Denizlispor

Denizlispor is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. The Denizli Atatürk Stadium, which has a seating capacity of up to 18,745 spectators is the club's home ground.

History
Denizlispor Kulübü was founded on May 26, 1966, as a merger of two smaller youth sports clubs, Çelik Yeşilspor Gençlik and Pamukkale Gençlik. They joined to form what is now Denizlispor, which was at the time a lesser known sports & youth club in the Çaybaşı district of Denizli city. This union made its registration at the Turkish football's governing body, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) under the name of Denizlispor Youth Club. The new football team joined Turkish football's 2nd division for the upcoming season on July 14, 1966.

Denizlispor finished fifth in the 2001–02 Süper Lig, consequently qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In the 2002–03 UEFA Cup, the team defeated FC Lorient, Sparta Prague, and Olympique Lyonnais, before losing in the fourth round against FC Porto, who later on won the tournament. In the 2003–2004 season the black-green club managed another 5th spot. Denizlispor's form declined after the 2004–2005 season and struggled avoiding relegation. Denizlispor drew 1–1 against Fenerbahçe on the last match day of the 2005–06 season securing its stay at the highest level, upsetting the title chances of the team from Kadıköy. Denizlispor remained in the Super League despite a 3–0 loss against Ankaragücü in an away match on May 24, 2009, due to better results against Konyaspor, who got relegated. Denizlispor eventually relegated the next season to the TFF First League after a goalless home draw against Ankaragücü on April 24, 2010.

After the relegation in the 2009–10 season, Denizlispor competed in the TFF First League for nine seasons. In the 2010–11 season, Denizlispor completed the first half of the season as leaders. The team, however, finished the season in 9th place. The following seasons, Denizlispor did not achieve any substantial success. Denizlispor became champions in the 2018–19 TFF First League season, with 72 points, promoting to the Süper Lig.

After two consecutive seasons in the Süper Lig, Denizlispor could not manage to keep competing in the Süper Lig, relegating to the TFF First League. In the 2022–23 season, Denizlispor had a disastrous start to the season with just six points in their first 16 fixtures, performing poor throughout the season staying in the relegation zone in 36 of the 38 rounds. The team eventually relegated to the TFF Second League for the first time ever in their history.

Crest and colours
The Denizlispor crest was designed by Yakup Ünel, a founding member of the team. The crest is based around a rooster, which is identified with the province of Denizli. The team's colours come from the colours of a type of rooster with green and black feathers unique to Denizli region.

Stadium
Denizlispor play their home matches in Denizli Atatürk Stadium. The stadium holds 18,745 people and was built in 1950. Denizlispor's first league match played against Eskişehirspor in 1983. The stadium does not have wire nets.

League participations

 * Süper Lig: 1983–88, 1994–97, 1999–2010, 2019–21
 * TFF First League: 1966–83, 1988–94, 1997–99, 2010–19, 2021–2023
 * TFF Second League: 2023–

European cups
UEFA Cup:

UEFA Intertoto Cup:

UEFA Ranking history:

Past seasons
Last updated: 4 May 2024

Div. = Division; SL = Turkish Super League; 1L = TFF First League 2B = Turkish Second Football League, Group B; 2Rd = Turkish Second Football League, Red Group; 2Wh = Turkish Second Football League, White Group; Pos. = Position; Pl = Match played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lost; GS = Goal scored; GA = Goal against; P = Points

UCL = UEFA Champions League; UCWC = UEFA Cup Winners' Cup; UC = UEFA Cup; Cup = Turkey Cup. Colors: Gold = winner; Silver = runner-up.

