The supporters of Fenerbahçe SK are well known for their passionate, fierce, and unwavering support. The supporters' motto is "Hep Destek Tam Destek", abbreviated as "HDTD" (English: "Always Support, Full Support", Spanish: "Te Apoyo Siempre, Te Apoyo Entodo").
Rivalries
An 2000s survey found that Fenerbahçe supporters only see the Istanbul giants as their rivals and most dislike Galatasaray, followed by Trabzonspor and Beşiktaş, although all of Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, and Trabzonspor fans see Fenerbahçe as their main rival, mostly due to Fenerbahçe by itself dominating Turkish football for many years in the past.
Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray rivalry
Fenerbahçe's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbours,
Galatasaray, with matches between the two being referred to as
Intercontinental derby, also known as "the derby of immense and never ending hate". In an interview, a Fenerbahçe fan stated "I'd prefer dying honorfully and meeting my creator to living as a Galatasaray fan. Actually, I'd prefer going to hell over being a Galatasaray fan" while a Galatasaray fan stated "My hate for Fenerbahçe is more than any feeling I ever had. If Fenerbahçe was a person, I'd murder him". The derby is very popular, and during the derby hours traffic in Turkey is significantly relaxed as most are at their home watching, and the hate between the two clubs Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray has reached such a level that many fans of both clubs have died from heart attack after their clubs have lost the derby. Both Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray also have a global following, Galatasaray is more popular in
Europe and the
United States, and Fenerbahçe is more popular in
Muslim majority countries and the
United Kingdom.
The rivalry, previously named "the derby of friendship", has turned into a derby of hate on 23 February 1934, when a friendly game between both clubs turned into a riot, forcing the match to be abandoned. The rivalry has led to violence among supporters on numerous occasions.[12] Torches, smoke, flags, and giant posters are used to create visual grandeur and apply psychological pressure on visiting teams, which fans call "welcoming them to hell".[13]
Other rivalries
Matches against
Beşiktaş are also
derbies, but the rivalry is not as intense and fierce as that between Fenerbahçe SK and Galatasaray SK. These derbies are referred to as the "friendly derby". In addition, Fenerbahçe and
Trabzonspor have had a strong on-pitch rivalry in the late 1970s, which has, although not so much on the pitch anymore, continued in recent years off the pitch with hate among fanbases growing rapidly especially after 2011.
Friendships with other clubs
Fenerbahçe has had friendly relations with clubs from different countries, due to many reasons. Some include: in Turkey,
Kırklarelispor,
Menemenspor,
Eskişehir Demirspor,
Ankara Demirspor,
Eskişehirspor and many more; in Brazil,
Coritiba; in Serbia,
Novi Pazar; in Norway:
Lillestrøm, in Greece;
AEK[14][15] and; in England,
Sheffield United; in the Netherlands,
Feyenoord; in Germany:
Bayern Munich. In addition to this, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş and Galatasaray were officially brother clubs in the 1910s, due to the fact that their common goal was to defeat non-Muslim teams. This, however, is no longer the case.
In November 2011, Fenerbahçe's GFB created a friendly relationship with Serbian club
FK Novi Pazar's supporter group
Torcida Sandžak. During a
Turkish Super League match against
İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor at the
Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, the GFB and 1907 Gençlik stands deployed a giant banner reading "Kalbimiz Seninle Novi Pazar" ("Novi Pazar, Our Hearts Are With You").[16] Eventually, in the match against
Radnički Kragujevac in the
Serbian SuperLiga, Torcida Sandžak members deployed a banner reading "Sancak'ta atıyor, Fenerbahçe'nin kalbi" ("The heart of Fenerbahçe beats in Sandžak").[17]
On March 2, 2012, Fenerbahçe's GFB and 1907 Gençlik group members were invited to Novi Pazar for the match against
Partizan in the Serbian SuperLiga. Thousands of Torcida Sandžak members welcomed GFB and 1907 Gençlik's 17 members.[18]
There is an informal friendship and fraternization between the fans of AEK and
Fenerbahçe. In the
2017 Euroleague final, Fenerbahçe S.K. supporters displayed a banner which read "Same City's Sons"[14][15]
Incidents
Notorious Fenerbahce hooligans in 1987. They shot a with gun
Beşiktaş youth football player, Mehmet Ozkan, and a
Beşiktaş supporter, but both survived. Fenerbahce Hooligans attacking those who came to the match attacked the police station where Beşiktaş fans were hiding.[19]
On 13 December 1993, a Fenerbahçe fan was beaten to death by Beşiktaş fans in a cafe after celebrating the Fenerbahçe victory.[20]
In the 1995–96 season, Fenerbahçe were the unmatched dominating force in football while Galatasaray were considered a smaller team. When Galatasaray reached the cup final against Fenerbahçe, Fenerbahçe were expected to win easily, however Galatasaray beat Fenerbahçe in the first leg by a
Dean Saunders penalty. Their manager
Graeme Souness took a giant Galatasaray flag after the match and planted it in the centre of the pitch and insulted Fenerbahçe and its supporters in order to provoke and anger the Fenerbahçe fans.[21]
In 1996, after a derby match, 1 Galatasaray supporters were stabbed to death by a Fenerbahçe stand leader, known as Esenlerli Sebo.[22][23][24]
In 2006 Galatasaray supporters opened a racist banner which targeted
Mehmet Aurélio, player of Fenerbahçe and the Turkey national team with
Brazilian roots.[25] The Fenerbahçe supporters protested which resulted in them getting attacked by Galatasaray fans.[25]
In 2012, a Galatasaray supporter named Ugur Fakili was stabbed to death by a Fenerbahçe fan with whom he had an argument before the match.[26][27]
On 13 May 2013, a Fenerbahçe fan was stabbed multiple times to death after the
Intercontinental Derby. After the match, which resulted in a 2–1 victory for Fenerbahçe, the 19 year old Fenerbahçe fan was on his way home after the match when he and his companions were attacked by Galatasaray fans.[28][29][30][20]
Fenerbahçe supporters do not have good relations with police forces around the country and especially the
General Directorate of Security.[32][33] This is because of their general opposition to the
Erdogan government.
Notable supporters
Below is a list of people who are known as Fenerbahçe SK supporters: