen clubs, and
saw Kayserispor finish in a respectable 11th position, winning
twelve, drawing six and losing sixteen. Things were looking up for the club,
until the next season. The 1995-96 proved to be too much for Kayserispor and
they finished inside the relegation places,16th, just two points
away from safety and saw there stay in the Turkish First Division come to an
end, winning only seven games that season, drawing eleven and losing
sixteen. But in true Kayserispor style
the club managed to get promoted back straight away the following season, and
then relegated in the 1997-98 season again, this time on goal difference, to
two other clubs, Genclerbirligi and Gaziantepspor, who both had minus five goal
difference, a much better figure than Kayserispor’s minus eighteen. It was
there defence that let them down that season, as they conceded 60 goals in that
campaign. They would remain in the second division for the rest of the decade
and wouldn’t be promoted to the Turkish Super Ligue until 2003-04 season. The
following season, 2004-05, they finished 14th out of eighteen,
avoiding the relegation places by two points. They won only eight games,
drawing, ten and losing sixteen, scoring 42 and again conceding a huge amount
to the total of 65 goals. But that wasn’t the most bizarre or most shocking
thing to happen that season.
Before the start of the 2004-05 season, the two teams in Kayseri decided
to switch their names, their managers and even their chairmen. The club now
became known as Kayseri Erciyesspor. They even changed their kit colour to blue
and black. This is where it gets a bit confusing in the history of this club.
While Kayserispor continued to stay in the Turkish Premier Division, Kayseri
Erciyesspor were in the 2.Lig trying to reach the heights of their city rivals
and in the 2005-06 season both were competing in the Turkish Premier Division,
with Kayserispor finishing 5th, gaining entry into the Intertoto cup
second round, while Kayseri Erciyesspor (The club we have been looking at)
finished a respectable 10th, winning nine games, drawing thirteen
and losing twelve. Both clubs possessed prolific goalscorers with Kayserispor’s
Gokhan Unal finishing the season as the league’s top goalscorer with 25 goals,
and Kayseri Erciyesspors, Cenk Isler finishing third top goalscorer with 20
goals. The games between the two were tight affairs with the Kayseri
Erciyesspor coming out on top, drawing with their city rivals at home 0-0 and
beating them away 2-1.
The following season saw Kayseri Erciyesspor relegated from the Turkish
top division, finishing 17th out of the 18 clubs. They only managed
to win nine games, drawing ten and losing fifteen. There city rivals finished a
comfortable 5th place and also took the bragging rights on each of
the matches they played each other that season, winning 1-0 at home and 4-0
away. It wasn’t all bad for Kayseri Erciyespor that season as the club managed
to go on a cup run, all the way to the final, where they lost to Besiktas,
1-0, when Brazilian striker Bobo scored
in extra time.
It wasn’t until the 2012-13 season that the club would gain promotion
back to the Turkish Premier Division and despite some heavy defeats, including
a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Trabzonspor at home, the club managed to avoid
relegation, finishing 14th winning ten, drawing seven and losing
seventeen. On top of the success of staying up, their city rivals, Kayserispor,
were relegated that season, finishing rock bottom in 18th. They also
held bragging rights, defeating Kayserispor 4-0 and drawing 1-1 in both the
matches played against each other. But once again, they Kayseri Erciyesspor
failed to build on their success and were relegated in the 2014-15 season. This
was beginning of the end of the club. They finished 17th that season
winning only five matches, drawing twelve and losing seventeen. Their collapse
after this was dramatic and resulted in four consecutive relegations, resulting
in the club competing in the Turkish Regional Amateur League in the 2018-19
season. This did not happen though, as the club withdrew itself from
participating in the league that season and therefore became no more.
There was a dark moment in the history of this club, known as the Kayseri
Stadium disaster. A match between neighbouring city rivals, Sivasspor, resulted
in crowd trouble, with both sets of fans throwing rocks and stones at each
other. This caused panic within the stadium and when fans of both clubs tried
to flee, the gates of the stadium malfunctioned, resulting in 41 people losing
their lives and a further 300 people being injured in the resulting stampede
and melee. Both clubs were banned from having supporters in their grounds for
the rest of the season and both clubs were not allowed to play each other for
five years after. It is still regarded as one of the worst cases of crowd
violence in Turkish football history.
Turkish football fan, Emin Urcan was the man who informed me about the
story of Kayseri and assured me it was the most interesting story that I would
read about in Turkish football history. He wasn’t wrong. I asked him a few
questions about them and Turkish football.
Firstly, thank you for directing me to
the story of Kayseri Erciyesspor. Such an interesting story. What is your
opinion on the club?
Emin: In my humble opinion, they were the second team of Kayseri,
especially if we were to talk about the last 14 years. Except for the 2013-14
and 2014-15 seasons, Kayseri Erciyesspor were the better side. Kayserispor were
relegated in the former season, and jumped back as 1. Lig champions the
following season. Coincidentally, the former (2013-14) was Erciyesspor's first
season back in the top flight after 7 years of absence, and in the latter
(2014-15), they were relegated to 1. Lig.
How do Turkish football fans see that
club? Are they missed or were they hated?
