I wasn't sure if the year was 1905 or 1907, but Google told me that the famed Turkish soccer powerhouse club Galatasaray (they play in Istanbul) was founded in (what year was it again) 1905.
While researching this piece, I found out some other interesting things about the team I root for in Turkish soccer, along with Bursaspor in Bursa, Turkey.
Apparently, the current GS captain Arda Turan, 24, is on his way to play for Chelsea in the English Premiere League in exchange for the Ivory Coast legend Didier Drogba, who captained his country's national team at the 2010 World Cup. This was reported in the English newspaper "The Daily Mail," though Turan is still listed as a member of GS on his Wikipedia page.
This would be quiet ironic for two reasons. The first is that there was an ugly incident involving soccer fans from another English team Leeds when they played in Istanbul in 2000. An argument broke out between fans for both teams and two Leeds fans were murdered. The fact that Turkish authorities were not able to convict anyone until just last year was actually given as a reason why Turkey shouldn't join the European Union, which ironically many Greek citizens now want out of. (Irony is perhaps my favorite word in the English language, so perhaps I allowed to overuse it!).
The other surprising item I came across is that former GS captain and legendary soccer player Hakan Sukur (b. 1971) who scored a record 228 goals in Turkish Premiere League is now a member of the Turkish Parliament in Ankara. Alas, he represents President Abdullah Gul's and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's conservative AK Party. I would have actually preferred to see him play for Fenerbahce (the main GS rival).
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