MKE Ankaragücü

MKE Ankaragücü or fully Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈaŋkaɾaɟydʒy]), is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Ankara. The football team wears a yellow and navy kit and plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium following the closure of the Ankara 19 Mayıs.[1]

MKE Ankaragücü
Full nameMakina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü Spor Kulübü
Short nameAG
Founded31 August 1910 as Turan Sanatkarangücü (109 years, 350 days old)
GroundEryaman Stadium
Capacity20,560
PresidentFatih Mert
ManagerFuat Çapa
LeagueSüper Lig
2019–20Süper Lig, 18th
WebsiteClub website

The club's greatest domestic successes are the Turkish Football Championship title in 1949 and two Turkish Cups won in 1972 and 1981. They also won the second division on two occasions. Regionally, Ankaragücü have won six Ankara Football League titles.[2] The club have a rivalry with Gençlerbirliği.

Ankaragücü also operate cycling,[3] taekwondo, and women's volleyball departments. The women's volleyball team have competed in the Turkish Women's Volleyball League since the 2009–10 season.

History

Early years (1909–1959)

Ankaragücü are based in Ankara, but were founded in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul in 1904 as Altınörs İdman Yurdu. The club competed in the Istanbul Friday League. It is unclear as to the motive behind the uprooting of the Istanbul-based club to Ankara. Another theory is that the club splintered, with some players following Şükrü Abbas and others following Agah Orhan. Şükrü Abbas founded Turan Sanatkarangücü in 1910. In 1938, both clubs merged to form AS-FA Gücü. The club name was changed for one last time in 1948, with both sides settling on Ankaragücü.[4] Ankaragücü have won the former Turkish Football Championship in 1949, the greatest success in their history, and reached the third place before in 1924 under the name Anadolu Turan Sanatkarangücü.

Ankaragücü's classic home kit

1. Lig years and relegation (1959–1981)

The club were one of the original sixteen clubs in the 1959 Turkish National League.[5] They were admitted into the league after finishing second in the Ankara Professional League.[2] The club finished fifth in the Beyaz Grup (White Group) in the first season of the Milli Lig.[5]

Ankaragücü were relegated to the 2.Lig in 1967–68 after finishing second to last place. The club returned to the top league next season. Ankaragücü were again relegated in the 1975–76 season,[6] but promoted to the 1st League next season.[7] Ankaragücü was relegated for the third time in 1977–1978 season.[8]

Back to 1. Lig (1981–2012)

Ankaragücü returned to the 1st League in 1981 due to a political decision, towards which the FIFA was still powerless back then. The Turkish President Kenan Evren and Ankara governor Mustafa Gönül wanted a club from the capital in the 1. Lig and thus saw to that the club gained promotion despite only having finished second in the 2nd division, behind Sakaryaspor. Ankaragücü had won the Turkish Cup too.[9] Ankaragücü has played in the 1st League since then. The club was occasionally successful during the 1990s.

Under Ersun Yanal's managership, the club has seen two successful seasons, becoming sixth in the 2000–01 season and fourth in the 2001–02 season. After Ersun Yanal left the club, Ankaragücü found it in a struggle to be saved from relegation each year and were in full-blown and widespread disarray. The club managed to stay clear of relegation at the last few matches during these years. Consequently, a financial crisis hit the club during the late 2000s.

After the economic crisis, Ahmet Gökçek became the chairman replacing Cemal Aydın. He promised that the club would become a champion in upcoming years. He was formerly (informally) associated with Ankaraspor and TFF objected to the control of two clubs at the same time and relegated Ankaraspor. After the relegation of Ankaraspor, he merged the football squads of two teams, but he did not manage to form a squad that would win a championship.

The congress in which Ahmet Gökçek was elected annulled by Turkish court and Cengiz Topel Yıldırım returned to the chairman position. Due to the economic crisis, Cengiz Topel Yıldırım sold key players of the squad and the team was one of the weakest teams of Turkish Super League. Sami Altınyuva became the next chairman but did not solve the financial problems. Due to the ongoing financial crisis, many players left the club. Later, Bent Ahlat, Atilla Süslü and Mehmet Yiğiner became chairmans but the financial problems were not solved.

Relegation again

Due to financial crisis, the club relegated from Süper Lig in the 2011–2012 season and from PTT 1. Lig in the 2012–2013 season.

Going back up

They returned to the TFF First League after being promoted from the third tier of Turkish football during the 2016-17 season. They got promoted back up to the Süper Lig the following season, where they currently remain. Ankaragücü finished in the relegation zone in the 2019–2020 Süper Lig, but the Turkish Football Federation voided all relegation due to COVID-19.

