Kayserispor - History

History

In 1965, Orhan Şefik Apak, then president of the Turkish Football Federation, asked cities in Turkey to combine their amateur football clubs into one singular club that would represent their communities. These new clubs would compete in the newly created 2.Lig (Second Division). After several meetings, representatives of the city merged Erciyesspor, Sanayispor, and Ortaanadoluspor to form Kayserispor. The club submitted the required paperwork and were officially founded as Kayserispor on 1 July 1966. They began competing in the 1966–67 2.Lig. Erdoğan Gürhan was the first manager, signing a contract worth 1,500 TL. In their first season, the club competed in the Beyaz Grup (White Group). Yener scored the first goal in club history when he netted a shot in the 17th minute against Ankara Toprakspor. The club finished with a nine win, nine draw, and twelve loss record in 30 matches while scoring 21 goals and conceding 33. They finished in ninth place.

Kayserispor were promoted to the 1.Lig for the first time at the end of the 1972–73 season. They were also relegated for the first time in 1974–75, and competed in the 2.Lig until 1979–80. Kayserispor defeated Galatasaray in the quarter-finals of the 1977–78 Türkiye Kupası, and reached the semi-finals for the first time. They went on to lose to Adana Demirspor. In 1978, Tamer Kaptan, manager of the club at the time, brought Johan Cruyff's Total Football system to Kayserispor after watching the Netherlands national football team in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The club proceeded to score 66 goals that season, which ranked them second in Europe behind English club Liverpool F.C. The club were promoted again at the end of the 1978–79, but were relegated at the end of the following season. Kayserispor were promoted to the 1.Lig again in 1984–85, but were once again relegated the following year. They would continue competing in the 2.Lig until the end of the 1991–92 season. The club set a record for most managers in a season when they hired and fired eight coaches throughout the 1988–89 season. Kayserispor reached a low point when they were relegated to the 3.Lig the following season. The club continued to yo-yo between divisions before their most recent promotion to the Süper Lig began in 2004–05. It was at this time that Kayserspor switched names with Kayseri Erciyesspor. Manager Hüsnü Özkara was fired after seven matches into the season after accumulating two points out of a possible twenty-one. Hikmet Karaman took over as manager and guided the club to a 14th place finish, two places above the relegation zone.

Ertuğrul Sağlam, former Samsunspor and Beşiktaş player, took over for Karaman at the end of the season. Sağlam lead the club to fifth place in the league and Gökhan Ünal won the Gol Kralı (Top Goal Scorer) award after netting 25 goals in 32 matches. The club qualified for European competition for the first time. The club would go on to win the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup and qualified for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, where they lost to AZ in the second round. Kayserispor finished fifth for the second time in a row at the end of the 2006–07 season. Sağlam moved to Beşiktaş over the summer, with Tolunay Kafkas being his replacement. Kafkas lead the club to a third straight fifth place finish, as well as the clubs first Türkiye Kupası title in 2008.On 15 October 2012,it was confirmed that Robert Prosinečki signed two-year coaching contract with Kayserispor.It was also confirmed that his assistants at Kayserispor will be Gordan Ciprić and Dragan Spasić.