Denizlispor

Denizlispor is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. The Denizli Atatürk Stadium, which has a seating capacity of up to 18,745 spectators.

Denizlispor

Full name	Denizlispor Kulübü
Nickname(s)	Horozlar (Roosters)
Founded	26 May 1966; 59 years ago (1966-05-26)
Ground	Denizli Atatürk Stadium Denizli, Turkey[1]
Capacity	18,745[1]
Chairman	Erhan Ergil[1]
Manager	Kürşat Taş
League	Turkish Regional Amateur League
2024–25	15th of 16 (relegated from TFF Third League Group IV)
Website	www.denizlispor.org.tr
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

History

Denizlispor Kulübü was founded on May 26, 1966, as a merger of two smaller youth sports clubs, Çelik Yeşilspor Gençlik and Pamukkale Gençlik. They joined to form what is now Denizlispor, which was at the time a lesser known sports & youth club in the Çaybaşı district of Denizli city. This union made its registration at the Turkish football's governing body, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) under the name of Denizlispor Youth Club. The new football team joined Turkish football's 2nd division for the upcoming season on July 14, 1966.

Denizlispor finished fifth in the 2001–02 Süper Lig, consequently qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In the 2002–03 UEFA Cup, the team defeated FC Lorient, Sparta Prague, and Olympique Lyonnais, before losing in the fourth round against FC Porto, who later on won the tournament. In the 2003–2004 season the black-green club managed another 5th spot. Denizlispor's form declined after the 2004–2005 season and struggled avoiding relegation. Denizlispor drew 1–1 against Fenerbahçe on the last match day of the 2005–06 season securing its stay at the highest level, upsetting the title chances of the team from Kadıköy. Denizlispor remained in the Super League despite a 3–0 loss against Ankaragücü in an away match on May 24, 2009, due to better results against Konyaspor, who got relegated. Denizlispor eventually relegated the next season to the TFF First League after a goalless home draw against Ankaragücü on April 24, 2010.

After the relegation in the 2009–10 season, Denizlispor competed in the TFF First League for nine seasons. In the 2010–11 season, Denizlispor completed the first half of the season as leaders. The team, however, finished the season in 9th place. The following seasons, Denizlispor did not achieve any substantial success. Denizlispor became champions in the 2018–19 TFF First League season, with 72 points, promoting to the Süper Lig.

After two consecutive seasons in the Süper Lig, Denizlispor could not manage to keep competing in the top-tier, relegating to the TFF First League. In the 2022–23 season, The Roosters had a disastrous start to the season with just six points in their first 16 fixtures, performing poor throughout the season staying in the relegation zone in 36 of the 38 rounds. The team relegated in the end to the TFF Second League for the first time ever in their history. The free fall of the Aegean team continued as it relegated in the 2023–24 season from the TFF 2. Lig to the TFF Third League, where it could not hold on, finally relegating from the professional football leagues to the Turkish Regional Amateur League at the end of the 2024–25 season.

Crest and colours

Denizli SK's classic home kit

The Denizlispor crest was designed by Yakup Ünel, a founding member of the team. The crest is based around a rooster, which is identified with the province of Denizli. The team's colours come from the colours of a type of rooster with green and black feathers unique to Denizli region.

Stadium

Main article: Denizli Atatürk Stadium

Denizlispor play their home matches in Denizli Atatürk Stadium. The stadium holds 18,745 people and was built in 1950. Denizlispor's first league match played against Eskişehirspor in 1983. The stadium does not have wire nets.^[2]

League participations

• Süper Lig: 1983–88, 1994–97, 1999–2010, 2019–21
• TFF First League: 1966–83, 1988–94, 1997–99, 2010–19, 2021–2023
• TFF Second League: 2023–24
• TFF Third League: 2024–25
• Turkish Regional Amateur League: 2025–

European cups

As of 27 February 2003

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Cup	8	3	2	3	9	12	–3
UEFA Intertoto Cup	2	0	0	2	3	6	–3
Total	10	3	2	5	12	18	–6

UEFA Cup:

Season	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2002–03	1R		FC Lorient	2–0	1–3	3–3 (a)
	2R		Sparta Prague	2–0	0–1	2–1
	3R		Lyon	0–0	1–0	1–0
	4R		FC Porto	2–2	1–6	3–8

