Türkiyemspor Berlin

Football club infobox
clubname = Türkiyemspor Berlin


fullname = Türkiyemspor Berlin e.V.
nickname = Türkiyem
founded = 1978
ground = Katzbachstadion
capacity = 5,000
chairman = Celal Bingöl
manager = Thomas Herbst
league = Regionalliga Nord (IV)
season = 2007-08
position = NOFV-Oberliga Nord, 3rd
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Türkiyemspor Berlin is German football club from the city of Berlin. The club began in 1978 as a loose association of young footballers playing recreationally as "Kreuzberg Gençler Birliği" (Kreuzberg Youth Union), named for the Berlin city district of Kreuzberg. The club was formally registered as "BFC Izmirspor" in 1983 and was named for the city of Izmir, Turkey where many of the club members had roots.

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History

In its first season of play in 1983-84 in the C-class amateur league the team captured the division title and they continued to enjoy other successes that would lead to their promotion to fourth division play in the Landesliga Berlin in 1986, followed immediately by a climb into the third division Amateur Oberliga Berlin the next season. Small businesses within the Turkish immigrant community in Berlin have played an important role in supporting the club throughout its history and in 1987 the team changed its name, becoming "Türkiyemspor Berlin" in order to broaden its appeal.

The club would field competitive sides in the third division (known variously as the Amateur Oberliga Berlin, the Amateur Oberliga Nordost-Mitte, and Regionalliga Nordost through this period) from the late 80s and on into the mid-90s. They also captured three consecutive Paul Rusch Cups (today's Berlin Cup) from 1989 to 1991 while making cup final appearances in 1988, 1993, and 1995. Those wins put them into German Cup competition: they were put out in the first round in each of their first two appearances and advanced only as far as the second round in the 1991-92 tournament.

The club suffered a devastating blow in the 1990-91 season when they missed an opportunity for promotion to the 2.Bundesliga when they were sanctioned for the use of an ineligible player. The club was leading its division in a close race with "Tennis Borussia Berlin" when an arbitrator ruled that the transfer to "Türkiyemspor" of player Piotr Podkowik was illegal under league rules. Prior to this the BFV (Berliner Fußball Verband or Berlin Football Federation) had approved the use of the player by the club. The president of the federation apologized, indicating that the league had made a mistake and that the club was blameless. By the time the unexpected decision had come down, Podkowik had already appeared in seven matches with the team and they were ordered to replay three of these games. The division title came down to the final game of the season against "TeBe" with "Türkiyemspor" needing only a draw to advance: instead they went down to a stinging 0:5 defeat and so failed to advance. Since then the team has seen a dramatic decline in the number of spectators attending their matches.

By the mid-90s the team found itself overmatched and slipped to fourth tier play in the Amateur Oberliga Nordost-Nord after a last place finish in 1995. "Türkiyemspor" fell to the Verbandsliga Berlin (V) in 1998 and spent two seasons there before returning to the Oberliga Nordost-Nord (IV) on the strength of a division championship in 2000. They continue to compete at this level, earning uneven results at or just below the mid-table.

Impact of the club on German football

"Türkiyemspor" is recognized as being among the most successful clubs spawned within Germany's immigrant communities. They have contributed to creating a positive image for their community and helped set a confident example for Turks in the country with many other ethnically-Turkish clubs following in their footsteps. The name "Türkiyemspor" is now also used by clubs in Moenchengladbach, Wuppertal, Breuberg, Amsterdam, Australia, and the United States. The club and it supporters have also, unfortunately, often been the target of hostility and attacks by extreme right-wing groups.

The club is actively involved several community-oriented programs built around anti-racism, intercultural understanding, a campaign against violence in families, and a campaign for respect for homosexuals known as "Respect-Gaymes".

Working with the DFB (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) "Türkiyemspor" paved the way for teams rooted in the country's various immigrant communities (Migrantenvereins) to participate in first and second division play in Germany. Normally, league rules limit the number of foreign players permitted on a team's roster. "Türkiyemspor" squads typically included many players without German citizenship from families of long-term migrant workers in the Turkish community. League rules were modified to exempt players without citizenship who could show that they had played several years of youth football in Germany.

Famous players

More than forty players have gone on to professional careers after getting their start with Türkiyemspor. The most widely recognized of these is Ümit Karan who joined the Turkish club "Genclerbirligi" before moving on to "Galatasaray Istanbul". Other former Türkiyemspor players currently active professionally in Turkey include Cemil Mengi at "Caykur Rizespor", Serkan Birtan at Istanbul club "Eyüpspor", and Deniz Aydogdu at Izmir club "Karşıyaka".

Michael Mert Fuss set a Verbandsliga goal scoring record with 66 tallies in 2000-01.

Current squad

Honours

*Verbandsliga Berlin (V) champions: 2000
*Paul Rusch Cup (Berlin Cup) winners: 1989, 1990, 1991

External links

* [http://www.tuerkiyemspor.info/ official club site]
* [http://home.arcor.de/tuerkiyemspor/ fansite]
* [http://mavi-beyaz.blogspot.com german-turkish-english blog from supporter club Türkiyemspor]
* [http://www.abseits-soccer.com/clubs/turk.html Abseits Guide to German Soccer]
* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv] historical German football league tables (in German)
* [http://www.eufo.de/ eufo.de] European football club profiles
* [http://ec.europa.eu/sport/documents/lot3.pdf European Union study about Sport and Multicuralism]