Emin: I'm not exactly sure about the answer, but the only place
they're mentioned nowadays is the history books, occasionally as a sidenote. As
for the rivalries, other than the Kayseri derby with Kayserispor (which was not
that prominent compared to that of the local derbies in, say, Adana or İzmir),
the other rivalry was with Sivasspor. It was mainly due to the 1967 Kayseri
Atatürk Stadium disaster, which claimed several lives. The animosity,
apparently, had died off by the 1990s. Last but not least, though it is a
personal theory at best, I think they had an antipathy towards Beşiktaş because
of the outcome in the 2006-07 Turkish Cup final, in which the Kayseri side lost
- they nevertheless made it to the UEFA Cup (despite having been relegated!)
owing to the Black Eagles already qualifying for the Champions League as
runners-up of the league behind Fenerbahçe, who won the league in what was
their 100th anniversary.
There have been quite a few Turkish
clubs that have dissolved over the years and quite a few recently. In your
opinion, what is the reason for this?
Emin: In most cases, it is down to financial instability, even
more so in recent years as a consequence of the hyperinflation of Turkish lira.
Sometimes, it occurs thanks to a dodgy person/people - Siirt Jetpaspor is the
prime example. Other times, it is due to broken promises and failed projects.
It does not help that the results on the pitch are atrocious, either. I'd also
wager that all this happens partly because of the incompetent people in charge
of Turkish football. I firmly believe we need a major overhaul in our football,
starting with a brand new football league pyramid and reducing the number of
professional clubs and introducing semi-professionalism to Turkish football. I
could go on and on.
Turkish football is always seen as a bit
crazy from outside of Turkey. Are the games that intense with the fans or is it
all built up for show? There seems to be more fierce rivalries in Turkey due to
closeness of major cities.
Emin: It is definitely not for the spectacle. The people here
are, I cannot stress this enough, utterly passionate - regardless of sport. The
intensity you'd see or witness as an outsider happens for two reasons. The
first is that the match in question could be a derby (or a big match) of sorts.
You would know about the Intercontinental Derby between GS and FB. You should
definitely watch an İzmir derby. Although the main culprits, Göztepe and
Karşıyaka, haven't faced each other since 2016 because of differing fortunes, a
match in 1981 saw 80,000 fans turn up at İzmir Atatürk Stadium. This is a
Guinness World Record for a non-top-flight game in terms of attendance. I
should also point out that (at the time of replying) Altay and Göztepe played
each other just last Friday, with Altay winning the match via a last-gasp
winner from the 37-year-old Portuguese stalwart Marco Paixão. The second reason
behind this passion on the pitch, as well as the terraces, is that the match in
question is crucial for a few cases - league title, European places,
promotion/relegation. Occasionally, controversial moments before, during or
after a match could well lead to that.
I know that Kayserspor are still around,
but can you ever see Kayseri Erciyesspor coming back and playing in the Turkish
league again?
Emin: I couldn't answer that as per the reason stated above.
I have searched far and wide as to try
and find out why the two clubs swapped names, managers and chairmen and still
don’t know why they did it. Is this a mystery of Turkish football or can you
explain why it happened?
Emin: I can't really answer that either. Maybe it is a mystery.
Still not sure at all.
Finally, in your opinion, is there a
problem in Turkish football in regards the bigger clubs getting bigger and
richer and leaving the smaller clubs behind? Turkish football has always been
dominated by a select few clubs. What do you believe can be done to make sure
that there are no more ‘Forgotten Clubs’ in the future of Turkish football?
Emin: There definitely is a problem in that regard, and it is
just the tip of the iceberg if you look at it from a wider angle. I believe
wholeheartedly that the TFF, our football federation, applies double standards,
especially for those in the top 2 tiers (and more specifically, the Big 4 [BJK,
FB, GS, TS]). The fact that we have only 6 different top-flight winners since
1959, in which Süper Lig was established, speaks volumes about the misfortune
of others. Gaziantepspor, for example, were so close to winning the whole
bloody thing in the 2000-01 season - they finished third that year. Look where
they are now? Gone! Anyway, with the current board (and the government!) in
charge, I can't see a change happening anytime soon. Unless lower league and
amateur clubs are funded by TFF, not many of them will see the light at the end
of the tunnel. As I had noted before, we need a major overhaul in our football
pyramid; in fact, I made mine and would like to share it with you. Also, do you
know how many clubs play in our top 4 flights (which also happen to be
professional)? 133 (including Kastamonuspor, who had to withdraw from 2. Lig
due to the floods that took place there last month and were subsequently
reprieved from relegation) clubs! The next highest number I know is the one in
Russia, with 112 clubs in its top 3 professional divisions. Even England has
only 92!
In what can only be described as one of the more colourful footballing
stories I have researched, Kayseri was a truly exceptional story to uncover.
The club itself bounced from one league to another for years, finding itself in
the dizzy heights of the Premier one season and then back down to the Turkish
second tier the next. The changing of names, chairmen and managers with their
city rivals was a weird one and I had to read over it a few times before I
understood what had happened. This was defiantly one of the more confusing
clubs I have covered, but I suppose it epitomises what Turkish football and its
fans are like in general. Crazy. But my guess is they will never change, and
why should they? They love it.