UEFA Intertoto Cup:

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2001	1R	NK Čelik	3–5	0–1	3–6

UEFA Ranking history:

See also: UEFA coefficient

As of 2007

Season	Rank	Points	Ref.
2003	115	22.495	[3]
2004	112	18.656	[4]
2005	131	17.872	[5]
2006	138	16.634	[6]
2007	126	16.791	[7]

Past seasons

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe		Manager	Notes
1966–67	2Rd	7	32	13	7	12	25	28	33	2nd round			Altan Santepe	First season
1967–68	2Rd	2	38	16	14	8	37	22	46				Altan Santepe	Did not qualify for Turkish Cup
1968–69	2Rd	2	34	12	18	4	24	14	42	2nd round			Altan Santepe
1969–70	2Rd	3	30	14	9	7	28	16	37	1st round			Altan Santepe / Kadri Aytaç
1970–71	2Rd	7	30	15	3	12	32	25	33	2nd round			Altan Santepe / Doğan Emültay
1971–72	2Rd	11	30	10	8	12	16	19	28				Altan Santepe / Melih Garipler / Seracettin Kırklar	Did not qualify for Turkish Cup
1972–73	2Rd	11	30	8	12	10	23	26	28				İnanç Toker / Doğan Emültay	Did not qualify for Turkish Cup
1973–74	2Rd	9	30	8	14	8	25	25	30				Seracettin Kırklar / İsmail Kurt / Melih Garipler	Did not qualify for Turkish Cup
1974–75	2Rd	14	30	8	10	12	23	39	26				Melih Garipler / İsmail Kurt	Did not qualify for Turkish Cup
1975–76	2Rd	13	30	10	7	13	21	27	27	2nd round			Seracettin Kırklar / Melih Garipler / İnanç Toker
1976–77	2Rd	13	30	8	10	12	24	41	26	1st round			İnanç Toker
1977–78	2Rd	14	32	7	13	12	20	32	27	2nd round			Şükrü Ersoy / İnanç Toker
1978–79	2Rd	8	30	9	10	11	22	24	28	4th round			Şükrü Ersoy / Melih Garipler
1979–80	2B	10	30	10	9	11	28	31	29	6th round			Mustafa Özkula / İnanç Toker
1980–81	2A	5	34	14	8	12	44	33	36	3rd Round			Mustafa Özkula / Melih Garipler / İnanç Toker
1981–82	2B	5	28	12	7	9	41	20	31	5th round			İnanç Toker / Refik Özvardar
1982–83	2B	1	30	20	6	4	38	12	46	5th round			Halil Güngördü / Doğan Andaç	Promoted to Süper Lig
1983–84	SL	7	34	12	10	12	36	42	34	5th round			Nevzat Güzelırmak	First Süper Lig season
1984–85	SL	16	34	9	11	14	39	48	29	Semi-Final			Nevzat Güzelırmak	Best Turkish Cup position
1985–86	SL	12	36	12	8	16	40	39	32	6th round			Özkan Sümer / Ilie Datcu
1986–87	SL	7	36	11	14	11	41	35	36	6th round			Nihat Atacan / Necdet Zorluer
1987–88	SL	17	38	12	9	17	35	48	45	5th round			Necdet Zorluer / Zeynel Soyuer	Relegated
1988–89	2C	2	34	19	9	6	53	29	66	1st round			Fethi Demircan
1989–90	2B	4	32	14	11	7	45	31	53	4th round			Bülent Ünder / Behzat Çınar
1990–91	2B	3	34	18	7	9	56	27	61	4th round			Behzat Çınar
1991–92	2B	3	34	18	7	9	68	50	61	5th round			Melih Garipler
1992–93	1L	4	18	10	2	6	30	20	32	1st round			Bülent Ünder / Erkan Velioğlu / Gündüz Tekin Onay
1993–94	1L	2	18	11	2	5	36	27	35	6th round			Ömer Kaner	Promoted to Süper Lig
1994–95	SL	15	34	8	11	15	41	53	35	6th round			Ümit Kayıhan
1995–96	SL	15	34	8	10	16	38	50	34	6th round			Ümit Kayıhan
1996–97	SL	17	34	5	5	24	36	81	20	5th round			Milorad Mitrović / Behzat Çınar / Ersun Yanal / Melih Garipler	Relegated
1997–98	1L	3	18	10	3	5	33	23	33	5th round			Raşit Çetiner
