Karşıyaka Sports Club
For someone from Karşıyaka, "sports" means, first and foremost, Karşıyaka Sports Club (KSK/Kaf Sin Kaf). As a sociologist who has written extensively about this club stated, "Karşıyaka and KSK complement each other, they are, in the old sense of the word, integral parts of each other. One cannot exist without the other. Because of this, Kaf Sin Kaf is more than just a club." Numerous explanations emphasizing the strong bond between Karşıyaka and KSK can be found. One of the club's famous fans, Arap Osman (Ateş), said, "We were born for KSK, and we want to die in its embrace. We can have no other love than Green and Red. Karşıyaka is where I was born, raised, and educated, where my ancestors are buried. It's my father's homeland. That's why we are KSK fans. Not everyone can be a KSK fan; being a KSK fan is very difficult, your heart must beat fast for KSK... Whether it's football, basketball, water polo, or volleyball, every KSK match is a wedding for us, where we expect new victories. Let this be known!" Meanwhile, Hakan Ortabaş, a former cheerleader for the Karşıyaka Football Team, stated, "First we fell in love with the community, then with the team... The root of our love for Karşıyaka lies in our love for the city. The feeling that makes us fans is the love of being from Karşıyaka..."
Historical Background: The First Sporting Organizations in İzmir We know that from the late 18th century onwards, some civil society organizations were established in İzmir for cultural, economic, and sporting purposes. Perhaps because the Ottoman State did not grant the right to form associations to its citizens or foreigners, it appears that these organizations operated under the banner of "clubs." The "Orfevs" club, founded on September 14, 1890, by a few Greek music lovers, along with some students from the Aroni School, with the aim of improving the (Greek-Orthodox) community members musically and physically, was, as far as we can ascertain, İzmir's first civil society organization with sporting aims. After this club, which first appeared before the community with a concert on April 23, 1891, during the Feast of Saint George, the Apollon Club, also founded by Greeks in 1891, was initially a music group, just like Orfevs. The first team-level sports games in İzmir were held in 1894 between the Apollon Club and the English sports enthusiasts of Bornova. The Bornova Association Sports Club (Bournabat Athletical), which participated in the "Athletics, Gymnastics and Cycling Competition" organized by the Apollon Club under the patronage of Aydın Governor Kâmil Pasha on May 23-25, 1904, was likely the club of the English sports enthusiasts from Bornova who had participated in the 1894 sports games. The third club to participate in the 1904 competition, like the Bornova Sports Club, was the İzmir Sports Union, whose exact founding date is unknown.
Although some members who left Orfevs in 1895 founded a new club called "Yumnasio" (Sports) that was solely focused on sports, in October 1898 these two Izmir clubs merged and took the name "Panionios Izmir Sports Union". Thsevs in Bornova (July 1907); Ermiş Sports Club (April 1908); the Greek Football Team (1908) and Pelops Sports Club (1908), which came into existence in Karataş at the suggestion of Omiros Onassis, and the club called "Ereton" were other sporting organizations founded by Greeks before the second declaration of the constitutional monarchy. According to a report titled "Entertainment," prepared by Sara Snell and Margaret Forsyth, teachers at the International American College in İzmir Paradiso (Şirinyer), Armenians had three sports clubs in İzmir, Karşıyaka, and Karataş. The Armenian clubs in Karşıyaka and Karataş, which participated in competitions organized by the Apollon Club, had their own fields. With the constitutional amendment (Article 120) of 1909, which granted individuals the right to form associations, and the Societies Law, Turks also became involved in İzmir's sports life by organizing sporting events and establishing clubs.
According to a source we believe was published in 1960, football was first played among Turks in Izmir in 1910 at the Izmir Sultanate High School. The school's gymnastics teacher, Melekyan (presumably Armenian), who had studied in Europe, gave football lessons to the students, and the interest that arose from this led to the establishment of Turkish clubs. The first of these clubs was founded in 1912 and took the name "Karşıyaka Sports Club" in the early years of the Republic. The second was Altay Sports Club, which we know was founded at the beginning of 1914.
