The Beşiktaş–Fenerbahçe rivalry is a Turkish football rivalry involving two of the most successful clubs in the Süper Lig. It is also a local derby, one of many involving Istanbul clubs. The fixture is almost a century in existence and has developed into an intense and often bitter one, traditionally attracting large attendances. As of 2025, Fenerbahçe has not defeated its rivals by a margin of 4 or more goals for 50 years while Beşiktaş has not defeated its rivals by a margin of 4 or more goals for 35 years.

In addition to football, the two clubs also compete in basketball, volleyball, athletics, boxing, table tennis and rowing. In the past, the two clubs have faced each other in wrestling, field hockey, weightlifting, swimming and cycling.

History 1921 Galatasaray Cup Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş football teams were supposed to face each other for the first time in history on 22 April 1921, but Beşiktaş withdrew from the tournament organised by Galatasaray when they could not play İttihatspor's Bekir and Galatasaray's Refik Osman due to Galatasaray's objection. Fenerbahçe was deemed the winner, and the match was registered as a 3–0 win by forfeit.

Spor Âlemi, an Ottoman sports magazine at the time reports the match as follows: Beşiktaş did not participate in the game between Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş clubs. It did not obey the orders given by the match organisers because it brought outsiders to the team. Fenerbahçe was declared the winner.

First meeting The two teams met for the first time in a friendly match played at Taksim Stadium on 28 November 1924. Fenerbahçe won the first match with a score of 4–0, with Cafer Çağatay scoring the first goal in the history of derby. Beşiktaş, on the other hand, got its first win on 13 November 1927 with a score of 1–0. The first draw (0-0) was obtained on 12 November 1926 in the Istanbul Football League. As of 6 December 2023, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş have faced each other 134 times in league matches organised since 1959. In the remaining matches in the league, Fenerbahçe won 47 times and Beşiktaş won 42 times. In 45 matches, the teams could not get the upper hand over each other. The two teams scored 157 goals in the matches played in the league. Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe played their first professional league match on 18 March 1959, with Fenerbahçe winning the match played at İnönü Stadium 1–0.

The record for the most goals scored in the rivalry is kept by the 11 August 1974 TSYD Cup match, in which Beşiktaş won the match held at İnönü Stadium with a score of 5–4.

Beşiktaş's legendary captain Hakkı Yeten scored the most goals in the rivalry.

11 of the 358 matches were the jubilee matches. In these 11 matches, footballers such as Lefter Küçükandonyadis, Can Bartu, Selim Soydan, Nedim Doğan, Cemil Turan, Mehmet Oğuz, Fehmi Sağınoğlu, Sanlı Sarıalioğlu, Fahrettin Cansever, Samet Aybaba and Metin Tekin announced their retirement from football. Of these 11 jubilee matches, Fenerbahçe won 6, Beşiktaş won 2 and 3 matches ended in a draw.

What would have been the second meeting: the match that was never played Beşiktaş v Fenerbahçe was an Istanbul Football League match that was supposed to take place on 25 December 1925, it got pospotoned to an unspecified date following Fenerbahçe authorities objections against the match being played on the pitch of İttihatspor club. If this match hadn't been postponed, it would have been the second meeting between the two teams in their history. It is not known whether the match got cancelled or not due to lack of information on the match.

"Did the ball cross the line or not?" debate The match between the rivals on 16 November 1991 sparked a debate that lasted for many years.

In the 87th minute of the 1991–92 1.Lig match between the rivals hosted at Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium, Beşiktaş's Mehmet Özdilek scored the equalising goal making the score 2-2, which caused a long-lasting public debate as to whether the ball had crossed the goal line.

The prolonged appeals of Fenerbahçe players and the technical team did not change the result. Seventeen years after the match was played, the position was discussed in the Lig TV's programme Futbol Gündemi, according to the measurements of the device called "piero", it was determined that the ball crossed the line by 4 centimetres, putting an end to the discussions.

