Ali Sami Yen stadium - Galatasaray SC, Istanbul Welcome to the Ali Sami Yen HellAli Sami Yen stadium With a capacity of 22.500 seats, Ali Sami Yen stadium is situated in the center of Istanbul, in Mecidiyeköy.
In 1940, the stadium of Taksim was destroyed and the teams of Beyoglu’s quarter in Istanbul had to find a stadium where to play. Galatasaray Sports Club decided to build a big modern stadium and they began with the construction in 1943. Because it was a hard period during the World War II, they made finally a stadium with small stands, which was opened in 1945. But it was still a construction site and the stadium was only finished in 1964.
The Ali Sami Yen stadium was inaugurated on December 14, 1964 with a friendly game between Turkey and Bulgaria. Unfortunately, a drama happened : in one of the kops, hundred of persons, who fell accidentally in the first floor, were badly injured. Spotlights were added to the stadium in 1965, which was renovated in 1993), and games began to be played there at night. The stadium is made of two identical lateral stands, which are covered by a roof and which have two floors : "Numarali" the (numbered seats stand), where the cameras are and "Kapali" (the covered stand), where the most fanatical fans stay. The two other stands, behind the goals, are the "Yeni Açik" (the new open), with two floors, and the "Eski Açik" (the old open), with the giant scoreboard.
In the past, games were played with more than 40.000 spectators in this stadium, which is nicknamed "Ali Sami Yen Hell", due to the impressive atmosphere with its amazing fans. With the security standards of UEFA, the capacity of the stadium was then reduced to 22.500 seats. After having lived a bad experience in the Atatürk Olympic Stadium during the 2003/2004 season, Galatasaray returned to Ali Sami Yen in 2004. For security seasons, the "Eski Açik" stand was destroyed in February 2005 and will be replaced by a new and bigger stand from between 4.500 and 12.000 seats, which have to be finished in July 2005.
There were many projects to build a new stadium in the same place, after destroying the old stadium but this is impossible, due to problems of space. Today, Galatasaray is planning to build the new stadium in another quarter of Istanbul, Seyrantepe, whose name was changed in Aslantepe ("the hill of the Lion"), after Galatasaray bought the ground. The idea is to realize a stadium on the model of ArenA in Amsterdam, in 16 months. The building of the stadium will start as soon as Galatasaray will have improved its financial situation… |
