Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium by Keez

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Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium (pronounced as /ʃycɾy saɾat͡ʃoɣɫu/ in Turkish) is a football stadium in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, Turkey, and is the home venue of Fenerbahçe S.K. football club. It was inaugurated in 1908 and renovated between 1999 and 2006. On October 4, 2006, after numerous inspections by the UEFA, Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium was selected to host the 2009 UEFA Cup Final.^[2] The stadium is one of the 5-star UEFA venues in Turkey, together with the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, which is also in Istanbul. After the UEFA Cup Final game in May 2009, construction works will begin to add a retractable roof and further increase the stadium's seating capacity.^[3]

Before Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadyumu was built, the field was known as Papazın Çayırı. The field, however, became the very first football pitch of Turkey, where the first league games of the Istanbul Football League were all held successively. In 1908, local teams of the league needed a regular soccer field, so this land was leased from the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II for 30 Ottoman gold pounds a year. The total construction cost was 3,000 Ottoman gold pounds. The name was changed to the Union Club Field after the club which made the highest donation for the construction.