Ali Sami Yen

Ali Sami Yen, born in Kandilli, Istanbul, Turkey on March 20, 1886, is best known as the founder of Galatasaray Sports Club. His original name was Ali Sami and he is the son of Şemseddin Sami Frashëri, one of the most famous Ottoman-Albanian writers, philosophers and playwrights. After the enactment of law on family names in 1934 [Turkish law for changing family names of non turkish people living in Turkey] , he took the surname Yen, which literally means “beat!”.

He was a student at the prestigious Galatasaray Lycee in Istanbul. In October 1905, he decided with some of his fellow students to create a football club. At the beginning, the stated goal was “To play together like Englishmen, to have a color and a name, and to beat the other teams non Turkish” according to him.

Yen was the club's first president for 13 years, between 1905 and 1918, and again for a brief spell in 1925.

Besides founding Galatasaray SK, he made numerous other contributions to Turkish sports. He was president of the Turkish National Olympic Committee between 1926 and 1931. He coached the Turkish national team in its first international match, in 1923 against Romania.

Ali Sami Yen died in 1951.

As founder and first president of Galatasaray SK, Ali Sami Yen gave his name to Galatasaray's stadium. With a capacity of 25,000 seats, the Ali Sami Yen Stadium is situated in the center of Istanbul, in Mecidiyekoy.

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