Kardemir Demir Çelik Karabükspor, known simply as Kardemir Karabükspor or Karabükspor, was a Turkish sports club based in Karabük. The team was founded in 1969 after a merger between "Karabük Gençlikspor" and "Demir Çelik Spor". The club had branches in football, wheelchair basketball and volleyball. The nickname of the club was Mavi Ateş (Blue Flame), based on the unfading blue flames of chimneys from the Kardemir iron-steel works located in the city. As the factory gives name to the club the team was regarded as a blue collar worker's team.[1] The club finances collapsed during the 2017–18 Süper Lig season, setting the club on a path of constant relegation, losing almost every game as they could play nothing but amateur youth players. The club became unable to field teams and were ultimately banned from the amateur leagues which lead to dissolution as a club.
In 2023 a form of successor phoenix club was created under the name Karabük İdman Yurdu. Adatepe Dökecekspor, an amateur club also in Karabük, won promotion to the Regional Amateur League. Before the 2023/24 season began, to better represent the city the club leadership elected to change the name to Karabük İdman Yurdu (Karabük Sports Club). There was also an adjustment of their match kit, team colours and logo to add the red stripes of the original Kardemir side.
History
Foundation and early history
In the year 1938, Azmi Tılabar, the head manager of the Turkishiron-steel industry, founded DÇ Gençlik Kulübü; DÇ Youth Club with grey-blue colours. In these times, the trainer of the football team was an English engineer Mr. Lain. The trainer of athleticism was Turkish athleteFaik Önen. Moreover, Mersinli Ahmet and Yaşar Doğu were trainers of wrestling. During the 1940s, Karabükspor became a symbol in cycling, tennis, and wrestling around Turkey. Starting in the 1950s, the "Karabük Gençlikspor" joined "DÇ Gençlik Kulübü" and finally, the club got its colours as red-blue.
The 1990s
In the last game of the 1993–94 season against Zeytinburnuspor, Karabükspor relegated from the Süper Lig. Karabükspor promoted to the top tier after winning the promotion play-off in the 1996–97 season. Karabükspor finished 8th in 1997–98. The next season, however, was disastrous for them as they again relegated to the second level. Karabükspor relocated to the Second League B Category in the 2001–02 season.
The 2017–18 Süper Lig season was a disaster for the club and resulted in their relegation. Erkan Sözeri resigned following poor early performances. On 1 October 2017 the club appointed Australian coach Tony Popovic to run the side. His stint in charge lasted 2 months, during which time the entire board quit the club. Popovic was replaced by Levent Açıkgöz, who was himself sacked on 21 March 2018 and replaced by Ünal Karaman. The coaching changes, financial ruin and poor performances all contributed to the club finishing in last place with only three wins and three draws for the entire season.
Relegation Freefall
With no money and little in the way of talent to sell, the clubs precarious financial position required them to use low paid youth players and this saw Karabükspor suffer back to back relegations. They finished last in the 2018/19 TFF First League, winning no games, drawing only three and suffering a negative 102 goal difference. They finished the season with zero points after a 3-point administrative penalty was assessed on the club.
The 2019/20 season, where the club competed in the 3rd tier TFF Second League saw a brief respite from relegation as the Turkish government suspended all the leagues due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, with relegations cancelled for the season.
They continued their plunge down the pyramid with another last place finish, in the 2020/21 season. They scored just one win and three draws, while another 3 point administrative penalty had them end the season on only 3 points. They were relegated into the fourth tier TFF Third League system.
Their season in the 4th tier did not see any improvement, and the side were relegated once again, this time into the 5th tier amateur league system.
In October 2022, the club was unable to field a team two games in a row due to player shortages, a situation which was punished by an automatic relegation to the 6th tier amateur league system. The team were then dissolved.
Karabük İdman Yurdu successor club
Fellow local side Adatepe Dökecekspor have since renamed itself to Karabük İdman Yurdu after winning a promotion in 2022/23. Following that season they changed the name, colours, shirt & logo to be similar to what Kardemir Karabükspor used to use. They play at the same Dr. Necmettin Şeyhoğlu Stadium.
Note: In the 2019/20 season all relegations were postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic causing the cancellation of the season, while promotions continued as normal. Additional relegation slots were added to the 2020–21 season to rebalance the size of the leagues for the 2021/22 season.
The club were sponsored by the Kardemir company and the Iron workers unions from whom they draw a lot of their support, making it a club with true working class identity.[7] Their ultra group is called Mavi Ateş (Blue Flame) and their motto is, Dumanlı kentin puslu çocukları (Sons of the smoky city).[8] They continued to support the club despite the ongoing difficulty before it dissolved and many continue to support the phoenix club that plays at the same stadium. These supporters include Çelik-iş Sendikası, the labor union of the workers in Kardemir Iron & Steel Works.
