Balıkesirspor is a Turkish club based in Balıkesir. Established in 1966, the football team played in the Süper Lig after achieving promotion having finished as runners-up of the TFF First League in 2013–14.[3] The team's previous promotion was 40 years before that.[4] Their stadium, the all-seater Balıkesir Atatürk Stadium, has a capacity of 15,800.[5]
History
Balıkesirspor was founded on 6 June 1966 and started to compete in Turkish Second Football League in 1967–68 season. On 20 August 1967, it played its first competitive match against Malatyaspor and won 3–1. Kadir Gürsoy scored the first goal of the club in that match. The club won its first title in 1974–75 season under the management of Rıdvan Kösemihal and promoted to Turkish First Football League, the top level of Turkish football. Despite being 4th in the first half of the season, Balıkesirspor finished its first season in the top level in the last place and was relegated to Second League.
After competing in Second League for 10 seasons in a row, the club was relegated to Third League, the third level of Turkish football at that time. In the 1991–92 season, Balıkesirspor earned promotion after finishing first in Third League Group 7.