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The Istanbul Football League (Turkish: İstanbul Futbol Ligi) was founded as a regional football league under the name Constantinople Football Association League by James La Fontaine and Henry Pears in Istanbul, the capital of the former Ottoman Empire, in 1904. The League was the first football organization ever in the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey. In the inaugural 1904–05 season the matches between the four teams, Moda FC, HMS Imogene, Elpis FC, and Cadi-Keuy FC were played on Sundays, leading to the name of the league, Istanbul Sunday League. Henry Pears, an Englishman and one of the three founders, promised to ultimately award the shield to the club with the most championships won during the initial 10 years.
One of the founders of the league, James LafontaineFounder Henry Pears
The Istanbul Friday League was founded in 1915 and replaced the Istanbul Sunday League. Seven teams participated in its inaugural 1915–16 season. From 1923–24 to 1950–51 the league was called Istanbul League. The name was later changed and became Istanbul Professional League in the 1952 season, as professionalism was introduced by the Turkish Football Federation in 1951.
Fenerbahçe are the most successful club, having won the league a record 16 times in total.
History and dates
The first league was officially known as the Constantinople Football Association League or Sunday league and the games were played every Sunday. The first editions were played between English and Greek clubs and in 1906 Galatasaray became the first Turkish team to enter the league. In the 1914–15 season, there were two separate leagues: the existing Constantinople Football Association League and the Constantinople Championship League, due to the large number of teams. For the first time, no English or Greek club competed and the league consisted only of Turkish clubs, following the eruption of WW I.
The Constantinople Championship League was actually a Friday league who was founded in 1912 as the games were played every Friday. The teams playing in this league were Darülfünun SK, İstanbul Jimnastik K (later on known as (Türk İdman Ocağı), Anadolu SK, Sanayii FK, Şehremini SK, and Fenerbahçe SK (II). The Constantinople league was still the main league and they refused the promotion requests from the Friday league until 1915 when the two leagues (Sunday and Friday) merged under the name of the Friday League (Cum Ligi) and were played until 1923.
A third league in İstanbul had started in 1919-1920 by Beşiktaş JK, who were denied the to join the Friday league. This league was called "İstanbul Türk İdman Birliği" and it was played every Sunday.
In the early seasons all matches were played at two venues: in Kadıköy (called as Union Club Field or Papazın Çayırı) and Moda (Yoğurt Çesme).
The Türkiye İdman Cemiyetleri İttifakı (The Turkish Gymnastics Clubs Union) was established in April 1922 and organized sports clubs in other cities as well. TICI has setup a temporary committee to set up the
Turkish Football Federation under the name of "Futbol Encümeni". The committee completed its work and the Football Federation was established in the meeting of 23 April 1923 under the name of "Futbol Hey'et-i Müttehidesi". Then the league games became more official and the federation started soccer leagues in several cities like İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Adana, Eskişehir and Trabzon. The Constantinople football leagues by dates:
Ottoman Empire era
Constantinople Football Association League: 1904-1915 (Sunday League)
Turkish League (İstanbul Türk İdman Birliği Ligi): 1919-1921 (only Turkish teams)
Bazaar League (Pazar Ligi): 1920-1922 (Sunday League)
Turkey Republic era
Istanbul League: 1923-1951
Istanbul Professional League: 1952-1959 (Istanbul Professional League Div.2: 1956-1959)
Various notes
-The 1912-13 seasons were not held due to the Balkan Wars
-The 1918-19 and 1919-20 seasons were not held due to World War I
-The Friday League was organized with the participation of teams that were not included in the Friday League because they were not considered strong enough
-After the merge, The Sunday League was organized among the teams that could not participate in the primary Friday League
-1927-28 season was not played due to preparations for the 1928 Summer Olympics.
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