The club was founded on 1 June 1963 after Acar İdman Yurdu, Akınspor, İstiklal, Pınarspor and Çelikspor were merged to form a single club, Bursaspor. Green and white were chosen as the club colours, and the club entered the 2. Lig in 1963. Their first match took place on 21 September 1963 against Demirspor in Izmir.
Bursaspor were promoted to the Süper Lig after winning the 1966–67 2. Lig Beyaz Grup (Second League, White Group). They won 19 of their 30 matches, finishing with 45 points, eight ahead of second placed Samsunspor. They were relegated to the 2. Lig (second division) in 1985-86 and were relegated again in 1986–87 season, but their relegations were revoked due to winning the Turkish Cup in 1986 and a Turkish Council of State verdict in 1987.Their most recent relegation came in 2004. They gained promotion back into the Süper Lig after winning the Second League in May 2006.
Bursaspor won their first major cup in 1971, beating Fenerbahçe 1–0 after extra time in the now-defunct Prime Minister's Cup. Because Fenerbahçe had won the league and cup in 1973-74, Bursaspor, as 1974 Cup runners up, were given a place in the 1974-75 European Cup Winners' Cup. Bursaspor reached the quarter-finals, beating Finn Harps F.C. and Dundee United F.C., before falling to eventual champions FC Dynamo Kyiv. The club's first Turkish Cup win came in 1986 when they defeated Altay SK 2–0 in the finals.The club therefore qualified for the 1986-87 European Cup Winners' Cup, losing to eventual champions Ajax in the first round.
The club won its first Süper Lig title in 2010 after finishing with 75 points, one point ahead of the runners-up Fenerbahçe.Bursaspor became the second club outside Istanbul to win a Süper Lig title, joining Trabzonspor who won the first of their six titles in 1976. Before winning their first Süper Lig title in 2009–10, Bursaspor had never finished inside the top three. They won their first title in Ertuğrul Sağlam's first full season as manager of the club. Pablo Batalla and Ozan İpek were the club's joint top scorers with eight goals apiece. Bursaspor is the fourth football club in Turkey to start a television channel dedicated to their club.
