For Nilüfer Belediyespor, 2025-2026 was a season that left its mark on every front it competed in. The Bursa side signalled its intentions the moment the calendar opened.
In the Men's Super Cup final held in Ankara in August, Nilüfer Belediyespor faced Beşiktaş and went into the locker room leading 18-17; with regulation time finishing level at 33-33, the trophy was decided on 7-metre throws, and the Bursa side claimed victory 37-36. Goalkeeper Mehmet Emre, a wall between the posts, was named the final's most valuable player as the club celebrated its first-ever Super Cup title.
The season's most talked-about chapter, however, was written in Europe. In the round of 16 of the EHF European Men's Cup, the Bursa side risked being stopped in their tracks by Czech outfit SKKP Handball Brno, but overturned a three-goal deficit from the away leg in the return fixture at Üçevler; a 32-28 home win gave them a 58-57 aggregate victory and a place in the last eight. The result marked a milestone, delivering the club its first-ever European quarterfinal.
Their last-eight opponent was Hungary's storied MOL Tatabánya. Nilüfer Belediyespor played the first leg away, trailing 15-12 at half-time before sharing the goals to close out a 31-31 draw, carrying the advantage back to Bursa. Yet in the return leg at Üçevler, in front of a packed home crowd, the hosts fell 37-35 amid costly lapses at key moments and the shadow of contentious decisions, letting a semifinal berth slip away at the last moment. Even so, the fight the team put up was the kind that had everyone in the arena on their feet.
On the domestic front, the Bursa side kept its consistency intact, finishing its play-off campaign just behind Beşiktaş in second place. The black-and-whites secured a third straight and 19th overall title with two rounds to spare, while İlknur Kurtuluş's cohesive squad largely delivered on the "hold your ground, contest the final" course it had set at the start of the season.
The Bursa club is preparing to enter the new season having largely preserved the core of this success story; however, the departures of Genco İlanç, Gökay Bilim and Mertcan Kenaryol to Spor Toto will leave a gap the squad will feel. We will cover the details of the transfer activity in a separate report.