Coaches

 * 🇹🇷 Altan Santepe (1966–69)
 * 🇹🇷 Kadri Aytaç (1969–70)
 * 🇹🇷 Doğan Emültay (1970–72)
 * 🇹🇷 İnanç Toker (1972–73)
 * 🇹🇷 İsmail Kurt (1973–74)
 * 🇹🇷 Melih Garipler (1974–75)
 * 🇹🇷 Seracettin Kırklar (1975–76)
 * 🇹🇷 İnanç Toker (1976–77)
 * 🇹🇷 Şükrü Ersoy (1977–78)
 * 🇹🇷 Melih Garipler (1978–79)
 * 🇹🇷 Mustafa Özkula (1979–81)
 * 🇹🇷 Refik Özvardar (1981–82)
 * 🇹🇷 Halil Güngördü (1982–83)
 * 🇹🇷 Doğan Andaç (1982–83)
 * 🇹🇷 Nevzat Güzelırmak (1983–85)
 * 🇹🇷 Özkan Sümer (1985–86)
 * 🇹🇷 Nihat Atmaca (1986–87)
 * 🇹🇷 Zeynel Soyuer (1987–88)
 * 🇹🇷 Fethi Demircan (1988–89)
 * 🇹🇷 Nihat Atacan (1989–90)
 * 🇹🇷 Bülent Ünder (1990–91)
 * 🇹🇷 Behzat Çınar (1991–92)
 * 🇹🇷 Melih Garipler (1991–92)
 * 🇹🇷 Ilker Küçük (1992–93)
 * 🇹🇷 Gündüz Tekin Onay (1992–93)
 * 🇹🇷 Ömer Kaner (1993–94)
 * 🇹🇷 Ümit Kayıhan (1994–96)
 * 🇹🇷 Behzat Çınar (1996–97)
 * 🇹🇷 Melih Garipler (1996–97)
 * 🇹🇷 Raşit Çetiner (1997–98)
 * 🇹🇷 Ersun Yanal (1998–2000)
 * 🇹🇷 Tevfik Lav (2000–01)
 * 🇹🇷 Yılmaz Vural (2000–01)
 * 🇹🇷 Sakıp Özberk (2001–02)
 * 🇹🇷 Rıza Çalımbay (2001–03)
 * 🇹🇷 Giray Bulak (2003–05)
 * 🇹🇷 Nurullah Sağlam (2006)
 * 🇧🇦 Faruk Hadžibegić (2006)
 * 🇹🇷 Güvenç Kurtar (2006–08)
 * 🇹🇷 Ali Yalçın (2008)
 * 🇹🇷 Ümit Kayıhan (2008–09)
 * 🇹🇷 Mesut Bakkal (2009)
 * 🇹🇷 Erhan Altın (2009)
 * 🇹🇷 Nurullah Sağlam (2009)
 * 🇹🇷 Hakan Kutlu (2009–10)
 * 🇹🇷 Hamza Hamzaoğlu (2010–11)
 * 🇹🇷 Güvenç Kurtar (2011)
 * 🇹🇷 Serhat Güller (2011)
 * 🇹🇷 Osman Özköylü (2011–12)
 * 🇹🇷 Engin İpekoğlu (2012)
 * 🇹🇷 Yusuf Şimşek (2012–13)
 * 🇹🇷 Özcan Bizati (2013)
 * 🇹🇷 Serdar Dayat (2013)
 * 🇹🇷 Ümit Turmuş (2013)
 * 🇹🇷 Özcan Bizati (2013–15)
 * 🇹🇷 Engin İpekoğlu (2015)
 * 🇹🇷 Mehmet Altıparmak (2015)
 * 🇹🇷 Ali Yalçın (2015–16)
 * 🇹🇷 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Koray Palaz (2016)
 * 🇹🇷 Selahattin Dervent (2016)
 * 🇹🇷 Ali Tandoğan (2016–17)
 * 🇹🇷 Ali Şimşek (2017)
 * 🇹🇷 Yusuf Şimşek (2017)
 * 🇹🇷 Reha Erginer (2017–18)
 * 🇹🇷 Fatih Tekke (2018)
 * 🇹🇷 Osman Özköylü (2018)
 * 🇹🇷 Yücel İldiz (2018–19)
 * 🇹🇷 Mehmet Özdilek (2019–20)
 * 🇹🇷 Bülent Uygun (2020)
 * 🇭🇷 Robert Prosinečki (2020)
 * 🇹🇷 Kenan Atik (2020)
 * 🇹🇷 Yalçın Koşukavak (2020–21)
 * 🇹🇷 Hakan Kutlu (2021)
 * 🇹🇷 Ali Tandoğan (2021)
 * 🇹🇷 Serhat Gülpınar (2021)
 * 🇹🇷 Fatih Tekke (2021–22)
 * 🇹🇷 Mesut Bakkal (2022)
 * 🇹🇷 Giray Bulak (2022–23)
 * 🇹🇷 Kemal Kılıç (2023)
 * 🇹🇷 Bülent Ertuğrul (2023)
 * 🇹🇷 Özcan Bizati (2023–present)

Other branches
The club has football, basketball, table tennis, chess, figure skating and gymnastic teams. The club's most famous branch is its football team.