Elazigspor

Elazigspor is a Turkish professional football club located in Elazig and currently competes in the TFF Second League. They previously played their home games at Elazig Ataturk Stadium in Elazig, which had a maximum capacity of 13,923. The club was founded in 1967.

History

Elazigspor was founded in 1967 when three clubs (Merkez Genclik, Guvenspor and Harputspor) were united to form a strong team for the city of Elazig. The club's emblem refers to a famous local dance called Cayda Cira. This dance is performed with candles in the hands. Elazigspor's main rivals are Malatyaspor. The cities Elazig and Malatya, were Malatyaspor play, are neighboring cities. Due to the rivalry meaning a lot to those fan bases, extra security is almost a necessity to make sure of safety. Due to the fan bases dislike for each other, sometimes the visiting team's fans will not be allowed to attend the game due to security reasons. Usually, there will be around 30 journalists from Malatya to attend the game whenever the rivalry is being hosted by Elazigspor. The “Dogunun derbisi” has become one of the biggest soccer rivalries in Turkey. One friendly match that Elazigspor played versus Diyarbakirspor on September 5, 2011 turned tragic. Fans of both teams threw stones and hard objects at each other. One lieutenant and 1 expert sergeant died to the fan's behaviors. A total of 6 people were injured. These events happened during the middle of the match, as the game had to be delayed until the events that were going on came down. The club has played in the Second and Third Leagues for several years. Finally in 2002, the club was promoted to the Turkish First Football League. However, in 2004, they were relegated to the TFF First League again. They were relegated to the TFF Second League in 2008 after finishing in 16th place.

In January 2019, Elazigspor hit the news after signing 22 players in 2 hours on 30 January, after negotiating the end of a transfer ban imposed by the Turkish Football Federation.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Элязыгспор (russian)