Kardemir Karabükspor
Full nameKardemir Demir Çelik Karabükspor
Nickname(s)Mavi Ateş (Blue Flame)
Founded1969
GroundDr. Necmettin Şeyhoğlu Stadium, Karabük
Capacity11,378
ChairmanZiya Ünsal[1]
ManagerAli Kemal Yılmaz
LeagueTurkish Regional Amateur League
2021–22TFF Third League, Group 3, 17th (relegated)
WebsiteClub website

Kardemir Demir Çelik Karabükspor, known simply as Kardemir Karabükspor or Karabükspor, is a Turkish sports club based in Karabük. The team was founded in 1969 after a merger between "Karabük Gençlikspor" and "Demir Çelik Spor". The club has in branches in football, wheelchair basketball and volleyball. The nickname of the club is Mavi Ateş; Blue Flame. The nickname comes from unfading blue flame coming out of one of the chimneys of Kardemir iron-steel works which is located in the entrance of the city. As the factory gives name to the club, the team is cited as a worker's team.[2] The club finances collapsed during the 2017–18 Süper Lig season, setting the club on a path of constant relegation, losing almost every game as they could play nothing but amateur youth players, falling deep into the provincial amateur league system.

History

Foundation and early history

In the year 1938, Azmi Tılabar, the head manager of the Turkish iron-steel industry, founded DÇ Gençlik Kulübü; DÇ Youth Club with grey-blue colours. In these times, the trainer of the football team was an English engineer Mr. Lain. The trainer of athletism was Turkish athlete Faik Önen. Moreover, Mersinli Ahmet and Yaşar Doğu were trainers of wrestling. During the 1940s, Karabükspor became a symbol in cycling, tennis, and wrestling around Turkey. Starting in the 1950s, the "Karabük Gençlikspor" joined "DÇ Gençlik Kulübü" and finally, the club got its colours as red-blue.

The 1990s

In the last game of the 1993–94 season against Zeytinburnuspor, Karabükspor relegated from the Süper Lig. Karabükspor promoted to the top tier after winning the promotion play-off in the 1996–97 season. Karabükspor finished 8th in 1997–98. The next season, however, was disastrous for them as they again relegated to the second level. Karabükspor relocated to the Second League B Category in the 2001–02 season.

The 2000s

The team was promoted to the TFF First League in the 2007–08 season after a 7–0 win against Erzurumspor in the promotion group. On their 30th game of the 2009–10 season, they won 3–0 against Çaykur Rizespor which meant they were promoted to the Süper Lig after 11 years.

2017-18 Relegation

The 2017–18 Süper Lig season was a disaster for the club and resulted in their relegation. Erkan Sözeri resigned following poor early performances. On 1 October 2017 the club appointed Australian coach Tony Popovic to run the side. His stint in charge lasted 2 months, during which time the entire board quit the club. Popovic was replaced by Levent Açıkgöz, who was himself sacked on 21 March 2018 and replaced by Ünal Karaman. The coaching changes, financial ruin and poor performances all contributed to the club finishing in last place with only three wins and three draws for the entire season.

Relegation Freefall

With no money and little in the way of talent to sell, the clubs precarious financial position required them to use low paid youth players and this saw Karabükspor suffer back to back relegations. They finished last in the 2018/19 TFF First League, winning no games, drawing only three and suffering a negative 102 goal difference. They finished the season with zero points after a 3-point administrative penalty was assessed on the club.

The 2019/20 season, where the club competed in the 3rd tier TFF Second League saw a brief respite from relegation as the Turkish government suspended all the leagues due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, with relegations cancelled for the season.

They continued their plunge down the pyramid with another last place finish, in the 2020/21 season. They scored just one win and three draws, while another 3 point administrative penalty had them end the season on only 3 points. They were relegated into the fourth tier TFF Third League system.

Their season in the 4th tier did not see any improvement, and the side were relegated once again, this time into the 5th tier amateur league system.

In October 2022, the club was unable to field a team two games in a row due to player shortages, a situation which was punished by an automatic relegation to the 6th tier amateur league system.

Past seasons

Domestic results

Season Place League
1969–709TFF Second League
1970–714TFF Second League
1971–721TFF Second League
1972–7315TFF First League
1973–742TFF Second League
1974–755TFF First League
1975–766TFF First League
1976–776TFF First League
1977–787TFF First League
1978–7912TFF First League
1979–805TFF First League
1980–8110TFF First League
1981–826TFF First League
1982–8312TFF First League
1983–841Amateur Level
1984–8510TFF First League
1985–8613TFF First League
1986–8710TFF First League
1987–884TFF First League
1988–897TFF First League
1989–907TFF First League
1990–9114TFF First League
1991–925TFF First League
1992–933TFF First League
1993–9414Süper Lig
1994–955TFF First League
1995–962TFF First League
1996–971TFF First League
1997–989Süper Lig
1998–9918Süper Lig
1999–001TFF First League
2000–015TFF First League
2001–021TFF Second League
2002–0311TFF Second League
2003–042TFF Second League
2004–057TFF Second League
2005–063TFF Second League
2006–073TFF Second League
2007–082TFF Second League
2008–097TFF First League
2009–101TFF First League
2010–119Süper Lig
2011–1212Süper Lig
2012–1315Süper Lig
2013–147Süper Lig
2014–1516Süper Lig
2015–162TFF First League
2016–1712Süper Lig
2017–1818Süper Lig
2018–1918TFF First League
2019–2018TFF Second League
2020–2120TFF Second League
2021–2217TFF Third League

Note: In the 2019/20 season all relegations were postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic causing the cancellation of the season, while promotions continued as normal. Additional relegation slots were added to the 2020–21 season to rebalance the size of the leagues for the 2021/22 season.

League participations

European record

As of 28 August 2014
Competition Pld W D L GF GA GD
UEFA Europa League 4 1 2 1 2 2 0

UEFA Europa League:

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 3Q Norway Rosenborg 0–0 1–1 1–1 (a)
PO France Saint-Étienne 1–0 0–1 1–1, 3–4 (pen.)
Notes
  • 3Q: Third qualifying round
  • PO: Play-off round

Ranking history:

As of 2019
SeasonRankPointsRef.
2015199 Increase8.020[3]
2016185 Increase8.420[4]
2017169 Increase9.340[5]
2018154 Increase7.160[6]
2019159 Decrease6.920[7]

Supporters

The club are sponsored by the Kardemir company and the Iron workers unions from whom they draw a lot of their support, making it a club with true working class identity.[8] Their ultra group is called Mavi Ateş (Blue Flame) and their motto is, Dumanlı kentin puslu çocukları (Sons of the smoky city).[9] They continue to support the club despite its ongoing difficulty.

Current sponsors

  • Kardemir
  • Çelik-iş Sendikası (Labor union of the workers in Kardemir Iron & Steel Works)

Notable players

Africa
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
DR Congo
Gabon
Mali
Nigeria
Europe
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro
Norway
Turkey
Ukraine
South America
Argentina

References

  1. ↑ (in Turkish) Club details
  2. ↑ "Soccer Vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics", PM Press, 2011, Gabriel Kuhn, p. 172.
  3. ↑ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2015". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  4. ↑ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2016". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  5. ↑ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2017". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  6. ↑ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2018". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  7. ↑ Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2019". Xs4all.nl. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  8. ↑ "Soccer Vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics", PM Press, 2011, Gabriel Kuhn, p.172
  9. ↑ "Karabükspor Profile". turkish-football.com. 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karabükspor.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.