Türkiyemspor Berlin
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| Full name | Türkiyemspor Berlin e.V. |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Türkiyem |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Ground | Willy-Kressmann-Stadion |
| Capacity | 5,000 |
| Chairman | Celal Bingöl |
| Manager | Cemal Can |
| League | Landesliga Berlin Staffel 2 (VII) |
| 2015–16 | 8th |
Türkiyemspor Berlin is a Turkish association football club from Berlin. The club began in 1978 as a loose association of young footballers playing recreationally as Kreuzberg Gençler Birliği (Kreuzberg Youth Union), named after the Berlin district of Kreuzberg. The club was formally registered as BFC İzmirspor in 1983 and was named for the city of İzmir, Turkey where many of the club members had roots.
In its first season of play in 1983–84 in the C-Klasse 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 DFB-Pokal 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. Fußball-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.
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