Special relationship with Bursaspor

In the early 1990s Bursaspor's ultra group Teksas had a leader called, 'Abdulkerim Bayraktar'. He went to study in Ankara, whilst in the city he started attending Ankaragücü games and started building ties between the two clubs.

In 1993 however, his life was cut short, during his military service he was killed. This tragic event bought Bursaspor and Ankaragücü even closer together. During the first game after his death, Bursaspor organized a tribute to him, the events which happened next cemented the brotherhood between these two teams. A large group of Ankaragücü supporters made their way onto the pitch and unveiled a large banner reading, 'Our brother Abdul will never die, he lives on in our hearts'. The two supporter groups united and hundreds of Ankaragücü ultras attended his funeral. From that day on Bursaspor supporters would chant Ankaragücü's name in the sixth minute of every home game, number six being significant due to it being Ankara's city code.

Ankaragücü supporters in return chant Bursaspor's name during the 16th minute, 16 being Bursa's city code. When the two sides play, the supporters sit together, its one of the rare occasions in which ultra from opposing teams watch a game together in a mixed environment, they bring "Bursankara" scarfs (a merger of the two clubs names) to the games and create a fantastic atmosphere full of mutual respect.[10]

Stadium
Main article: Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium

The club currently plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium, opened in 2019. Ankaragücü's former home, the Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, was demolished in 2018. They also currently share the stadium with fellow-Ankara based club and rivals Gençlerbirliği.

Honours

National competitions

Turkish Football Championship

Turkish Cup

  • Winners (2): 1971–72, 1980–81
Runners-up (3): 1972–73, 1981–82, 1990–91

Turkish Super Cup

  • Winners (1): 1981
Runners-up (1): 1972

TFF First League[11]

  • Winners (2): 1968–69, 1976–77

Regional competitions

Ankara Football League

  • Winners (6): 1924, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1948–49, 1951–52, 1956–57

European participations
Competition Pld W D L GF GA GD
Cup Winners' Cup 6 0 1 5 1 13 –12
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 6 3 0 3 4 8 –4
Total 12 3 1 8 5 21 –16

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:

Season Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1972–73 1R Leeds United 1–1 0–1 1–2
1973–74 1R Rangers 0–2 0–4 0–6
1981–82 1R SKA Rostov 0–2 0–3 0–5

UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League:

Season Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1999–2000 QR B36 Tórshavn 1–0 1–0 2–0
1R Atlético Madrid 1–0 0–3 1–3
2002–03 1R Alavés 1–2 0–3 1–4

Players

Current squad
As of 31 January 2020[12]

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 Korcan Çelikay
3 MF  TUR Sedat Ağçay
7 FW  ARG Óscar Scarione
8 DF  POR Tiago Pinto
11 MF  TUR Mahmut Akan
13 DF  CRO Ante Kulušić
14 MF  SEN Ricardo Faty
15 MF  TUR Orkan Çınar
17 MF  TUR Ender Aygören
19 DF  TUR Cebrail Karayel
20 MF  TUR Aydın Karabulut
22 DF  POL Michał Pazdan
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 FW  TUR İlhan Parlak
24 MF  GEO Saba Lobzhanidze
25 GK  BRA Ricardo Friedrich
27 MF  TUR Ahmet Can Arık
29 MF  TUR Oğuzhan Orhan
30 FW  VEN Gelmin Rivas
35 MF  POL Daniel Lukasik
45 FW  TUR Alper Önal
55 MF  SRB Miloš Stanojević
70 DF  GRE Stelios Kitsiou
77 DF  TUR Sıtkı Ferdi İmdat
78 DF  TUR Fatih Tultak
80 FW  TUR Berke Gürbüz
89 DF  TUR Atila Turan

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
28 FW  GER Hasan Kaya (at 24 Erzincanspor)
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See also

References
  1. tff.org (in Turkish), accessed 23 May 2010
  2. Sivritepe, Erdinç Before the Turkish Leagues – Ankara Archived 2010-02-18 at the Wayback Machine turkish-soccer.coom. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  3. Ankaragücü Cycling Team in international area
  4. Tarihçe Archived 2010-07-23 at the Wayback Machine ankaragucu.org.tr (in Turkish), accessed 23 May 2010
  5. 1959 Milli Lig turkish-soccer.com. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  6. "1975–1976". Angelfire.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  7. "1976–1977". Angelfire.com. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  8. "1977–1978". Angelfire.com. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  9. 1980–1981 Türkiye 2. Ligi turkishsoccer.com, accessed 23 May 2010
  10. www.turkish-football.com Archived 2011-10-17 at the Wayback Machine|
  11. The league was named 2. Lig until 2001. However, the 2. Lig today is the third division in the Turkish football league system.
  12. "A TAKIM". Retrieved September 3, 2019.
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