Big Three (Turkey)
The Big Three (Turkish: Üç Büyükler) is the colloquial name given to Beşiktaş, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, the three most successful sports clubs in Turkey. They all are based in Istanbul.
Besiktas is the team with the most championships in Turkey with 28 championships. Fenerbahce have won 19 championships and Galatasaray have won 24 Turkish championships. None of the trio have been relegated since 1959. The worst places the side have finished in league history were 10th for Fenerbahçe in 1980–81, 11th for Beşiktaş in 1975–76, and 13th for Galatasaray in 2021–22.[1]
The big three started to compete in Europe after the 1950s. Galatasaray is only Turkish team to have won a European trophy, having won both the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000.
A reported 90% of the fans in Turkey support the Big Three. A survey by a fan-token platform showed support for Galatasaray in 25 out of 81 provinces of Turkey while its crosstown rival Fenerbahçe had the number of fans in 20 provinces, and Beşiktaş, had the number of fans in 35 provinces. According to the survey, 40% of the fans support Besiktas, 35% support Fenerbahçe and 20% support Galatasaray.[2][3] Besiktas is the football club with the most fans in Turkey.
The three-way rivalry
[edit]
- As of 17 August 2024
Fenerbahçe vs. Galatasaray
[edit]| Team [4] | Pl | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fenerbahçe | 400 | 149 | 123 | 128 | 541 | 499 |
| Galatasaray | 400 | 128 | 123 | 149 | 499 | 541 |
Fenerbahçe vs. Beşiktaş
[edit]| Team [5] | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fenerbahçe | 359 | 127 | 97 | 135 | 499 | 457 |
| Beşiktaş | 359 | 135 | 97 | 127 | 457 | 499 |
Beşiktaş vs. Galatasaray
[edit]| Team [6] | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galatasaray | 356 | 115 | 114 | 127 | 496 | 469 |
| Beşiktaş | 356 | 127 | 114 | 115 | 469 | 496 |
Statistics
[edit]League placements
[edit]| Club | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | Total | Top 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galatasaray | 19 | 11 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 66 | 51 | |||
| Fenerbahçe | 14 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 66 | 42 | ||||
| Beşiktaş | 24 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 66 | 52 |
|- !Ranking !Club !Pld !W !D !L !GF !GA !GD !Pts |- |1 |Galatasaray |316 |113 |84 |119 |427 |472 |−45 |423 |- |2 |Fenerbahçe |270 |107 |55 |108 |366 |384 |−18 |376 |- |3 |Beşiktaş |242 |91 |48 |103 |320 |365 |−45 |321 |}
UEFA 5-year Club Ranking of the Big Three
[edit]| Ranking [7] | Team | 19/20 | 20/21 | 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 53
|
Fenerbahçe | - | - | 5.00 | 17.00 | 14.00 | 36.000 |
 60
|
Galatasaray | 6.00 | 2.50 | 15.00 | - | 8.00 | 31.500 |
| 70
|
Beşiktaş | 3.00 | 2.00 | 4.00 | - | 3.00 | 12.000 |
Players who have played for the three clubs
[edit].jpg)
- As of 19 July 2022:[8]
Refik Osman Top (Beşiktaş 1912–1913, 1923–1924, Fenerbahçe 1913–1915 and 1923, Galatasaray 1915–1917, 1921–1922, 1923 and 1924)- Ali Soydan (Galatasaray 1951–1957, Fenerbahçe 1959–1960, Beşiktaş 1963–1964)
- Saffet Sancaklı (Beşiktaş 1987–1991, Galatasaray 1994–1995, Fenerbahçe 1996–1998)
- Sergen Yalçın (Beşiktaş 1991–1997 and 2002–2006, Fenerbahçe 1999–2000, Galatasaray 2000 and 2001–02)
- Ahmet Yıldırım (Fenerbahçe 1993–1994, Galatasaray 1999–2001, Beşiktaş 2001–2005)
- Emre Aşık (Fenerbahçe 1993–1996, Galatasaray 2000–2003 and 2006–2010, Beşiktaş 2003–2006)
- Mehmet Yozgatlı (Galatasaray 1999–2000, Fenerbahçe 2004–2007, Beşiktaş 2007–2008)
- Burak Yılmaz (Beşiktaş 2006–2008 and 2019–2020, Fenerbahçe 2008–2010, Galatasaray 2012–2016)
- Caner Erkin (Galatasaray 2009–2010, Fenerbahçe 2010–2016 and 2020–2021, Beşiktaş 2016–2020)
- Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray 2006–2010, Fenerbahçe 2012–2019, Beşiktaş 2021–2022)
Michy Batshuayi (Beşiktaş 2021–2022, Fenerbahçe 2022–2024, Galatasaray 2024-)
Managers who have managed the three clubs
[edit]
- Mustafa Denizli (Galatasaray 1987–1989, 1990–1992, 2015–2016, Fenerbahçe 2000–2002, Beşiktaş 2008–2010)
See also
[edit]- Big Three (Belgium)
- Big Three (Costa Rica)
- Big Three (Greece)
- Big Three (Netherlands)
- Big Three (Peru)
- Big Three (Portugal)
References
[edit]- ^ "Süper Lig Tarihçe Şampiyonluklar Arşiv Gol Krallığı TFF". TFF. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ "Socios'un Türkiye Taraftarlık Anketi'nin sonuçları açıklandı! - Futbol Haberleri - Spor - Sayfa 5". Fanatik (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ Sabah, Daily (22 July 2022). "Galatasaray dominates Turkey's 'fan map' ahead of Fenerbahçe". Daily Sabah. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ "Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rekabetinde 396. randevu". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
- ^ "Beşiktaş-Fenerbahçe rekabetinde 356. randevu". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
- ^ "Beşiktaş-Galatasaray rekabetinde 352. randevu". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
- ^ "UEFA 5-year Club Ranking 2023". kassiesa.net. Archived from the original on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
- ^ a b "Türkiye'de 3 Büyük Takımda Da Forma Giymiş 8 Futbolcu" [The 8 Footballers Who Played In Three Big [Teams] in Turkey] (in Turkish). 90min.com. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ "Süper Lig'in şampiyon teknik direktörleri" [Title Winning Managers of Süper Lig] (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 26 August 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.