Sivasspor Kulübü, known as EMS Yapı Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since the 2017–18 season.
They competed for the Süper Lig title in two consecutive seasons (2007–08 and 2008–09), ultimately finishing fourth and second respectively. They also earned the fourth spot at the end of 2019–20 season. In all these seasons, they finished the first half of the league at the top of the league. They are one of three non-champion clubs that topped the first half, along with Altay and Kocaelispor. They were also fifth at the end of 2013–14 season. They were the champions of the 2021–22 Turkish Cup.
Sivasspor were originally formed on 14 May 1932 in Sivas as Sivas Gençlik. They sported Kırmızı-Beyaz (Red-White) shirts and Beyaz (White) shorts. They played many matches at the amateur level in their early years before they were allowed to play professionally. By the mid-1960s, Sivas Gençlik merged with Yolspor and Kızılırmak. They had hoped that this merger would help their push to join the professional leagues, the league closed their doors to Sivasspor once more.[2]
There were several boycotts until 1 July 1967, when Sivasspor was allowed to play professional football in Turkey.[2] Sivasspor started out in the Second League, White Group.[3] On 17 September 1967, during a match against Kayseri Erciyesspor (then Kayserispor) played at the Kayseri Atatürk Stadium, a disaster occurred with 40 dead and at least 300 injuries among the fans, which was the worst sporting-related event in Turkey. Almost all casualties were Sivasspor fans, who perished in a stampede after chaos broke out in their ranks, due to attacking Kayserispor fans. The match was finished 1–0 in favour of the Kayseri side. After the disaster, Kayseri Erciyesspor and Sivasspor played different groups of the 2nd league until the 1990–91 season. That year, both teams reconciled and played in the Fourth Group of the Third League (now TFF Second League). Kayseri Erciyesspor were champions and promoted to Second League. [citation needed]
Due to there being many new clubs, the Turkish Football Federation decided to create a third league. They were permitted into the Second League along with Afyonspor, Balıkesirspor, Giresunspor, Kastamonuspor, Malatyaspor, Orduspor, Uşakspor, and Taksim GK.[3] During their first professional season, Sivasspor finished 16th in their group, a mere four points from relegation. They also finished in the bottom half of the table the following season.[3][4] They came close to promotion to First League in 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons but finished second behind Şekerspor and Adana Demirspor. [citation needed]
Sivas SK's classic home kit
Sivasspor would remain in the lower leagues until winning the Second League in 2005, gaining automatic promotion.[3] The club finished 8th in their first season in the Süper Lig. Werner Lorant led the team to key victories over clubs like Beşiktaş and Gençlerbirliği. At the end of their first season in the top flight, they finished with a record of ten wins, thirteen draws, and eleven losses, totaling out to 43 points. The club then finished 4th in the 2007–08 season, finishing on the same number of points as the second and third place teams but with an inferior goal difference.[3] Sivasspor had the championship in their sights until the penultimate match, when they were beaten 5–3 by eventual champions Galatasaray. The 2008–09 season saw them finish 2nd after leading the table for much of the season. After losing their final match of the season, they finished behind leaders Beşiktaş by 5 points. [citation needed]
Sivasspor has got active departments in women's football (founded in 2021),[23] billiards, bridge, judo, table tennis, swimming and Jereed, an ancient Turkic equestrian team sport.
^"A Takım Teknik Kadro" [Senior Team Technical Staff] (in Turkish). Sivasspor. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^"Teknik Direktörler" [Head Coaches] (in Turkish). Sivasspor. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^"Başkanlar" [Presidents] (in Turkish). Sivasspor. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
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