Kayserispor

Football in Kayseri had several amateur clubs by the 1930s; among them Erciyes Gençlik (est. 1937) and Erciyesspor are repeatedly mentioned in local historical publications.

In the mid-1960s, Orhan Şeref Apak’s TFF policy aimed to spread professional football to Anatolia and organise a nationwide second tier. Following local meetings in Kayseri, representatives agreed to merge Erciyesspor, Sanayispor and Ortaanadoluspor under the Kayserispor name. The club held its general assembly and was officially founded on 1 July 1966.

Kayserispor entered the newly created 2.Lig in 1966–67. The first manager was Erdoğan Gürhan. Contemporary retrospectives record that the first official match was played in Kayseri against Ankara Toprakspor, with Yener Kurgil scoring in the 17th minute—considered the first goal in club history. Kayserispor finished its debut season 10th in the 2.Lig (Beyaz Grup), with a 9W–9D–12L record.

Following the late-1980s restructure, the police-affiliated side in the city competed as Kayseri Emniyetspor. After the General Directorate of Security moved to withdraw police teams from national leagues, a civilian board took over and the club adopted the Kayseri Erciyesspor name.

Across the 1990s the team operated under municipal ownership with successive name changes documented in federation records: Büyükşehir Belediye Erciyesspor (1992–96), Melikgazi Belediyesi Erciyesspor (1997–99) and Hacılar Erciyesspor (1999–2001). Hacılar Erciyesspor won Group 3 of the 3. Lig in 1999–2000 and moved up to the 2. Lig. They later secured promotion positions from the 2003–04 2. Lig (Category A), earning a place in the top flight.

On 9 July 2004, a general assembly in Kayseri approved the switch of name, badge and colors: the promoted Erciyesspor took the Kayserispor identity, while the other side continued as Kayseri Erciyesspor. Early in that first season, manager Hüsnü Özkara departed after seven league matches and Hikmet Karaman took over; the team avoided relegation with a 14th-place finish.

Under Ertuğrul Sağlam, Kayserispor finished fifth in the 2005–06 Süper Lig, while striker Gökhan Ünal won the league’s top-scorer award with 25 goals in 32 matches.

The club entered the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2006, defeating Sopron and AEL to become one of the competition’s eleven “joint winners”, which qualified them for the UEFA Cup. In the UEFA Cup they beat Tirana in the second qualifying round and were eliminated by AZ in the first round (3–4 aggregate).

Kayserispor placed fifth again in 2006–07. Sağlam then left to manage Beşiktaş in June 2007, and Tolunay Kafkas was appointed. Under Kafkas, Kayserispor earned a third straight fifth-place league finish and won the 2008 Turkish Cup, defeating Gençlerbirliği on penalties in the final.

Robert Prosinečki was appointed head coach on 15 October 2012; Kayserispor finished fifth in 2012–13 before being relegated the following season. Kayserispor returned immediately as champions of the 2014–15 TFF First League, clinching the title with a 3–0 win away to Elazığspor.

At the end of 2019, board member Berna Gözbaşı was elected club president, becoming the first woman to lead a men’s top-flight club in Turkey.

In the 2021–22 season the club introduced a light-blue third kit featuring Seljuk motifs and an “Autism Awareness” mark, presented as a community-awareness design by the club, in accordance with corporate social responsibility (CSR). The team reached the final of the 2021–22 Turkish Cup, losing 3–2 after extra time to Sivasspor at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.

Following a general assembly in December 2022, Ali Çamlı became club president; he was re-elected in June 2024 and again in September 2024. On the pitch, Kayserispor finished 9th in 2022–23 and reached the Turkish Cup quarter-finals. In 2023–24 the club placed 14th.

There were several coaching changes across these seasons: Recep Uçar was appointed in September 2023, followed by Burak Yılmaz on a two-and-a-half-year contract in January 2024; Yılmaz resigned in September 2024. Sinan Kaloğlu took charge in October 2024, and in January 2025 Sergej Jakirović was appointed head coach on a 1.5-year deal. Under Jakirović, Kayserispor put together an unbeaten run in early 2025 and climbed clear of the bottom places.

Keeping the club clear of relegation at the end of the 2024–25 season, Jakirović's additional one year option contract was exercised. Days later Hull City announced him as their new head coach on a two-year deal. Kayserispor then reached a deal with German coach Markus Gisdol and completed a two-year contract following an official signing ceremony on 22 June 2025.