Establishment of Karşıyaka Sports Club
We know that a non-governmental organization called "Karşıyaka Sports and Music Club" was founded in 1906. Whether this club existed is uncertain, but it wasn't the only organization founded by the Greek community of Karşıyaka for sporting purposes. Karara, who writes that the Greek youth of Karşıyaka were very interested in sports, mentions three more clubs. The first is Kopanos, meaning "mallet." This club, which specifically chose this name to gain a psychological advantage over opponents, trained on Karavokiri's field. The second is the Eas Club in Alaybey, which used Omiros's field as an athletics track and football pitch. Since these were small clubs, they rarely showed their colors in large and serious competitions. Thirdly, it is mentioned that there was "Altay" (?), described as "a sufficiently good Turkish football team." Karara's mention that the Altay Club's headquarters were in Soğukkuyu (?) reveals that he is referring to another club that would later take the name KSK.
We know from a late newspaper article that this Turkish club, which Dağlaroğlu-San wrote was "the first of its kind in the entire Aegean region" and whose name was "Karşıyaka İdman Ocağı" (?), had the most contact with the Greeks of Alaybey (it must be the Eas Club) and was defeated in every match by these Greeks, most of whom were lathe operators, carpentry apprentices, and servants. Another newspaper article states that in early 1914, Karşıyaka provided athletes for a running competition (100 meters) in which Altay and Midilli clubs also participated.
Our knowledge of KSK's founding and its activities during the Ottoman period is based primarily on two sources. The first of these sources is an article written by Cemal Ahmet (Umar) Bey and published in the October 1926 issue of the "Spor Âlemi" (Sports World) magazine. Cemal Ahmet Bey, a banker who also created the chant "Kaf Kaf Kaf, Sin Sin Sin, Kaf Sin Kaf Sin Kaf," wrote the following in his article titled "The History of Karşıyaka Club, the İzmir Champion":
"If I had imagined that one day I would be asked, 'How was the Karşıyaka Club founded?' and that I would have to answer it, I would have tried to gather information from those who first established the club when I was young. But at that time, neither I nor the founders had considered this possibility. As the former athletes of İzmir and the people of Karşıyaka will well remember, even the harsh words heard by football enthusiasts who, in the area of what was then called Omiro Field, the site of the modern stadium, would hit the ball and the ground with their newly acquired shoes until the toes of the shoes turned white, could not prevent a large crowd of enthusiasts from gathering there on Fridays. We were among the goal-behind players of that time. You see how glorious our past is. It was very enjoyable for us to wait for the older players to kick the ball from behind the goal and then kick it back to the goalkeeper, who was very keen on hitting the ball with his fists. Sometimes, the wrong spin we gave the ball..." As a result, if the ball didn't go to the goalkeeper, we would also get hit with a small stone thrown from the ground behind us. These footballers, who threw stones at the players behind the goal and made us carry the goalposts, formed a sports club called Karşıyaka Club on September 12, 1912 (328).
The first club to be revived in Izmir was Karşıyaka. On October 1, 1922, fifty-eight young men gathered and decided to revive Karşıyaka under the name of Gençler Birliği (Youth Union). And activities began. As everywhere else, they started with football. A significant portion of the initial revenue was allocated to football equipment, and the first match was played against a French torpedo boat in the harbor. Following this match, former Altay players, who had established football activities in what is now Alsancak Stadium (after the Panioniyo club had left), also gathered and decided to revive Altay. The situation was again more or less characterized by the Karşıyaka-Altay rivalry. In Izmir, clubs have been formed in the last two years, which is probably more than necessary... We established the tennis branch, where we are currently unrivaled, in 1923 (1923) and the maritime branch in 1924 (1924). The number of our tennis players is increasing every year and they are achieving good results in their contacts with foreigners. Our sailors made many useful trips within the bay last year... The separation of the region from Izmir, the history of the club, and the fact that it was established for the first time in Izmir gives us a special characteristic."
Cemal Ahmet Bey's writings inevitably lead us to make some assessments. First of all, looking at a photograph, it is impossible for us to determine the exact month and day a club was founded 16 years ago. Furthermore, it is unknown which photograph is currently in the club's possession. Cemal Ahmet Bey refers to the club as "Karşıyaka Club" both in the title and in the text of his article, which is clearly not the club's full name.