List of Turkish football champions

[2] The championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of each of the country's top regional leagues.

Fenerbahçe are the most successful club including championships before the start of Süper Lig (1959), having won 28 titles in total so far.

[7] Football in Turkey stems back to the late 19th century, when Englishmen brought the game with them while living in Salonica (then part of the Turkish Empire).

Shortly after the foundation of the Turkish Republic and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), several other regional leagues were officially established (or gained official status as some were already founded earlier) in various major cities: Ankara (1922), Adana (1924), Bursa (1924), Eskişehir (1924), İzmir (1924), and Trabzon (1922).

[10] The championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of the country's top regional leagues.

Since there was no top-level national champion in the period from 1952 to 1955, the Turkish federation sent Galatasaray, winners of the 1955–56 Istanbul League, to the European Cup in the 1956–57 season.

Beşiktaş won both editions and earned the right to represent Turkey twice in the European Cup during the two-year span.

However, since the Turkish Football Federation failed to register them for the draw in time, they were not able to participate in the 1957–58 season after all.

The clubs competing in the first season were Adalet, Beşiktaş, Galatasaray, Beykoz, Karagümrük, Fenerbahçe, İstanbulspor, Vefa (all from Istanbul), Ankaragücü, Ankara Demirspor, Gençlerbirliği, Hacettepe (all from Ankara), Altay, Göztepe, İzmirspor, and Karşıyaka (all from İzmir).

They are also the most successful pre-Süper Lig club with 9 titles overall in that era, 6 of them won in the National Division and 3 in the former Turkish Football Championship.

[14] However, since the Turkish Football Federation failed to register them for the draw in time, they were not able to participate in the 1957–58 season after all.

In Turkey clubs are permitted to place a golden star above their crest for every five national championships won.