Within the framework of the 100th anniversary of the Turkish republic, the Presidential Complex Exhibition Hall hosts the "Shoot and Goal: Turkish Football History" exhibition, bringing together hundreds of pieces of memorabilia and documents collected from the archives of well-established clubs, football players and family members who witnessed the history of Turkish football.
The exhibition telling the story of the rooted history of football in Türkiye is a first in the country, revealing the long, colorful evolution of the much-loved sport.
Archival documents related to the history of football, trophies won by teams, their first anthems, jerseys worn by players, past bylaws, photographs taken during matches and many other objects will be exhibited chronologically.
Collected from the Ottoman State Archives, the exhibition also features the original first official documents related to football as well as the memoirs of Fenerbahçe and Karşıyaka football clubs signed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish republic.
Certificates showing the achievements of the Turkish national football team, memorabilia and national and international cups won by a number of football clubs will also be included in the exhibition. The most striking part of the exhibition is the display of the trophy won by the national team, which placed third in the FIFA 2002 World Cup, and the jerseys worn by the team between 1923-2022.
Half trophies, which can be described as important and interesting in the history of football, will also be put on show in the exhibition.
Objects such as the jerseys and medals worn during historic matches by many important national football players such as Selçuk Inan, Mehmet Topal, Tayfur Havutçu, Emre Belözoğlu, Hakan Ünsal and İlhan Mansız will also be displayed.
The trophies and medallions won by the Turkish women's national team and the amputee national team as well as the personal belongings of coaches who achieved great success in Türkiye and the world such as Mustafa Denizli, Fatih Terim and Şenol Güneş will be put on display in the exhibition.
Stamps printed on behalf of clubs will also be featured in the exhibition, which also includes items belonging to referees, foreign coaches and football players who have left their mark on the history of Turkish football.
The exhibition aims to attract the attention of football fans, bring young people together and show visitors that football is about brotherhood.
Noting that visitors will be able to see various documents for the first time, Presidential National Library exhibition coordinator Talha Turhal said: "They will see various objects related to trophies, uniforms and our national team. Among them, they will be able to see the trophy of our Amputee National Team, the last world cup won."
Emphasizing that the half trophies on show reflect the purpose of the exhibition, Turhal said: "We always say 'Football is brotherhood.' Managers divide the trophy in two, give the other to the opponent team, and keep the rest for themselves and mark their brotherhood in this way.”
In addition, Turhal stated that the oldest object in the "Shoot and Goal: Turkish Football History" exhibition is a document related to a match held in Istanbul's Kadıköy in 1890.
The exhibition will be open to visitors at the Presidential Complex Exhibition Hall until May 3, in Türkiye's capital Ankara.
The documents of the encrypted telegram recorded during the football match held in Akşehir in 1922 and watched by Mustafa Kemal and army commanders, the UEFA Cup and Super Cup won by Galatasaray in the 1999-2000 season and the signed photograph taken by Pele with the late President Faruk Ilgaz after the match between Santos and Fenerbahçe in 1972 will be also be found in the exhibition.
