Big Three (Turkey) Explained

The Big Three (tr|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 24. 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

Fenerbahçe vs. Galatasaray

See main article: The Intercontinental Derby (football).

!Team ^[4] !Pl

!W!D!L!GF!GA

Fenerbahçe	401	149	123	129	542	502
Galatasaray	401	129	123	149	502	542

Fenerbahçe vs. Beşiktaş

See main article: Beşiktaş–Fenerbahçe rivalry (football).

!Team ^[5] !Pld!W!D!L!GF!GA

Fenerbahçe	359	135	97	127	499	457
Beşiktaş	359	127	97	135	457	499

Beşiktaş vs. Galatasaray

See main article: Beşiktaş–Galatasaray rivalry.

!Team ^[6] !Pld!W!D!L!GF!GA

Galatasaray	356	130	114	112	509	466
Beşiktaş	356	112	114	130	466	509

Statistics

League placements

Club	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	Total	Top 3
Galatasaray	24	11	16	3	4	3		2	1		1		1	66	51
Fenerbahçe	19	25	8	5	4	2	1	1		1				66	52
Beşiktaş	14	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

Numbers with this background indicate the record in the competition.

Organization	Galatasaray	Fenerbahçe	Beşiktaş
National
Süper Lig	24	19	16
Turkish Cup	18	7	11
	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	66	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	85	71	67

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

European competitions

Honours

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	GD	Pts
1	Galatasaray	321	115	85	121	438	482	−44	430
2	Fenerbahçe	277	110	58	109	378	394	−16	388
3	Beşiktaş	247	93	49	105	330	376	−45	328

UEFA 5-year Club Ranking of the Big Three

Ranking [7]	Team	19/20	20/21	21/22	22/23	23/24	Total Points
53	Fenerbahçe	-	-	5.00	17.00	14.00	36.000
60	Galatasaray	6.00	2.50	15.00	-	8.00	31.500
123	Beşiktaş	3.00	2.00	4.00	-	3.00	12.000

Players who have played for the three clubs

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

Managers who have managed the three clubs

• Mustafa Denizli (Galatasaray 1987–1989, 1990–1992, 2015–2016, Fenerbahçe 2000–2002, Beşiktaş 2008–2010)

See also

• Big Three (Belgium)
• Big Three (Costa Rica)
• Big Three (Greece)
• Big Three (Netherlands)
• Big Three (Peru)
• Big Three (Portugal)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Süper Lig Tarihçe Şampiyonluklar Arşiv Gol Krallığı TFF . 20 March 2023 . TFF . 24 July 2020 . https://archive.today/20200724205839/https://www.tff.org/default.aspx?pageID=545 . live .
2. Web site: Socios'un Türkiye Taraftarlık Anketi'nin sonuçları açıklandı! - Futbol Haberleri - Spor - Sayfa 5 . 20 March 2023 . Fanatik . tr . 20 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230320231534/https://www.fanatik.com.tr/futbol/galeri-sociosun-turkiye-taraftarlik-anketinin-sonuclari-aciklandi-2292751/5 . live .
3. Web site: Sabah . Daily . 22 July 2022 . Galatasaray dominates Turkey’s ‘fan map’ ahead of Fenerbahçe . 20 March 2023 . Daily Sabah . 20 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230320231534/https://www.dailysabah.com/sports/football/galatasaray-dominates-turkeys-fan-map-ahead-of-fenerbahce . live .
4. Web site: Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rekabetinde 396. randevu . 2023-03-20 . www.aa.com.tr . 2023-03-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230320224637/https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/futbol/fenerbahce-galatasaray-rekabetinde-396-randevu/2781815 . live .
5. Web site: Beşiktaş-Fenerbahçe rekabetinde 356. randevu . 2023-03-20 . www.aa.com.tr . 2023-03-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230320224634/https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/futbol/besiktas-fenerbahce-rekabetinde-356-randevu/2699719 . live .
6. Web site: Beşiktaş-Galatasaray rekabetinde 352. randevu . 2023-03-20 . www.aa.com.tr . 2023-03-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230320224628/https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/futbol/besiktas-galatasaray-rekabetinde-352-randevu/2729351 . live .
7. Web site: UEFA 5-year Club Ranking 2023 . 2022-08-04 . kassiesa.net . 2021-02-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210217020419/https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method5/trank2023.html . live .