Mersin ðdman Yurdu was a Turkish sports club from Mersin, Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Region. The team played in the Turkish first division for 15 seasons, and after the 1983âÂÂ84 season the football team played in the Turkish second and third divisions. The team was promoted to the Turkish second level division after the 2008âÂÂ09 season. MðY became the champions of the Turkish second division during the 2010âÂÂ11 season and earned promotion to the Turkish Süper Lig during the 2011âÂÂ12 season. Tevfik Sñrrñ Gür Stadium was the previous ground of the team with a capacity of 10,125. In 2013, their new 25,534 person capacity stadium, Mersin Arena, was inaugurated on 23 March 2013 with a TFF First League match against Gaziantep Büyükà Âehir Belediyespor. Their main rivals were Adana Demirspor, Adanaspor and Tarsus ðdman Yurdu, and were friendly with Bucaspor.
The name "Mersin ðdman Yurdu" originated as the Turkish equivalent of "Mersin Sports Club". In the beginning of the Republic, many of the sports clubs carried the names as such. Later, most of those clubs, either by merging or renaming, changed their names. The "ðdman Yurdu" name remained for some clubs throughout the country. Later it lost its meaning. Therefore, "ðdman Yurdu" has become a particular name for the club. Then, the club adopted the name "Mersin ðdmanyurdu Sports Club". In its original form, the club's name is written separately. However, because of the norm that noun phrases which have lost their meaning are written contiguously, the team's name has become "Mersin ðdmanyurdu". Today, both depictions are common in Turkish for MðY: Some write it separately (In Turkish, abbreviations are possible, even if the words had been conjunct). Club website has shown divergent interests.
Their nickname is à Âeytanlar (meaning "Devils") or Kñrmñzñ à Âeytanlar ("Red Devils"). Their song is "à Âampiyon yap bizi / Cehennemde yak bizi" ("Make us the champs / Burn us in hellfire").
Mersin ðdman Yurdu is one of the oldest clubs of the Mediterranean region. The club was founded on 16 August 1925 as Mersin GençlerbirliÃÂi (English: Mersin Youth Union) during a meeting between Edip Buran and his friends ðbrahim Yekta, Fevzi Serdengeçti, Asñm Güler, Muhip Batñbeki, Necati Salim, Lütfi Resimci, Sami ðstanbullu, Hayri Güntekin, Hakkñ Cemal ÃÂçer, Hasan Tahsin, and Mustafa Lütfi. Their aim was to provide Mersin's youth with activities to fill their spare time with sports during long, hot summer days in Mersin. Later, the club obtained a license with the participation of other founders, namely ðbrahim Bigam, ðhsan DaÃÂñstan, Hamit Abey, Rauf Süleymaniyeli, Semih Can, ÃÂmer, Cevdet Türkmenli, Kazñm Kñrzade, and Muharrem YeÃÂin.
The first colors of the team were red and white. The club changed its name to Mersin ðdman Yurdu in 1926, and their colors were changed to red and dark blue. The logo was established as three connected circles, the center circle in red and the left and right circles in dark blue.
Mersin ðdman Yurdu had won the regional title every year since its foundation until 1964, except during the 1949âÂÂ50 season when Mersin Demirspor captured the title. In 1944, the team reached the third place in the Turkish Football Championship. In 1952, the club inaugurated their new stadium, Tevfik Sñrrñ Gür Stadyumu, by playing an opening match that was tied 3âÂÂ3 with Galatasaray.
In 1957, the club became sponsored by the ÃÂukurova Group and adopted the name ÃÂukurova ðdmanyurdu. The team again finished third in the Turkish Amateur Championship. ÃÂukurova ðdmanyurdu, as "a rather well-known amateur club from the city of Mersin", turned professional and was promoted to Turkey's first second level league founded in 1963. ÃÂukurova ðdmanyurdu again became the amateur champions of Turkey in 1963. When they became a part of the Turkish second division they were one of only three clubs that came from outside of the major cities of Istanbul, Ankara, and ðzmir, the other clubs being Adana Demirspor and Bursaspor.
In June 1966, the club changed its name to Mersin ðdman Yurdu after three seasons and became champions of the Turkish second division in the 1966âÂÂ67 season. At the end of that season they won the Prime Minister's Cup by defeating the Amateur League champions. Beginning in the 1967âÂÂ68 season they played in the Turkish top level division (Süper Lig) for 7 consecutive years and 11 years in total. The same season on 6 April 1968, Pakistani internationals Maula Bakhsh and Abdul Jabbar became the team's first foreign transfers.
After the 1982âÂÂ83 season, MðY was relegated from the Süper Lig. They played in the second division until the formation of a one-group second level division in 2001âÂÂ02. Because of their place in the 2000âÂÂ01 season they were automatically relegated to third level formed under the name of "Second League, Category B". They spent one season there and were promoted to the second division (Second League, Category A). After the 2005âÂÂ06 season, they were relegated to the third division again.
In 2008, Ali Kahramanlñ was elected president of the club. They finished the 2008âÂÂ09 season in the TFF Second League playoffs in second place and advanced to the second division, now with the name TFF First League, also known as Bank Asya 1. Lig. After spending two seasons in the TFF First League, MðY became the champions of 2010âÂÂ11 Bank Asya 1. Lig and were promoted to 2011âÂÂ12 Süper Lig after being absent from the Süper Lig for 28 years. Their championship was widely attributed to coach Nurullah SaÃÂlam, who took over the team after the 9th week during that season. They finished Süper Lig as 12th in the 2011âÂÂ12 season but relegated again to First League after finishing 18th or last in the 2012âÂÂ13 season. MðY finished the First League as 6th and qualified for the promotion play-offs in the 2013âÂÂ14 season. They beat Orduspor 3âÂÂ0 on aggregate and 2âÂÂ0 Samsunspor and returned to top level at the first attempt. MðY finished the 2014-15 season as seventh. However, next season was a disaster for MðY due to financial problems. Eventually MðY relegated to second level after a 2-0 defeat to ÃÂaykur Rizespor on 29 April 2016.
After the city of Mersin hosted the 2013 Mediterranean Games, there was an urgent need to build a modern stadium in the city. After the games were over, the club started to use the stadium for their league games. The stadium has a capacity of 25,534 people and it is one of the most modern stadiums in Turkey.
Before 2001
After 2001
Note: 2011âÂÂ12 stats are not included. Play-off games are not included. Before 1987 two-points-for-a-win rule was accepted.
Mersin ðdman Yurdu professional league participations by season.
<small>Note: Classification group statistics are accumulated on normal season. <br>Note (*): The team played as "ÃÂukurova ðdmanyurdu".<br>League and group colors: Green: Promoted; Light green: Qualified; Pink: Relegated.</small>
Participated in the Turkish Cup since 1962.
Note: 2011âÂÂ12 stats are not included. Before 1987 two-points-for-a-win rule was accepted. Serial penalties included in the match scores.
<small>Note: Serial penalties added to match scores. Before 1987, two points for a win rule accepted.</small>
UEFA Ranking history:
Former presidents
Sources: Club history
Former coaches
Note: Start dates of coaches who started regularly have been shown as 1 August, before 1990, if there was no TFF records.