Ali Sami Yen Stadium (RAMS Park)

Loud. Atmospheric. Intimidating.

Galatasaray supporters have a world-famous reputation for the noise they generate at home and away, and with very good reason.

Turkish football fan culture is all about creating an intimidating atmosphere for visiting teams and supporters, and Galatasaray are more famous than any other for doing so, particularly since then-English champions Manchester United visited in 1993 and were greeted at the airport with the sign ‘Welcome to Hell’. The repuation has stuck since then.

That being said, Galatasaray have moved stadium since Eric Cantona nearly walloped a Turkish policeman in the tunnel post-match. They moved to Rams Park (full name Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi) in 2011.

The total capacity of the Galatasaray stadium is 52,280.

The West Stand holds 10,713, slightly fewer than the 11,425-strong East Stand.

The South Stand (15,246) and North Stand (15,268) hold a very similar number of supporters.

All four stands are two-tiers with the corners filled in, creating a consistent, fairly symmetrical bowl design.

Record attendance at Galatasaray stadium

The highest attendance recorded at Rams Park (Galatasaray stadium) was 52,044 for the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match against Spanish giants Real Madrid. That took place on 9 April 2013.

This is just higher than the highest attendance for a Süper Lig match, which was 51,983 on 18 May 2013 when Galatasaray hosted Trabzonspor.

Neither of these attendances is as high as the stadium’s actual capacity, which, like most grounds, is restricted slightly by a variety of factors, mainly policing.

The Galatasaray stadium is in north Istanbul on the European side of the city, about 12 kilometres from the historic centre.

With a frantically busy city and significant traffic, your best bet is taking the metro to the stop named ‘Seyrantepe’ on metro line 2. You can catch metro line 2 from Sishane or Taksim, both on the northern edge of the city centre.

For those rare souls who are attempting to drive in Turkey, access to the stadium isn’t too difficult. It’s right next to the Otoyol 2 motorway and there are four multi-storey carparks with well over 3,000 spaces.

Address: Türk Telekom Arena, 34396 Istanbul.

Well, lively! Expect a huge atmosphere, especially for travelling English teams. Keep your wits about you, try to avoid wearing colours on matchday and be careful in interactions with home supporters and the Turkish police.

Rather than taking the metro, you will likely be given buses organised by the club, UEFA or local authorities to take you to the ground at a specified time.

Where is the Galatasaray away end?

The Away fans area is located in blocks A and B in the south stand using gates 418, 419, 420 and 421.

Expect a lengthy hold-back after full-time to allow the home fans to disperse.

Enjoying Istanbul as an away fan

Matchday can be a little tense given the stories of the past about English fans’ interactions with Turkish supporters and police. So, make sure you enjoy the trip as a whole. Istanbul is one of the world’s most incredible cities with its history, food and diverse culture.

Galatasaray’s old Ali Sami Yen stadium had become out-dated by the 2000s, at which point the club investigated constructing a new ground on the site of the old one. However, they eventually chose a new location.

The new Ali Sami Yen Stadium, now known as Rams Park for sponsorship reasons (see below), was opened in January 2011 with a friendly fixture against Ajax. It had been under construction since late 2007 and cost around €160m.

How the Galatasaray stadium changed Istanbul forever

Incredibly, when Galatasaray moved location, Istanbul changed. The area into which they moved was called Seyrantepe, and the metro station still is. But the area was renamed to Aslantepe, ‘Aslan’ meaning Lion (Narnia fans, there’s your fun fact) and being the symbol of Galatasaray.

As of the 2023/24 season, Galatasaray’s stadium is known as Rams Park due to a new five-year deal signed with Rams Global. It is the third company to give their name to the stadium, which was formerly known as the Turk Telekom Stadium for a decade and then the Nef Stadium for two years.

Galatasaray Stadium sponsorship history

Galatasaray fixtures

Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce

Galatsaray Fener is the biggest and most famous derby in Turkish football. It is one of the most iconic rivalries in world football, known as ‘The Intercontinental Derby’ because Fenerbahce are from the Asian part of Istanbul and Galatasaray from the European area.

The teams first met in 1909 (Galatasaray won 2-0) and Fenerbahce have been more successful in their match-ups. However, Galatsaray have won more trophies.

Galatasaray vs Besiktas

Another Istanbul derby – there are many – Galatasaray and Beşiktaş are both from the European part of Istanbul.

Galatasaray vs Istanbul Basaksehir

Galatasaray, Fererbahce and Beşiktaş constitute the Turkish ‘Big Three’, and then there’s Istanbul Başakşehir, who made global fame by beating Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League in 2020. Founded in 1990, Başakşehir are one of the newer clubs in Turkey and one of eight in the national league to be based in Istanbul. The club has strong links to the country’s ruling party. This is not a rivalry like the other two, but there is resentment towards Başakşehir’s disruptive capabilities.

The name of this famous Turkish club translates directly to Galata Palace, the word ‘saray’ meaning palace in Persian.

Galatasaray High School was established in the area in 1481 and many community institutions have taken the name since.

History of Galatasaray SK

The football club was founded in October 1905 by students of Galatasaray High School, including Ali Sami Yen, whose name now adorns the stadium. He became the club’s first president and was given membership number one..

Ali Sami Yen was the son of an Ottoman writer, philosopher and playwright called Şemseddin Sami (Frashëri).

Since, they have become Turkey’s most successful football club.

You won’t find any hotel options right next to the stadium and in a city as wonderful as Istanbul, it’s advised you stay in the city centre. You’ll find some truly brilliant value hotels in Turkey.

If you want to stay as close to the Galatasaray stadium as possible so you can catch a taxi to the ground – rather than taking the metro – you should look for somewhere in the Levant or Maslak business areas which are nearby.

The joint Italy and Turkey bid for UEFA EURO 2032 has been accepted by UEFA and each country has proposed ten stadiums to be considered for selection. Included in Turkey’s ten is the Galatasaray Stadium.

Five stadiums from each country will eventually be selected.

The Ali Sami Yen has previously hosted many games of the Turkish national team and fixtures at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.