1998–99	1L	2	18	9	5	4	40	30	32	3rd Round			Ersun Yanal	Promoted to Süper Lig
1999–00	SL	8	34	13	8	13	55	57	47	3rd Round			Ersun Yanal
2000–01	SL	11	34	12	9	13	53	56	45	Round of 16			Yılmaz Vural / Tevfik Lav
2001–02	SL	5	34	12	12	10	65	52	48	Semi-Final	IC	1st round	Rıza Çalımbay	Best league position and first season in Europe
2002–03	SL	10	34	10	10	14	37	42	40	Round of 16	UC	4th round	Rıza Çalımbay / Giray Bulak	Best UEFA Cup position
2003–04	SL	5	34	17	4	13	52	43	55	Quarter-Final			Giray Bulak	Best league position
2004–05	SL	6	34	13	10	11	46	45	49	Semi-Final			Giray Bulak	Best Turkish Cup position
2005–06	SL	15	34	9	10	15	41	50	37	Semi-Final			Nurullah Sağlam	Best Turkish Cup position
2006–07	SL	14	34	9	14	11	33	40	41	2nd round			Güvenç Kurtar
2007–08	SL	7	34	13	6	15	48	48	45	Group Stage			Güvenç Kurtar
2008–09	SL	15	34	11	5	18	39	52	38	Quarter-Final			Ali Yalçın / Ümit Kayıhan / Mesut Bakkal
2009–10	SL	17	34	6	8	20	30	49	26	Quarter-Final			Erhan Altın / Nurullah Sağlam / Hakan Kutlu	Relegated
2010–11	1L	9	32	11	11	10	40	31	44	Group stage			Hamza Hamzaoğlu / Serhat Güller
2011–12	1L	10	34	11	12	11	51	46	45	2nd round			Güvenç Kurtar / Osman Özköylü
2012–13	1L	11	34	11	10	13	35	37	43	2nd round			Engin İpekoğlu / Selahattin Dervent / Özcan Bizati
2013–14	1L	10	36	14	4	18	42	56	46	2nd round			Serdar Dayat / Yusuf Şimşek / Özcan Bizati
2014–15	1L	15	34	8	9	17	38	51	33	2nd round			Özcan Bizati / Engin İpekoğlu / Mehmet Altıparmak
2015–16	1L	15	34	10	9	15	41	52	36	2nd round			Mehmet Altıparmak / Ali Yalçın / Koray Palaz
2016–17	1L	11	34	11	10	13	46	45	40	3rd Round			Ali Tandoğan / Mehmet Ali Keskinler / Ali Yalçın
2017–18	1L	15	34	10	8	16	43	47	38	2nd round			Yusuf Şimşek / Reha Erginer / Fatih Tekke
2018–19	1L	1	34	21	9	4	67	32	72	4th round			Osman Özköylü / Yücel İldiz	Promoted to Süper Lig
2019–20	SL	14	34	9	8	18	31	48	35	Round of 16			Yücel İldiz / Mehmet Özdilek / Bülent Uygun
2020–21	SL	21	40	6	10	24	38	77	28	4th round			Robert Prosinečki / Yalçın Koşukavak / Hakan Kutlu / Ali Tandoğan	Relegated
2021–22	1L	11	36	14	7	15	46	50	49	Round of 16			Serhat Gülpınar / Fatih Tekke / Mesut Bakkal
2022–23	1L	18	36	7	5	24	35	67	23	4th round			Mesut Bakkal / Giray Bulak / Kemal Kılıç / Bülent Ertuğrul	Relegated
2023–24	2Rd	18	36	8	8	20	37	57	32	2nd round			Bülent Ertuğrul / Özcan Bizati	Relegated
2024–25	3L4	15	30	5	12	13	27	55	27	1st round			Çağdaş Mavioğlu / Şükrü Akar / Ali Yalçın / Kürşat Taş	Relegated

Last updated: 28 April 2025
Div. = Division; SL = Turkish Super League; 1L = TFF First League 2B = Turkish Second Football League, Group B; 2Rd = Turkish Second Football League, Red Group; 2Wh = Turkish Second Football League, White Group; 3L4 = Turkish Third Football League, Group 4; Pos. = Position; Pl = Match played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lost; GS = Goal scored; GA = Goal against; P = Points
UCL = UEFA Champions League; UCWC = UEFA Cup Winners' Cup; UC = UEFA Cup; Cup = Turkey Cup. Colors: Gold = winner; Silver = runner-up.

