Founded in 1907, Fenerbahce opened its doors to basketball seven years later, but waited decades until it claimed its first titles. Fenerbahce was the Turkish national champion in 1957, 1959 and 1965 before the Turkish League was formally founded in 1966. Fener, as it is popularly known among fans, also made EuroLeague appearances each year following the titles, but a quarter-century passed before the club experienced more success. Fenerbahce beat Tofas for the 1991 Turkish League title, returned to the Turkish League finals in 1992, 1993 and 1995 and finished third in 1998 to qualify for the EuroLeague. With a strong team featuring Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Marko Milic, Ibrahim Kutluay and Conrad McRae, Fenerbahce advanced to the playoff eighthfinals before losing to Real Madrid. The club reached the Korac Cup quarterfinals in 1996 and 2001 and ranked fourth in the 2005 FIBA Europe League, but it wasn't until the summer of 2006 that the team became a European powerhouse. That's when Fenerbahce merged with Ulker, one of the winningest clubs in Turkish basketball history, which had won four Turkish League titles between 1995 and 2006 with Harun Erdenay, Kutluay, Michael Anderson, Orhun Ene, Mirsad Turkcan and Serkan Erdogan among its many stars. Ulker made the Top 16 for five consecutive seasons between 2002 and 2006 and reached the 2005 EuroLeague Playoffs where it lost to CSKA Moscow. In the first two years of the new Fenerbahce Ulker, the team won the Turkish League and qualified for the EuroLeague Playoffs in 2008. Emir Preldzic, Turkcan, Omer Onan and Roko Ukic helped Fenerbahce win Turkish League and Cup doubles in 2010 and 2011 and the club won another Cup in 2013. With the arrival of Coach Zeljko Obradovic came another Turkish championship in 2014 and a year later Fenerbahce made history by reaching its first EuroLeague Final Four. However, its memorable run was halted in the semifinals by eventual champion Real Madrid. That turned out to be a title-free campaign, but Fenerbahce made up for that in 2015-16 when it made the first of three consecutive EuroLeague championship game appearances. Though it lost an overtime thriller against CSKA, the team won another domestic double. The 2016-17 season was a historic one as Fener became the first Turkish team to win the EuroLeague, forever changing the face of the club. Coach Obradovic's men swept Panathinaikos Athens in the playoffs behind a red-hot Bogdan Bogdanovic. At the Final Four in Istanbul, Ekpe Udoh took the lead as Fenerbahce rolled past Real Madrid in the semifinal and Olympiacos Piraeus in the championship game. Udoh earned Final Four MVP honors and Obradovic conquered his ninth EuroLeague title with a fifth different team. The celebrations saw millions of Fenerbahce fans partying throughout the world. Fenerbahce used the momentum and went on to sweep its way through the Turkish League playoffs. Led by Sloukas, Vesely, Datome and Nikola Kalinic, Fenerbahce reached the 2018 EuroLeague championship game against Real and the 2019 Final Four. It also lifted a third consecutive Turkish League trophy in 2018 and claimed the Turkish Cup in 2019. Fenerbahce also forced a Game 7 in the 2019 Turkish League finals, but Efes prevailed. In the 2018-19 EuroLeague, Fenerbahce ranked first in the regular season with an unprecedented 25-5 record and overcame a challenge from Zalgiris Kaunas to reach its fifth consecutive Final Four. Injuries disrupted the team's preparation for the games in Vitoria-Gasteiz and Fenerbahce was abruptly stopped by Anadolu Efes Istanbul, 73-92, in the semifinal. Sloukas was chosen to that season's All-EuroLeague First Team alongside Vesely. Last season, Fenerbahce added another Turkish Cup and had overcome a slow start when the 2019-20 campaign was canceled. Fenerbahce's motto, Never Enough, says it all; this team will always be hungry for success.
Trophy Case
EuroLeague: 2016-17 |
Turkish National League: 1990-91, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 |
Turkish National Cup: 1967, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2020 |
Turkish President Cup: 1990, 1991, 1994, 2007, 2013, 2016 |