Istanbul Cavaliers was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The team was a semi-pro club team in the national Türkiye Korumalı Futbol Ligi (TKFL, American Football First League of Turkey). It was founded in 2005. The team's head coach was Hayden Flowers for 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons with the success of one championship and one runner-up record at national level, his successor John Douglas Harper coached the team for 2011-2012 season. Its colors were navy and white. The team practiced at the athletic fields of Maltepe and Fikirtepe, Göztepe on the Asian part of Istanbul. The club had three teams, A-team, B-team and U19 team. In the 2005–06 season, the team finished 5th in the league. In the 2006–07 season, the team made the

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

s by finishing second place in the regular season in the Istanbul Conference, before it was eliminated by the Ege Dolphins 20–14 in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

in May 2007. In the 2007–08 season, the Cavaliers were eliminated in regular-season competition, and the team did not make to the playoffs. In the 2008–09 season, the Cavaliers had a 7–2 run, and qualified for the playoffs. The team played the 2008–09 season final but lost to

Boğaziçi Sultans Boğaziçi Sultans is Turkey's first American football team, founded in 1987 at the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Formerly named as ''Bogaziçi Elephants'', the team improved their game by practicing with American soldiers, and played their f ...

22–20, finishing as the runner-up. In the 2009–10 season, the team won the championship title after a very exciting bowl game against

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

team

Gazi Warriors Gazi Warriors is the American football team of Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded in 1998 by a few students, and competes in the American Football First league of Turkey, American Football First League of Turkey and American Footb ...

, with a score of 18–13. The team finished the regular season in the top spot with a 7–1 record. In 2008, the Cavaliers won against the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n Team Sofia 28–0 in a friendly match in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

after winning by 22–16 in Istanbul. The team folded in 2012.

References

American football teams in Turkey Sport in Istanbul American football teams established in 2005 2005 establishments in Turkey Sports clubs and teams in Istanbul American football teams in Istanbul {{Americanfootball-team-stub