Players

Current squad

As of 27 August 2023^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  TUR Ali Eren Yalçın 3 DF  TUR Emre Yıldırım 4 DF  TUR Muhammet Özkal 5 DF  TUR Emirhan Kaşcıoğlu 6 DF  TUR Mehmet Eren Sıngın 7 FW  TUR Alihan Kalkan 99 FW  USA Allen Washington 10 MF  TUR Omer Gündüz 11 FW  TUR Mehmet Ali Ulaman 13 MF  TUR Ertuğrul Yıldırım 14 MF  TUR Bekir Turaç Böke 16 DF  TUR Eren Kıryolcu 17 FW  TUR Deniz Kodal

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 GK  TUR Abdülkadir Sünger 24 DF  TUR Oktay Kısaoğlu 25 MF  TUR Yusuf Emre İnanır 26 DF  TUR Gökhan Süzen (captain) 27 DF  TUR Emre Sağlık 31 GK  TUR Ertuğrul Bağ 37 MF  TUR Alaattin Öner 42 DF  TUR Ahmet Tekin 45 DF  TUR Emre Burgaz 53 DF  TUR Mustafa Kemal Naza 66 DF  TUR Berkant Gündem 77 MF  TUR Emre Furtana

Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

No. Pos. Nation Player

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

No. Pos. Nation Player

Retired numbers

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW  TUR Doğan Seyfi Atlı (2000–01) – posthumous honour)a

^a Following his death in 2001, the club's president Mustafa Baysal decided to retire the number 18 in his honour.^[9]

Club officials

Board members

Position	Staff
President	Erhan Ergil
Vice-president	M. Ali Gurgun
Vice-president	Ali İnceören
Vice-president	İsmail Kartal
Board member	Hikmet Olgun
Board member	Seyit Berber
Board member	Nedim Demirkan
Board member	Fethi Akcan
Board member	Necip İrdem
Board member	Ali Yörümez
Board member	Ömer Tuncer
Board member	Derviş Gedik
Board member	Ahmet Aşıkoğlu
Board member	Muhammet Kaplan
Board member	Ferhat Yıldırım
Board member	Osman Toker
Board member	İzzet Çağlar Altunbaş
Board member	Onur Kayhan
Board member	Cemal Işık
Board member	Osman Özdemir
Board member	Mehmet Teke
Board member	Hasan Yıldırım
Board member	Hüseyin Eren

Last updated: 14 March 2024
Source: Denizlispor.org.tr

Technical staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Kürşat Taş
Assistant coach	Mustafa Bahadır
Assistant coach	Hamdi Demirtaş
Goalkeeping coach	Aydın Artanlar
Athletic performance coach	Yasin Karacan
Athletic performance coach	Alper Kartal
Scout	Ataberk Ates
Doctor	Ahmet Edremit
Physiotherapist	Yusuf Mercan
Masseur	Onur Kılınç
Masseur	Recep Avcu
Material manager	Sinan Kodal

