Süper Lig - season 2023

How many matches are played in the Spor Toto Süper Lig?

Teams in the Turkish first division play a total of 380 matches in a season.

How often does Football Results update the Süper Lig standings?

We update the Turkish Süper Lig standings every 6 hours. At midnight 00:00, in the morning at 06:00, at noon at 12:00 and then the last time at 18:00. The statistics in the table are also updated with it. In Turkish, the rankings or standings are called puan durumu.

History

Football in Turkey was introduced by the English in the late 19th century. Many English people lived in Thessaloniki at that time. Thessaloniki was then still known as Salonika and was part of the Ottoman Empire.

The first football league in Turkey was the Istanbul league. This football league was organized by James Lafontaine in the then Ottoman Empire capital Istanbul. The first season (1904-1905) in this league was played between 4 teams: Moda FC, HMS Imogene, Elpis FC and Cadi-Keuy FC. The matches were played on Sundays each time. Because of this, the league was also known as the Istanbul Sunday League in that first year.

The Istanbul Sunday League was succeeded by the Istanbul Friday League in 1915. Seven teams participated in this version of the Turkish league. Later, this league continued under the name Istanbul Competition. This from season 1923-1924 until season 1950-1951.

In 1951, the league was renamed the Istanbul Professional Competition by the Turkish Football Federation.  Record holder in this league was Fenerbahçe with 16 titles.

Creation of Süper Lig

In 1959, the Millî Lig was then established, which we now know as the Süper Lig.

Season names

Since the 2014-2015 season, the Turkish Football Federation has been giving Süper Lig football seasons names as a reminder for different Turkish football personalities. These personalities are mostly football-related.

Season 2014-2015: Had as its official name the "Süleyman Seba" season. Süleyman Seba was a Turkish footballer and the longest-serving chairman of Beşiktaş. He died a few weeks before the start of this season. 

Season 2015-2016: Had as its official name the "Hasan Doğan" season. Doğan was the president of the Turkish Football Federation. He died of a heart attack in 2008. Hasan was also a member of the Beşiktaş club.

Season 2016-2017: This Süper Lig season bore the name the "Turgay Şeren" season. Turgay Şeren was goalkeeper for Galatasaray and never played for any club other than Galatasaray. He died in July 2016, before the start of season 2016-2017.

Season 2017-2018: This season bore the name of "İlhan Cavcav". İlhan Cavcav was chairman of Ankariot club Gençlerbirliği for 40 years. He died January of 2017.

Season 2018-2019: This season was dedicated to Lefter Küçükandonyadis. Lefter Küçükandonyadis was a striker for the Turkish national team and was also known for his achievements at Fenerbahçe.

Season 2019-2020: This season was named Cemil Usta. Cemil Usta was a defender for Tranbzonspor.

Season 2021-2022: This season was named Ahmet Çalık. Çalık was a central defender for several teams including most famously Galatasaray and the Turkish national team. Ahmet Çalık died on 11 January 2022 in a car accident. He was playing for Konyaspor at the time.

Degradation

Clubs from the Süper Lig are relegated to the TFF 1. Lig. This applies to the last four teams in the final standings.