Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division of Turkish football for 16 years until they were relegated. After being out of the Süper Lig for 12 years the club won the TFF First League playoffs and were promoted in May 2008. Since being relegated from the Süper Lig in 2016 they have competed in lower leagues.
History
Early years
Eskişehirspor was founded by merging the regional teams of İdman Yurdu, Akademi Gençlik and Yıldıztepe and was admitted to the Second League in the 1965–1966 season. The team was promoted to the First League in its first professional season. Eskişehirspor became one of the better historically rich Anatolian clubs despite having never won the Süper Lig between 1968 and 1975. They were runners-up in 1968–1969, 1969–1970, and 1971–1972 seasons. Eskişehirspor won the Turkish Cup in the 1969–1970 season by beating Bursaspor by 4–3 (1–2, 3–1) aggregate and a year after that in 1970–1971 season they lifted the Cumhurbaskanligi Kupasi (President Cup) by beating Galatasaray once again by the same scoreline 3–2 with all goals coming from the Eskişehirspor legend himself Fethi Heper.
Unforgettable match
One of Eskişehirspor's greatest matches took place in the 1970–71 UEFA Cup against Sevilla FC. Eskişehirspor lost the away leg 1–0, but Fethi Heper won it for them 3–2, scoring a hat-trick in front of a home crowd with only 10 minutes left to play.
1980s and 1990s
After that, they started to slowly lose their success. Eskişehirspor relegated to Second League in 1981–82 season after an eventful match against Beşiktaş at Round 34, which was also last round. The match was halted at 78th minute due to intemperance of Eskişehirspor's supporters, when after Beşiktaş's midfielder Ziya's goal at 76th minute, and match score was changed to 2–1 for Beşiktaş. Eskişehirspor was announced 3–0 unanimously lost by TFF and relegated as 1 point behind of Gaziantepspor. Also, Beşiktaş finished their championship yearning since 1967. Eskişehirspor returned 1st League in 1983–84 season. They reached Federation Cup final in 1986–87 season but lost against Gençlerbirliği by 6–2 aggregate. They won Chancellor Cup against Beşiktaş after penalty shoots as 4–2, total 6–4. This match was resulted 2–2.
They relegated again Second League after 1–0 lost against Galatasaray, which goal scored by Tanju at Round 38, which was also last round in 1988–89 season. Eskişehirspor collected 41 points and remained behind of Altay by average. They relegated to Third League once after finishing third from last at Group A of 2nd League in 1991–92 season. However, they returned to Second League next season after finishing 1st at Group 5 of Third League.
Eskişehirspor finished 1st at 3rd Group in Second League and qualified for Promotion Group in 1994–95 season. They finished 3rd and qualified to Extra Playoff. They defeated successively Erzurumspor as 2–1, Adanaspor as 3–2, which after extra time and Aydınspor as 2–1 and returned to First League. Eskişehirspor's new adventure at First League lasted only one season and relegated after 7-1 losing against Trabzonspor despite a good start against İstanbulspor and this match finished 3–1 for Eskişehirspor. Eskişehirspor qualified to Promotion Playoff but didn't return to First League in 1997–98. They escaped from relegation to Third League danger and Petrolofisi relegated in 1998–99 season. Eskişehirspor finally qualified to Second League Category B (later Second League), who is third level of Turkish League, after 2000–2001 season.
Back to the Süper Lig
Eskişehirspor finished 1st in 3rd Group of Iddaa League B and played in Promotion Group in 2005–2006 season. They finished 3rd behind of Kasımpaşa and Gençlerbirliği Asaşspor and qualified for Extra Playoff matches. Eskişehirspor's first play off match was against Kardemir Karabükspor. After regular and extra time the match ended in a 0–0 draw. Eskişehirspor advanced to quarter final game after beating them 3–1 in the penalty shoot out. They also defeated Sarıyer after 6–5 in the penalty shoot out. Regular and extra time the match ended in a 0–0 draw before penalty shoot out. They defeated 3–0 Kartalspor in semifinal and Pendikspor in final and promoted to First League. Eskişehirspor finished 13th in 2006–2007 season. After a successful season in the Bank Asya First League, Eskişehirspor finished in 4th place and qualified for the playoffs in 2007–2008 season. The playoffs determine who is going to take the third and final promotion spot for the Süper Lig.