Last updated: 14 March 2024
Source: Denizlispor.org.tr

Coaches

• Altan Santepe (1966–69)
• Kadri Aytaç (1969–70)^[10][11]
• Doğan Emültay (1970–72)
• İnanç Toker (1972–73)
• İsmail Kurt (1973–74)
• Melih Garipler (1974–75)
• Seracettin Kırklar (1975–76)
• İnanç Toker (1976–77)
• Şükrü Ersoy (1977–78)
• Melih Garipler (1978–79)
• Mustafa Özkula (1979–81)
• Refik Özvardar (1981–82)
• Halil Güngördü (1982–83)
• Doğan Andaç (1982–83)
• Nevzat Güzelırmak (1983–85)
• Özkan Sümer (1985–86)
• Nihat Atmaca (1986–87)
• Zeynel Soyuer (1987–88)
• Fethi Demircan (1988–89)
• Nihat Atacan (1989–90)
• Bülent Ünder (1990–91)
• Behzat Çınar (1991–92)
• Melih Garipler (1991–92)
• Ilker Küçük (1992–93)
• Gündüz Tekin Onay (1992–93)
• Ömer Kaner (1993–94)
• Ümit Kayıhan (1994–96)
• Behzat Çınar (1996–97)
• Melih Garipler (1996–97)
• Raşit Çetiner (1997–98)
• Ersun Yanal (1998–2000)
• Tevfik Lav (2000–01)
• Yılmaz Vural (2000–01)
• Sakıp Özberk (2001–02)
• Rıza Çalımbay (2001–03)
• Giray Bulak (2003–05)
• Nurullah Sağlam (2006)
• Faruk Hadžibegić (2006)
• Güvenç Kurtar (2006–08)
• Ali Yalçın (2008)
• Ümit Kayıhan (2008–09)
• Mesut Bakkal (2009)
• Erhan Altın (2009)
• Nurullah Sağlam (2009)
• Hakan Kutlu (2009–10)
• Hamza Hamzaoğlu (2010–11)
• Güvenç Kurtar (2011)
• Serhat Güller (2011)
• Osman Özköylü (2011–12)
• Engin İpekoğlu (2012)
• Yusuf Şimşek (2012–13)
• Özcan Bizati (2013)
• Serdar Dayat (2013)
• Ümit Turmuş (2013)
• Özcan Bizati (2013–15)
• Engin İpekoğlu (2015)
• Mehmet Altıparmak (2015)
• Ali Yalçın (2015–16)
• Koray Palaz (2016)
• Selahattin Dervent (2016)
• Ali Tandoğan (2016–17)
• Ali Şimşek (2017)
• Yusuf Şimşek (2017)
• Reha Erginer (2017–18)
• Fatih Tekke (2018)
• Osman Özköylü (2018)
• Yücel İldiz (2018–19)
• Mehmet Özdilek (2019–20)
• Bülent Uygun (2020)
• Robert Prosinečki (2020)
• Kenan Atik (2020)
• Yalçın Koşukavak (2020–21)
• Hakan Kutlu (2021)
• Ali Tandoğan (2021)
• Serhat Gülpınar (2021)
• Fatih Tekke (2021–22)
• Mesut Bakkal (2022)
• Giray Bulak (2022–23)
• Kemal Kılıç (2023)
• Bülent Ertuğrul (2023)
• Özcan Bizati (2023–2024)
• Çağdaş Mavioğlu (2024)
• Şükrü Akar (caretaker manager) (2024)
• Ali Yalçın (caretaker manager) (2024–25)
• Kürşat Taş (2025–present)

Sponsorships

Season Sponsors 1983–1987 Emsan 1987–1991 Ofas 1991–1993 VakıfBank 1993–1997 SuperTon and Kinetix 1997–1998 Akça 1998–1999 Evita 1999–2000 Sümerbank 2000–2001 Denizlispor Koleji 2001–2002 Evita 2002–2003 Vestel and Denizbank 2003–2010 Turkcell 2010–2012 Bank Asya 2012–2013 Spor Toto 2013–2014 Tekden 2014–2015 Aydem 2015–2016 Zorlu Enerji 2016–2018 Lezita 2018–2019 Abalı 2019–2021 Yukatel 2021–2022 Pimatech 2022–2024 Rams 2024– no head sponsor

Season Suppliers 1993–1995 Umbro 1995–1997 Asics 1997–1998 Puma 1998–1999 Adidas 1999–2001 Puma 2001–2003 Adidas 2003–2004 Puma 2004–2006 Le Coq Sportif 2006–2008 Kappa 2008–2013 Lescon 2013–2015 Umbro 2015–2017 Nike 2017–2018 Barex 2018–2020 Nike 2020–2021 Kappa 2021–2022 Diadora 2022–2024 Nadd 2024– Geges

Naming rights

Due to sponsordeals the club name changed over the years. Tekden Denizlispor (2013–14), Abalı Denizlispor (2019), Yukatel Denizlispor (2019–21), Altaş Denizlispor (2021–23).

Other branches

The club has football, basketball, table tennis, chess, figure skating and gymnastic teams. The club's most famous branch is its football team.