1958–59 in Turkish football

The 1958-59 season was the 54th season of competitive football in Turkey.

Turkish First Football League

The Turkish First Football League was introduced in 1959. At the time, there were three cities who had professional clubs: Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir. The first league was made up of sixteen clubs, 8 from Istanbul, and four each from Ankara and Izmir. To gain entry, qualification tournaments were held in 1958 to decide who can play in the league. League play did not start until the second half of the season, causing the season to be played in group format and a shorter game schedule. [This is why the season is referred to as Turkish First Football League 1959 and not 1958 Turkish First Football League. [http://www.angelfire.com/nj/sivritepe/5859/tl.html 1959 Milli Lig] ]

The first final was held between Fenerbahçe S.K. and Galatasaray S.K. The match was a two legged knockout. Galatasaray won the first match 1-0, while Fenerbahçe won the second 4-0 and secured the first title by 4-1 aggregate.

This year was also earmarked by the first competition of a Turkish club in the European Cup. Fenerbahçe won the first match of the preliminary round over Csepel SC 4-3 on aggregate. Their second preliminary match came against OGC Nice. Fenerbahçe had tied after two legs, but lost the playoff leg 1-5.

Awards

*Top scorer
**Metin Oktay (Galatasaray S.K.) - 11 goals

Honours

Promotions

Four clubs were promoted through a promotion tournament called the Federation Cup. This brought the league club total up to 20 for the 1959-60 season. The four clubs were: Kasımpaşa S.K., Şeker Hilal, Altınordu S.K., and Feriköy G.K.. There were no relegations.

References

* [http://www.turkish-soccer.com Turkish-Soccer.com by Erdinç Sivritepe]