Kardemir Karabükspor

History

Foundation and early history

In the year 1938, Azmi Tılabar, the head manager of the Turkish iron-steel industry, founded DÇ Gençlik Kulübü; DÇ Youth Club with grey-blue colours. In these times, the trainer of the football team was an English engineer Mr. Lain. The trainer of athleticism was Turkish athlete Faik Önen. Moreover, Mersinli Ahmet and Yaşar Doğu were trainers of wrestling. During the 1940s, Karabükspor became a symbol in cycling, tennis, and wrestling around Turkey. Starting in the 1950s, the "Karabük Gençlikspor" joined "DÇ Gençlik Kulübü" and finally, the club got its colours as red-blue.

The 1990s

In the last game of the 1993–94 season against Zeytinburnuspor, Karabükspor relegated from the Süper Lig. Karabükspor promoted to the top tier after winning the promotion play-off in the 1996–97 season. Karabükspor finished 8th in 1997–98. The next season, however, was disastrous for them as they again relegated to the second level. Karabükspor relocated to the Second League B Category in the 2001–02 season.

The 2000s

The team was promoted to the TFF First League in the 2007–08 season after a 7–0 win against Erzurumspor in the promotion group. On their 30th game of the 2009–10 season, they won 3–0 against Çaykur Rizespor which meant they were promoted to the Süper Lig after 11 years.

2017-2018 relegation

The 2017–18 Süper Lig season was a disaster for the club and resulted in their relegation. Erkan Sözeri resigned following poor early performances. On 1 October 2017 the club appointed Australian coach Tony Popovic to run the side. His stint in charge lasted 2 months, during which time the entire board quit the club. Popovic was replaced by Levent Açıkgöz, who was himself sacked on 21 March 2018 and replaced by Ünal Karaman. The coaching changes, financial ruin and poor performances all contributed to the club finishing in last place with only three wins and three draws for the entire season.

Relegation freefall

With no money and little in the way of talent to sell, the club's precarious financial position required them to use low paid youth players, and this saw Karabükspor suffer back to back relegations. They finished last in the 2018/19 TFF First League, winning no games, drawing only three and suffering a negative 102 goal difference. They finished the season with zero points after a 3-point administrative penalty was assessed on the club.

The 2019/20 season, where the club competed in the 3rd tier TFF Second League, saw a brief respite from relegation as the Turkish government suspended all the leagues due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, with relegations cancelled for the season.

They continued their plunge down the pyramid with another last place finish, in the 2020/21 season. They scored just one win and three draws, while another 3 point administrative penalty had them end the season on only 3 points. They were relegated into the fourth tier TFF Third League system.

Their season in the 4th tier did not see any improvement, and the side were relegated once again, this time into the 5th tier amateur league system.

In October 2022, the club was unable to field a team two games in a row due to player shortages, a situation which was punished by an automatic relegation to the 6th tier amateur league system. The team were then dissolved.

Karabük İdman Yurdu successor club

Fellow local side Adatepe Dökecekspor have since renamed itself to Karabük İdman Yurdu after winning a promotion in 2022/23. Following that season they changed the name, colours, shirt & logo to be similar to what Kardemir Karabükspor used to use. They play at the same Dr. Necmettin Şeyhoğlu Stadium.

Past seasons

Domestic results

Note: In the 2019/20 season all relegations were postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic causing the cancellation of the season, while promotions continued as normal. Additional relegation slots were added to the 2020–21 season to rebalance the size of the leagues for the 2021/22 season.

League participations

• Süper Lig: 1993–94, 1997–99, 2010–15, 2016–18
• TFF First League: 1972–73, 1974–83, 1984–93, 1994–97, 1999–01, 2008–10, 2015–16, 2018–19
• TFF Second League: 1969–72, 1973–74, 1983–84, 2001–08, 2019–21
• TFF Third League: 2021–2022
• Regional Amateur League: 2022
• Amateur League: 1983–84

European record

UEFA Europa League:

;Notes

• 3Q: Third qualifying round
• PO: Play-off round

Ranking history:

Supporters

The club were sponsored by the Kardemir company and the Iron workers unions from whom they draw a lot of their support, making it a club with true working class identity. Their ultra group is called Mavi Ateş (Blue Flame) and their motto is, Dumanlı kentin puslu çocukları (Sons of the smoky city). They continued to support the club despite the ongoing difficulty before it dissolved and many continue to support the phoenix club that plays at the same stadium. These supporters include Çelik-iş Sendikası, the labor union of the workers in Kardemir Iron & Steel Works.

Notable players

;Africa ;Burkina Faso

• BUR Abdou Traoré ;Cameroon
• CMR Dany Nounkeu ;DR Congo
• DRC Lomana LuaLua ;Gabon
• GAB André Poko ;Mali
• MLI Mustapha Yatabaré
• MLI Samba Sow ;Nigeria
• NGR Emmanuel Emenike ;Europe ;Bosnia and Herzegovina
• BIH Sanel Jahić
• BIH Ermin Zec ;Montenegro
• MNE Vladimir Rodić ;Norway
• NOR Morten Gamst Pedersen ;Turkey
• TUR Hüseyin Çakıroğlu
• TUR Bilal Kısa
• TUR Osman Çelik
• TUR Musa Çağıran ;Ukraine
• UKR Yevhen Seleznyov ;South America ;Argentina
• ARG Luis Ibáñez

References

References

1. "Soccer Vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics", PM Press, 2011, Gabriel Kuhn, p. 172.
2. Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2015". Xs4all.nl.
3. Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2016". Xs4all.nl.
4. Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2017". Xs4all.nl.
5. Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2018". Xs4all.nl.
6. Bert Kassies. "UEFA Team Ranking 2019". Xs4all.nl.
7. "Soccer Vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics", PM Press, 2011, Gabriel Kuhn, p.172
8. (2011). "Karabükspor Profile". turkish-football.com.