Kasimpasa SK

Football club from the Kasimpasa region in Istanbul that competes in the Turkish Super Lig. Known by the nickname 'Aciklar', it counts the former Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan among its most famous supporters, having played for the club in his youth.

History

Founded in 1921 in the Kasimpasa neighborhood in the European part of Istanbul, the club emerged as an amateur football association linked to the local community, historically one of the most popular and traditional regions of the city. The club alternated for decades between the lower divisions of Turkish football, gaining national prominence mainly by having developed in its youth academy former Prime Minister and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who played as a striker for Kasimpasa before entering politics. The club's effective rise to elite professional football occurred in the early 2000s, when it achieved promotion to the Super Lig, Turkey's top division, establishing itself as a competitive team in the capital of Turkish football. Since then, Kasimpasa has maintained itself relatively stable between the elite and second division of the country, being recognized for the passionate fan base of the neighborhood that gives it its name and for its own stadium opened in 2016 on the shores of the Golden Horn.