Galatasaray S.K. - Stadium

Stadium

Galatasaray played during its first years in different fields, since there were not any stadiums in Istanbul. In 1921, the first stadium, Taksim Stadium opened. Galatasaray played there until 1940. When the historic Taksim Stadium was demolished, Galatasaray decided to build a large, modern stadium. Due to difficulties stemming from World War II, construction was delayed for over two decades. In this period, they played in İnönü Stadium.

On 20 December 1964, Ali Sami Yen Stadium opened. It is named after the founder of the club, Ali Sami Yen. It is in the Mecidiyeköy quarter of the Şişli district at the center of the city. In 1964, the stadium had a capacity of over 35,000. Today, due to improvements in security and prohibition of standing spectators, it has an all-seater capacity of 24,990. The nickname of the stadium is "Hell".

After 2002, when Atatürk Olympic Stadium was built for Istanbul's Olympic Games bid, Galatasaray started to play European Cup matches there. The attendance record for a Turkish stadium was broken there, in a Galatasaray–Olympiacos match played in front of 79,414 spectators. But the Ali Sami Yen Stadium has historic importance for Galatasaray fans although it is smaller and older.

The new Türk Telekom Arena stadium was built by the government with taxpayers money, and will be the new home ground for Galatasaray S.K., replacing the old Ali Sami Yen Stadium. The new stadium has a capacity of 52,695 seats.

Since 1998, after every goal scored by Galatasaray, the last part of the song I Will Survive by the Hermes House Band is played. Although the song is in English, the part used has no lyrics except "la la la la". This makes it easy for fans to participate.

In addition, before every game the Florida State Seminoles' War chant is played accompanied by what the fans call a "scarf show", where fans display and wave their Galatasaray scarves.

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