Akhisarspor Kulübü ('"Akhisar Sports Club), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.[1] Formed in 1970, Akhisarspor are nicknamed Akigo.[2] The club has a fierce rivalry with Turgutluspor and Manisaspor.

Akhisarspor
Full nameAkhisarspor Kulübü
Nickname(s)Akigo
Short nameAkhisar S.K.
Founded8 April 1970; 54 years ago (1970-04-08)
GroundSpor Toto Akhisar Stadium
Capacity12,139
PresidentEvren Özbey
ManagerTheofanis Gekas
LeagueTFF Third League
2021–22TFF Second League, White, 16th (relegated)
Websitehttps://www.akhisarspor.com.tr/

Akhisarspor had their first major success in 2012 when they won the TFF First League and as a result were promoted to the Süper Lig. On 10 May 2018, Akhisarspor won their first professional trophy, the 2017–18 Turkish Cup.[3] On 5 August 2018, they won the Turkish Super Cup by beating Galatasaray on penalties.

History

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Akhisarspor was founded in 1970 by the merger of three football teams, Güneşspor, Gençlikspor and Doğanspor in Manisa. Yılmaz Atabarut was the founder and the first president of Akhisar Belediyespor.

The club competed in the Turkish regional amateur series until 1984, when it was promoted to the TFF Third League, the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. Ten years later, in 1994, they were relegated back to the regional amateur league for one season.

In 1995, Akhisarspor was promoted back to the third league. In the 2000–2001 season, they advanced to the TFF Second League and after nine years there, they were promoted to the TFF First League. They became the champion of the league in their second season which brought them to the highest level of Turkish football, the Süper Lig.

In 2012, Akhisarspor brought in Bruno Mezenga, Çağdaş Atan and Ibrahima Sonko to strengthen their squad. In January 2013, they signed Greek striker Theofanis "Fanis" Gekas who went on to score 12 goals for the remainder of the 2012–13 season, and assisted in the effort to keep the club in the division. Akhisarspor ended on a 14th place in the Süper Lig.

In the 2016–17 season, Akhisarspor finished in 7th place on the table, which is the highest position they've been in throughout their history.

On 10 May 2018, Akhisarspor won the Turkish Cup, their first title in their history. This qualified them to the UEFA Europa League for the first time.[4]

Stadium

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Akhisarspor played at the Akhisar Şehir Stadium before being promoted to the Süper Lig in 2012. However, the Akhisar Şehir Stadium was not fit for the standards of the league. Consequently, the club had to ground-share with Manisaspor and use the Manisa 19 Mayis Stadium from 2012 to 2017. The stadium was officially opened in 1974 and was renovated in 2008.

In 2014, the construction of Akhisarspor's new and very own stadium was started. It is called the Spor Toto Akhisar Stadium, and is located in Akhisar.[5][6]

Stadium history

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# Stadium Years Capacity
1 Akhisar Şehir Stadium 1970–2012 5,000
2 Manisa 19 Mayıs Stadium 2012–2017 16,597
3 Spor Toto Akhisar Stadium 2018–present 12,139

Colours and crest

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Akhisar's original home colours.

Colours

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The official colours of Akhisarspor are green and black, but the team also use the yellow colour. These three colours represent Güneşspor, Gençlikspor and Doğanspor, respectively. As a fourth colour, the club uses white. Nike has been the kit manufacturer of the team since 2012.

Crest

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On the crest of the team you can again find the three colours of Akhisarspor. On the crest you can see a ball with wings. The ball is white coloured and the wings are yellow coloured. Above and under the ball you can read the words 'Akhisar' in green and 'Spor' with a black background. Under Spor, we can read '1970' also in black.[7]

League participations

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Recent seasons

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Season League Cup Super Cup Europe
Division Pos Pld W D L GF GA Pts Competition Round
2007–08 3. Lig 2nd 32 17 10 5 45 24 61
2008–09 2. Lig 5th 36 10 16 10 62 70 46 First round
2009–10 2. Lig 2nd 36 21 10 5 64 32 73
2010–11 1. Lig 14th 32 8 9 15 27 39 33 First round
2011–12 1. Lig 1st 34 17 12 5 46 28 63 Third round
2012–13 Süper Lig 14th 34 11 9 14 36 44 42 Third round
2013–14 Süper Lig 10th 34 12 8 14 44 55 44 Group stage
2014–15 Süper Lig 12th 34 9 11 14 41 51 38 Group stage
2015–16 Super Lig 8th 34 11 13 10 42 41 46 Quarter-finals
2016–17 Süper Lig 7th 34 14 6 14 46 42 48 Quarter-finals
2017–18 Süper Lig 11th 34 11 9 14 44 53 42 Winners
2018–19 Süper Lig 18th 34 6 9 19 33 54 27 Runners-up Winners Europa League Group stage
2019–20 1. Lig 4th 34 16 9 9 46 39 57 Third round Runners-up
2020–21 1. Lig 16th 34 8 6 20 36 59 30 Third round
2021–22 2. Lig 16th 34 8 7 19 34 56 31 Fourth round

