In the process that began with the proposal of the 1907 Association and the announcement by President Ali Koç that they would start work, there was great enthusiasm in the yellow-blue community. Koç stated that they would consult the Saracoğlu family on this matter.
Yılmaz Saracoğlu, son of Şükrü Saracoğlu, who was the fifth Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey and chaired Fenerbahçe Sports Club for 16 years, made the following statement to Milliyet:
“We, as a family, would be honored. Atatürk’s name in the stadium makes us happy. We all love Atatürk very much. Atatürk is our great leader. My father Şükrü Saracoğlu loved Mustafa Kemal Atatürk very much. Atatürk also loved my father, they worked together.” We have a memory. My father, Şükrü Saracoğlu, held three important positions during the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He served as Education Minister, Court Deputy and Finance Deputy during Atatürk’s time. Later, after 1938, he was Foreign Minister and Prime Minister.” She said.
Yılmaz Saracoğlu added that he always follows Fenerbahçe closely and reads the Atatürk and Fenerbahçe remembrance page published in Milliyet newspaper with interest.
”He loved FENERBAHÇE”
Yılmaz Saracoğlu stated that his father Şükrü Saracoğlu loved Fenerbahçe very much and always showed great interest in his presidency.
Sharing an unforgettable memory, Saracoğlu used the following expressions: “My father used to attend a match there when he was Fenerbahçe president and also prime minister. Esat Kaner, Fenerbahçe’s right-hand man at the time, was injured in a match he attended. Of course, there were no ambulances or paramedics so in that moment. He makes sure that Esat Kaner is taken to the hospital. My father always came home half an hour after the games. However, that day was 2 hours, we did not come and wondered. It turns out that after the game he went to Esat Kaner at Numune hospital and took care of his condition.My father Fenerbahce”He loved him very much”.
“DEAR LIGHTNING HAS NOT FORGOT”
Yılmaz Saracoğlu, who also explained that the name of Fenerbahçe’s stadium was Aziz Yıldırım’s Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in 1998, “Aziz Yildirim made a suggestion in a meeting before he was even president. Aziz Yildirim, Osman Yalçın and Köksal Ozbek wanted the name of the stadium to be Şükrü Saracoğlu. In those days, this was not accepted. But when Aziz Bey was elected president in 1998 one of his first actions was to name the stadium after my father, this move made us happy, because he hasn’t forgotten it.” She said.
IT HAS A GREAT PLACE IN HISTORY
Şükrü Saracoğlu has great importance in the history of Fenerbahçe. Saracoğlu, the president of Fenerbahçe for 16 years between 1934 and 1950, brought the stadium to Fenerbahçe Club on May 27, 1932, with the support of Kenan Onan, on the condition of paying 9 thousand TL in 10 months. Thus, Fenerbahçe achieved the distinction of being the first club to own a stadium in Turkey thanks to Şükrü Saracoğlu.
Similarly, his support of Fenerbahçe after the eventful Fenerbahçe-Galatasaray match played on 23 February 1934 made Saracoğlu a great symbol of the club. Under the presidency of Şükrü Saracoğlu, the yellow-blue team won 21 trophies in football.
