Look out Istanbul, there’s a new team in town. Originally formed in 1932 as the marvelously named ‘Sivas Gençlik’ (literally ‘the Sivas Youth’), Sivasspor kicked around somewhat aimlessly in Turkish regional competitions until 1967. In ‘67, Turkish football’s year of reckoning when the league was revamped and massively expanded, Sivasspor were finally given the nod to play professional football. They spent their first few seasons milling around before narrowly missing promotion to the top flight in the early 70s, when first Şekerspor (‘Sugar Sport’) and then Adana Demirspor (‘Adana Iron Sport’) beat them to promotion. They suffered the ignominy of dropping back into amateur football during the mid 80s, but since then the club have seen a slow but meteoric rise. Indeed, Sivasspor would remain in the lower leagues until winning the Turkish Second division in 2005, gaining automatic promotion.
The club finished a solid 8th in their first season in the Super League, German coach Werner Lorant leading the team to key victories over clubs like Beşiktaş and Gençlerbirliği. The club’s most successful season to date was last, where they finished 4th in the Super League and booked a place in the Intertoto Cup. Finishing 4th only on average goals scored, after having the same points as the 2nd and 3rd placed teams, may sound like a fine achievement for such a provincial club. However, it should be noted that there was a Deportivo La Coruna-easque finish to last season; until the 33rd week (of 34 matches), they were in a position to lift the Championship but lost a crucial fixture 5-3 to eventual champions Galatasaray. From Champions to Intertoto chumps in two weekends, gutting.
So, on to this season… Will this club, whose success has been based on a bunch of largely unheralded Turkish players and sound management, fare any better than last year? The signs are both good and bad. The big three of Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş are all fumbling around like a pack of teams trying their best to secure a place in the coveted UEFA Europa league, while the only team in history to have broken the Istanbul stranglehold – Trabzonspor – aren’t doing much better. So, Sivasspor, who currently sit atop the Turkish league have it in their own hands. Now on to the bad news. While Sivas sit atop of the pile, the race is tighter than something very tight, with all of the big four within three points of them. They’ve already beaten both Fener and Cimbom this season, but were walloped at Fenerbahçe a couple of weeks ago. A lot of Turkey would like to see them do it – imagine if Wigan Athletic were in a position to win the league at this stage of the season – but the nagging feeling is they’ll fall short again.
This weekend in the Super Lig
Ankaragücü 0 – 2 Sivasspor
A couple of second half goals from Yıldız and Kamanan downed Ankaragucu and kept Sivas at the top of the table.
Beşiktaş 3 – 0 Gençlerbirliği
Coach Mustafa Denizli has seen it all in turkish football and is doing a decent job with my favourite team.
Trabzonspor 2 – 2 Galatasaray
This result did neither team any favours in Turkey’s top of the table clash. Alanzinho’s stunning opener for Trabzonspor was cancelled out by Milan Baros’ cool finish. Arda Turan then fired Cimbom in front after the break but the hosts claimed a point through a fine equaliser from Colman.
See my notes on Fenerbahçe’s game here.
Increasingly middle-aged and increasingly disillusioned by modern football, I want to share with you how good football used to be before it was ruined by money. 
