Mersin İdmanyurdu (also Mersin İdman Yurdu, Mersin İY, or MİY) Sports Club; located in Mersin, east Mediterranean coast of Turkey in 1978–79. Mersin İdmanyurdu had relegated from First League in 1977–78 season. It was the second relegation of the team after 2 seasons appearances in first league (9 in total). Mersin appointed coach Octavian Popescu.[1] The 1978–79 season was the 7th season of Mersin İdmanyurdu (MİY) football team in Second League, the second level division in Turkey. They finished 6th in the Red Group.
The (1978–79) was 16th season of Second League. The league was played with 32 teams, 16 in Red Group and 16 in White Group. Group winners promoted to First League1979–80 in each group. Runners-up of two groups played a play-off game and winner promoted to first league as well.[2] Last two teams in each group relegated to Third League1979–80. Mersin İY became 6th with 9 wins and 28 goals in Red Group.
1978–79Turkish Cup was played for the 17th season as Türkiye Kupası by 122 teams. First, four elimination rounds were played in one-leg elimination system. Fifth and sixth elimination rounds and finals were played in the two-legs elimination system. Mersin İdmanyurdu participated in 1978–79Turkish Cup from round 3 and was eliminated at round 4 by Ankaragücü. Ankaragücü was eliminated at round 6. Fenerbahçe won the Cup for the 3rd time and became eligible for 1979–80European Cup Winners' Cup.[10]
Stats are counted for 1978–79Second League matches and 1978–79Turkish Cup (Türkiye Kupası) matches.[12][13] In the team rosters five substitutes were allowed to appear, two of whom were substitutable. Only the players who appeared in game rosters were included and listed in the order of appearance.
^ abStandings, promotion and relegations from Cem Pekin Archives, retrieved on 26 August 2009. Standings and results from maçkolik.com league page, retrieved on 26 February 2015. Standings by rounds obtained from a search performed in Milliyet online archive performed on 12 August 2010.
^Round 18 - 04.03.1979 - MİY-Sarıyer: 2-2. Sunday. Mersin. Referees: Ali Güllüpınar, Yekta Başeğmez, Muammer Aydın. MİY: Ali, Mehmet, Tahir, İbrahim, Kemal, Nasır, Mehmet Ali, Feridun, Özcan, Mücellip, Celal. Goals: Tahir 27', Mücellip 48'. Sarıyer: Cihat, Hüseyin, Hurşit, Mahmut, Oğuz (Samim), Mehmet, Oğuz, Raik, Garo, Kamuran, Atilla. Goals: Garo 44'(F), Ali Raik 58'. "Mersin İdmanyurdu: 2 Sarıyer: 2". Mersin İdmanyurdu: 2 Sarıyer: 2. Milliyet gazete arşivi, 05.03.1979, p. 15. Retrieved on 06.09.2010. (in Turkish)
^Round - 22 - 01.04.1979 - Gaziantepspor-MİY: 1-0. Sunday. Referees: İbrahim Acar, İbrahim Kalfaoğlu, Hıdır Lüle. G.Antep: Yaşar, Ünsal, Necmettin, Fatih, Turgut, Ömer, Sami, Hüseyin, Fevzi, Murat, Erdal. Goal: Murat 28'(P). MİY: Ali, Mehmet, Tahir, İbrahim, Kemal, Nasır, Özcan, Osman, Mücellip, Feridun, Muzaffer. "Gaziantepspor: 1 Mersin id. Yurdu: 0". Gaziantepspor: 1 Mersin id. Yurdu: 0. Milliyet gazete arşivi, 02.04.1979, p. 14. Retrieved on 10.12.2010. (in Turkish)
^Round 29 - 20.05.1979 - Eskişehir Demirspor-MİY: 2-0. Sunday, 13:30. Eskişehir. Referees: Sadi Altınok, Ziya Adabay, Hikmet Çivelek. Eskişehir Demirspor: Doğan, Mehmet, İlhan, Kenani Mehmet II, Mehmet III, Ahmet, Serdar, Muzaffer, Turan, Selahattin. Goals: Feridun 13'(o.g.), Serdar 26'. MİY: Ali, Bülent, Osman, Feridun, Kemal, Haydar, Mücellip, Özcan, Nasır, Bülent, Ercan. "Esk.D.Spor: 2 Mersin İ.Y: 0". Esk.D.Spor: 2 Mersin İ.Y: 0. Milliyet online archive, Milliyet, 21 May 1979, p. 13. Retrieved on 10.12.2010. (in Turkish).
^ abTFF website does not have an official page for 1978–79 Turkish Cup, but results for finals at TFF Turkish Cup page, retrieved on 15 August 2015, (in Turkish). See some details on cup matches at Türkiye Kupası by Cem Pekin, and Turkey - Final Tables by Turkish Soccer by Erdinç Sivritepe, retrieved on 23 July 2010, (in English); and maçkolik.com Cup page, retrieved on 16 August 2015, (in Turkish).
^Stats were not provided by TFF for this season. See TFF Club page. Search for 1978–79 squad and 1978–79 matches are not provided. Retrieved on 7 August 2015.
^ abData were obtained from; (1) an advanced search performed in Milliyet online archive for 1978–79 Mersin İdmanyurdu season; and (2) appearances and goals from maçkolik.com team page. Retrieved on 27 August 2015. (3) Some of the players of Mersin İdmanyurdu include following. Player names obtained from game against GençlerbirliğiGençlerbirliği fan site. 7 April 2010.
^Nasır Belci. In the team since Summer 1976. He grew up in MİY youth team. He continued in the next season. Details from maçkolik.com pageArchived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
^Mücellip Pehlivan. Player signed in Summer 1978. His previous team was Lülebugazspor. He continued in the next season. Details from maçkolik.com pageArchived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
^Kemal Damkal. In the team since Summer 1974. His previous team was Ankara Güneşspor. He continued in the next season. Details from maçkolik.com pageArchived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
Octavian Popescu
27'
