Ziya Songülen

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Nurizade Ziya Songülen (9 September 1886 – 21 August 1936) was a Turkish football pioneer, founder and first president of Fenerbahçe SK. Born in Istanbul, he was a great-grandson of Damat Gürcü Halil Rifat Pasha and his wife Saliha Sultan, an Ottoman princess. His parents were Azize Hanim and Hariciyeci Suad Bey. He studied at Lycée Saint-Joseph and graduated in 1903. While studying in England, he watched football and decided to form a team in Turkey. After returning in 1906, he helped create the first Fenerbahçe squad; the prototype formed in June 1906, with the full team assembled in 1907. He played as a right back for the club and led it as president in 1907–08.

The club's colors were set in 1908 after kit decisions: first, yellow and white kits from Frank Sugg in Liverpool; then, because of weather, he had summer kits made by Baker in Istanbul and chose yellow-navy as Fenerbahçe's colors, which remain today. He also arranged the club's first march, composed by Krikor Sinanian in 1908. Ziya Bey bought the land for Papazın Çayırı, the stadium's site, for 17 Ottoman gold coins. He died in 1936 and was buried at Aşiyan Asri Cemetery in Istanbul.