Akhisar Belediyespor was founded in 1970 by the merger of three football teams, Güneşspor, Gençlikspor and Doğanspor in Manisa. Yılmaz Atabarut was the founder and the first president of Akhisar Belediyespor. The club competed in the Turkish regional amateur series until 1984, when it was promoted to the TFF Third League, the fourth level in the Turkish football league system. Ten years later, in 1994, they were relegated back to the regional amateur league for one season. In 1995, Akhisar Belediyespor was promoted back to the third league. In the 2000–2001 season, they advanced to the TFF Second League and after nine years there, they were promoted to the TFF First League. They became the champion of the league in their second season which brought them to the highest level of Turkish football, the Süper Lig. In 2012, Akhisar Belediyespor brought in Bruno Mezenga, Çağdaş Atan and Ibrahima Sonko to strengthen their squad. In January 2013, they signed GreekstrikerTheofanis "Fanis" Gekas who went on to score 12 goals for the remainder of the 2012–13 season, and assisted in the effort to keep the club in the division. Akhisar Belediyespor ended on a 14th place in the Süper Lig. In the 2016–17 season, Akhisarspor finished in 7th place on the table, which is the highest position they've been in throughout their history. On 10 May 2018, Akhisarspor won the Turkish Cup, their first title in their history. This qualified them to the UEFA Europa Leaguefor the first time.
Stadium
Akhisar Belediyespor played at the Akhisar Şehir Stadium before being promoted to the Süper Lig in 2012. However, the Akhisar Şehir Stadium was not fit for the standards of the league. Consequently, the club had to ground-share with Manisaspor and use the Manisa 19 Mayis Stadium from 2012 to 2017. The stadium was officially opened in 1974 and was renovated in 2008. In 2014, the construction of Akhisar Belediyespor's new and very own stadium was started. It is called the Spor Toto Akhisar Stadium, and is located in Akhisar.
Stadium history
Colours and Crest
Colours
The official colours of Akhisar Belediyespor are green and black, but the team also use the yellow colour. These three colours represent Güneşspor, Gençlikspor and Doğanspor, respectively. As a fourth colour, the club uses white. Nike has been the kit manufacturer of the team since 2012.
Crest
On the crest of the team you can again find the three colours of Akhisar Belediyespor. On the crest you can see a ball with wings. The ball is white coloured and the wings are yellow coloured. Above and under the ball you can read the words 'Akhisar' in green and 'Belediyespor' with a black background. Under Belediyespor, we can read 'Gençlik ve Spor Kulübü' and '1970' also in black.
Sevilla
Krasnodar
Standard Liège
Yılmaz Vural
Safet Sušić