Big Three (Turkey)

Locations of Big Three in Istanbul
Flags of the 'Big Three' in Gezi Park protests.

The Big Three (Turkish: Üç Büyükler) is the colloquial name given to Beşiktaş, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, the three most successful sports clubs in Turkey. They are all based in Istanbul.

Galatasaray is the team with the most championships with 25. Fenerbahce have won 19 championships and Beşiktaş have won 16 Turkish championships. None of the trio have been relegated since 1959. The worst places the side have finished in league history were 10th for Fenerbahçe in 1980–81, 11th for Beşiktaş in 1975–76, and 13th for Galatasaray in 2021–22.[1]

The big three started to compete in Europe after the 1950s. Galatasaray is only Turkish team to have won a European trophy, having won both the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000.

A reported 90% of the fans in Turkey support the Big Three. A survey by a fan-token platform showed support for Galatasaray in 65 out of 81 provinces of Turkey while its crosstown rival Fenerbahçe had the highest number of fans in 18 provinces, and Beşiktaş, the other member of Turkish football's "Big Three", had more fans than other clubs only in the eastern province of Iğdır. According to the survey, 40% of the fans support Galatasaray, 35% support Fenerbahçe and 20% support Beşiktaş.[2][3]

The three-way rivalry

Beşiktaş Stadium
Rams Park
Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium
As of 24 February 2025

Fenerbahçe vs. Galatasaray

Team [4] Pl W D L GF GA
Fenerbahçe 403 149 124 130 543 504
Galatasaray 403 130 124 149 504 543

Fenerbahçe vs. Beşiktaş

Team [5] Pld W D L GF GA
Fenerbahçe 361 135 97 129 499 459
Beşiktaş 361 129 97 135 459 499

Beşiktaş vs. Galatasaray

Main article: Beşiktaş–Galatasaray rivalry
Team [6] Pld W D L GF GA
Galatasaray 358 128 114 116 499 472
Beşiktaş 358 116 114 128 472 499

Statistics

League placements

Club 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th Total Top 3
Galatasaray 25 11 16 3 4 3 2 1 1 1 66 51
Fenerbahçe 19 26 8 5 4 2 1 1 1 66 52
Beşiktaş 16 14 14 10 5 5 2 2 66 42

Head-to-head ranking in Süper Lig

P. 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
7 7
8 8 8 8
9 9 9 9
10 10
11 11 11 11
12
13 13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

• Total: Galatasaray with 26 higher finishes, Fenerbahçe with 25 higher finishes, Beşiktaş with 15 higher finishes (as of the end of the 2023–24 season).

Honours comparison

As of 18 May 2025
  •   Numbers with this background indicate the record in the competition.
Organization Galatasaray Fenerbahçe Beşiktaş
National
Süper Lig 25 19 16
Turkish Cup 19 7 11
Turkish Super Cup 17 9 10
Turkish Football Championship — 3 2
Turkish National Division 1 6 3
Prime Minister's Cup 5 8 6
Spor Toto Cup — 1 3
Atatürk Cup — 1 1
50th Anniversary Cup 1 — —
Aggregate 68 54 52
Local
Istanbul Football League 15 16 13
Istanbul Football Cup 2 1 2
Aggregate 17 17 15
Europe
UEFA Super Cup 1 — —
UEFA Europa League 1 — —
Aggregate 2 — —
Total 87 71 67

Note: Calculated based on official tournaments. Preparatory and special tournaments are not included.

European competitions

Honours

As of 13 March 2025
Club UEFA Super Cup European Cup / UEFA Champions League UEFA Cup / Europa League UEFA Europa Conference League / Conference League UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Winner Semi-finalist Quarter-finalist Winner Semi-finalist Quarter-finalist Quarter-finalist Quarter-finalist
Galatasaray 2000 1989 1963, 1970, 1994, 2001, 2013 2000 - - - 1992
Fenerbahçe - - 2008 - 2013 - 2024 1964
Beşiktaş - - 1987 - - 2003, 2017 - -

Standings

Ranking Club Pld W D L GF GA Pts GD
1 Galatasaray 328 116 89 123 451 498 437 −47
2 Fenerbahçe 286 113 61 112 391 407 400 −16
3 Beşiktaş 252 95 49 108 338 384 334 −46

UEFA 5-year Club Ranking of the Big Three

Ranking [7] Team 20/21 21/22 22/23 23/24 24/25 Total Points
44 Fenerbahçe - 5.00 17.00 14.00 11.25 47.25
58 Galatasaray 2.50 15.00 - 8.00 12.75 38.25
113 Beşiktaş 2.00 4.00 - 3.00 6.00 15.00

Players who have played for the three clubs

Caner Erkin
  • Turkey Refik Osman Top (Beşiktaş 1912–1913, 1923–1924, Fenerbahçe 1913–1915 and 1923, Galatasaray 1915–1917, 1921–1922, 1923 and 1924)
  • Turkey Ali Soydan (Galatasaray 1951–1957, Fenerbahçe 1959–1960, Beşiktaş 1963–1964)
  • Turkey Saffet Sancaklı (Beşiktaş 1987–1991, Galatasaray 1994–1995, Fenerbahçe 1996–1998)
  • Turkey Sergen Yalçın (Beşiktaş 1991–1997 and 2002–2006, Fenerbahçe 1999–2000, Galatasaray 2000 and 2001–02)
  • Turkey Ahmet Yıldırım (Fenerbahçe 1993–1994, Galatasaray 1999–2001, Beşiktaş 2001–2005)
  • Turkey Emre Aşık (Fenerbahçe 1993–1996, Galatasaray 2000–2003 and 2006–2010, Beşiktaş 2003–2006)
  • Turkey Mehmet Yozgatlı (Galatasaray 1999–2000, Fenerbahçe 2004–2007, Beşiktaş 2007–2008)
  • Turkey Burak Yılmaz (Beşiktaş 2006–2008 and 2019–2020, Fenerbahçe 2008–2010, Galatasaray 2012–2016)
  • Turkey Caner Erkin (Galatasaray 2009–2010, Fenerbahçe 2010–2016 and 2020–2021, Beşiktaş 2016–2020)
  • Turkey Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray 2006–2010, Fenerbahçe 2012–2019, Beşiktaş 2021–2022)
  • Belgium Michy Batshuayi (Beşiktaş 2021–2022, Fenerbahçe 2022–2024, Galatasaray 2024-2025)

Managers who have managed the three clubs

Former Turkish international footballer and current manager Mustafa Denizli is the only manager who won Süper Lig titles with Big Three.
  • Turkey Mustafa Denizli (Galatasaray 1987–1989, 1990–1992, 2015–2016, Fenerbahçe 2000–2002, Beşiktaş 2008–2010)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Süper Lig Tarihçe Şampiyonluklar Arşiv Gol Krallığı TFF". TFF. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Socios'un Türkiye Taraftarlık Anketi'nin sonuçları açıklandı! - Futbol Haberleri - Spor - Sayfa 5". Fanatik (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  3. ^ Sabah, Daily (22 July 2022). "Galatasaray dominates Turkey's 'fan map' ahead of Fenerbahçe". Daily Sabah. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rekabetinde 396. randevu". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  5. ^ "Beşiktaş-Fenerbahçe rekabetinde 356. randevu". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  6. ^ "Beşiktaş-Galatasaray rekabetinde 352. randevu". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  7. ^ "UEFA 5-year Club Ranking 2023". kassiesa.net. Archived from the original on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
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