Ali Sami Yen

Ali Sami Yen, born Ali Sami Frashëri (20 May 1886 – 29 July 1951) was an Albanian-Turkish sports official best known as the founder of the Galatasaray Sports Club. Life Ali Sami Yen was born in Üsküdar (Istanbul), Turkey. He was the son of Sami Frashëri, one of the most famous Albanian writers, philosophers and playwrights. He was a student at the prestigious Galatasaray High School in Istanbul. In October 1905, he decided with some of his fellow students to create a football club. At the beginning, the stated goal was "To play together like Englishmen, to have a color and a name, and to beat the other non-Turkish teams" according to him. Ali Sami Yen founded the colours of Galatasaray, stating, "We were imagining brightness of yellow-red fire over our team and thinking that it would carry us from one victory to another."