Honours

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Domestic

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League

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Cups

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European record

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As of 13 December 2018
Competition P W D L GF GA GD
UEFA Europa League 6 0 1 5 4 14 –10
Total 6 0 1 5 4 14 –10

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goals difference.

List of matches

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Note: Akhisar score always listed first.

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Agg.
2018–19 UEFA Europa League Group Stage
(Group J)
  Sevilla 2–3 0–6 4th out of 4
  Krasnodar 0–1 1–2
  Standard Liège 0–0 1–2

UEFA ranking history:

As of 21 June 2023[8][9]
Season Rank Points Ref.
2019 159   6.920 [10]
2020 170   6.720 [11]
2021 182   6.020 [12]
2022 248   5.420 [13]
2023 206   6.420 [14]

Players

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Current squad

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As of 8 September 2022[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   TUR Halil Yeral
6 MF   TUR Enes Tayfun
7 FW   TUR Serkan Sefil
8 MF   TUR Yavuz Özbakan
9 FW   TUR Mert Efe Çölbeyi
11 MF   TUR Salih Yiğit
17 MF   TUR Bora Yılmaz
18 FW   TUR Oğuzcan Kesgin
20 MF   TUR Halil İbrahim Karavuş
22 DF   TUR Semih Görer
23 DF   TUR Furkan Korkut
26 GK   TUR Batuhan Ataç
No. Pos. Nation Player
27 DF   TUR Gökmen Aydoğdu
35 DF   TUR Yusuf Acer
47 MF   TUR Yusuf Kanal
54 GK   TUR Emircan Seçgin
55 MF   TUR Fırat Yiğit Öztürk
57 FW   TUR Bekir Akın
70 DF   TUR Göksu Mutlu
74 MF   TUR Orçun Erten
77 FW   TUR Turhan Kaya
87 DF   TUR Yiğit Efe Düztaş
88 DF   TUR Recep Kutun

Other players under contract

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   TUR Enes Kimia

Personnel

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As of 29 January 2020[16]
Position Staff
Manager   Yılmaz Vural
Assistant   Recep Umut
Assistant   Ülken Durak
Assistant   Toprak Kırtoğlu
Goalkeeping coach   Metin Akçevre

Notable managers

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Okan Buruk won the 2017–18 Turkish Cup with Akhisarspor.
Dates Name Honours
2011–2014   Hamza Hamzaoğlu 2011–12 TFF First League
2017–2018   Okan Buruk 2017–18 Turkish Cup
2018   Safet Sušić 2018 Turkish Super Cup

References

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  1. ^ AKHİSAR BELEDİYE GENÇLİK VE SPOR tff.org (in Turkish), accessed 23 June 2010
  2. ^ Tarihçe Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine akhisarspor.com (in Turkish), accessed 23 June 2010
  3. ^ "Kupa tarihinin 15. şampiyonu oldu!". 10 May 2018.
  4. ^ sitesi, milliyet.com.tr Türkiye'nin lider haber. "Teleset Mobilya Akhisarspor - Fenerbahçe: 3-2 (İşte maçın özeti)".
  5. ^ "Akhisar Belediyespor'un stad ihalesi tarihi". Fotospor.com.
  6. ^ "Stad (Stadyum) Nedir? Türkiyede'ki Stadyumlar – Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş…".
  7. ^ "The official Twitter account of Akhisarspor". Twitter.
  8. ^ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2022". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  9. ^ "Member associations – UEFA rankings – Club coefficients –". Uefa.com. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  10. ^ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2019". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  11. ^ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2020". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  12. ^ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2021". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  13. ^ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2022". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  14. ^ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2023". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  15. ^ "A Takım". Akhisarspor. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  16. ^ Telmag. "Akhisar Belediyespor". www.akhisarspor.com.tr. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
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