Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyumu, Turkey (1951–2017)
Trabzonspor Futbol Takımı
The Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyumu was a stadium built in 1951 in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. The name paid tribute to an important physical education teacher in the city, Hüseyin Avni Aker, who helped in the mobilization for the construction of the stadium. Initially, it hosted the matches of the four clubs in the city at the time, İdmanocağı, İdmangücü, Necmiati and Trabzon Lisesi. However, in 1962 the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) proposed that cities merge their top teams into one in order to strengthen the Süper Lig, Turkey’s national championship, which resulted in the foundation of Trabzonspor Futbol Takımı in 1967, with the merger of three of the four clubs in the city (İdmanocağı refused to participate in this movement due to the great rivalry they had with İdmangücü). Thus, from 1967 onwards, the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyumu hosted the matches of Trabzonspor Futbol Takımı, which was born strong in Turkish national football.
Initially, the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyum had a capacity for just 2,400 fans, but with the constant successful campaigns of Trabzonspor, who won the Süper Lig 6 times from 1984 in addition to winning the Turkish Cup 9 times, it had the need to expand the stadium, since more and more the fans for the club were bigger. Therefore, the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyum was renovated several times, the main ones being in 1981, 1994 and 2010, making the stadium reach a capacity of 24,169 fans.
Despite all the renovations, Trabzonspor understood that the club needed a more modern stadium with a greater capacity for the public to match the club’s future ambitions. Therefore, in 2013, the club started the construction of its new stadium, the Şenol Güneş Sports Complex in another region of the city. Trabzonspor continued to play their matches at the Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyumu until January 2017, when the new stadium was ready. The last match at the old stadium took place on January 26, 2017, with a 1–0 victory by Trabzonspor over Konyaspor. After the game, the stadium was closed to be demolished.