Yuvakuran, who tried to clear the ball away from the goal line later stated that: "Actually it was a goal, I couldn't say it because there was so much pressure at the time".

6+5 rule scandal Beşiktaş 3-0 Fenerbahçe was a Turkish First Football League or now known as Süper Lig match in which Fenerbahçe manager Mustafa Denizli made a historic mistake and had 6 foreign players on the field at the same time, violating the football regulations implemented in Turkey.

The match's result was registered as a 3–0 win by forfeit for Beşiktaş with the decision of the Turkish Football Federation.

Pancu: the Kadıköy panther

The Bilica incident In a 2009-2010 Süper Lig match between the two teams on 18 April 2010, in which Fenerbahçe defeated Beşiktaş 1–0 in Kadıköy, Fenerbahçe footballer Fábio Alves Da Silva, or commonly known as "Bilica", loosened the grass of the penalty spot with his boot before the penalty kick won by the black-white team in the 64th minute had been taken, this resulted in Bobo's penalty shot getting saved by goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, denying his opponent the chance of a draw. Although Beşiktaş requested TFF to replay the match, this offer was rejected.Levent Erdoğan, former Beşiktaş vice-president, made the following statements about the incident: ''Turkish football is buried in the grave Bilica dug at the penalty spot at Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium.''

Turkish Cup semi-finals second leg events

In the Ziraat Turkey Cup semi-final second leg between the two rivals on 19 April 2018, Fenerbahçe fans injured Beşiktaş manager Şenol Güneş by throwing a projectile at him from the stands in the 57th minute.

Güneş collapsed on the ground and had to receive several stitches in his head. After the incidents, referee Mete Kalkavan decided to suspend the match and urged both teams' players to go to their dressing rooms, this however only grew the severity of arguments between the two team's players, with a fight breaking out between the rivals in the corridors, police teams entered the corridors to intervene. Beşiktaş's gaming operation Erdinç Gültekin was also injured in the corridor fight. 31 people were detained over the occurrences.

Fenerbahçe were on track to reach the final, having previously drawn 2–2 in the first leg, with former Real Madrid defender Pepe sent off for Beşiktaş in the first half of the second leg with the score 0-0.

On 3 May 2018, the Turkish Football Federation announced that the match would be continued from the 57th minute. In response to the events, Beşiktaş refused to play in cup, stating that it would boycott the match in protest of the ruling. The Turkish Football Federation later awarded Fenerbahçe a 3–0 win by forfeit over Beşiktaş, also disqualifying Beşiktaş from the tournament and banning them from participating in the 2018–19 season of the Turkish Cup.

Fan's rivalry Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe are among the most popular Turkish clubs; both sides have large fanbases that follow them in domestic and international matches. Football hooliganism is a very common phenomenon between their fans in recent years, featuring anything from breaking seats, cursing, fighting, fireworks and street rioting.

Culture The clubs originate from two different sides of the Bosphorus. Beşiktaş J.K. was founded in the district and municipality of Beşiktaş, located on the European side of Istanbul. Fenerbahçe S.K. was founded in the district of Kadıköy, located in the Asian side of Istanbul. Both clubs naturally draw the majority of their support from the side of the city that they are native to, but maintain a significant majority of support drawn from the remainder of Turkey.

Honours

FenerbahçeCompetitionBeşiktaşDomestic19Süper Lig167Turkish Cup1110Turkish Super Cup1036Total376Turkish National Division (defunct)33Turkish Football Championship (defunct)28Prime Minister's Cup (defunct)61Atatürk Cup (defunct)11Spor Toto Cup (defunct)316Istanbul Football League (defunct)131Istanbul Cup (defunct)236Defunct total3072Total67

Supporters A poll involving 1.4 million people asked for the team they support in Turkey, organized by online gambling website Bilyoner, the poll showed that Galatasaray made up the most fans with 35%, Fenerbahçe came second with 34% and Beşiktaş with came third with 19%.pool made by bilyoner.comHurriyet Newspaper

Istanbul Football League matches