Sunday in Istanbul left us with 3 different options, we considered taking in a couple of games but the sheer size of the city and distances between stadiums meant we’d have no time to appreciate the many sights on offer. We rejected the relegation battle of Istanbulspor vs Alanyaspor due to painfully low attendances, with only 10% of their 7,500 seater stadium normally utilised.
We also turned down the high flying 1. Lig leaders Eyüpspor as I’d visited the area before and we thought we’d try something different. We plumped for the final option of the intriguing club İstanbul Başakşehir, often referred to as Erdoğan FC after the controversial Turkish President.
The later kick off also allowed for us squeeze in some sightseeing before partaking in any football watching. After the previous night’s exploits I wasn’t feeling 100% but what better remedy than an ice cream and a boat trip.
Perfect weather
To our great pleasure we were greeted with a beautiful crisp sunny morning which gave an added freshness to the journey across the water. On landing, we headed across a bridge heaving with fisherman catching their Sunday dinners from the Bosphorus before arriving at the main tourist area of Istanbul, Sultanahmet.
Within minutes you arrive at the stalls selling the usual things before stumbling across the mother of all markets. Kapalı Çarşı, better known to the rest of the world as the Grand Bazaar, it is a stunning mix of all things Turkish which has been supplying the locals with a place to shop since the mid 15th century.
Gloriously presented, pristine and brightly coloured where the shopkeepers pop out to offer you all sorts of Turkish Delights, literally. The kind of place you’d want to come back to with an empty suitcase and return home with a bag full of treats. Don’t get me wrong, it can be quite overwhelming but if you’re in the mood for souvenir shopping then this has everything you could ever need.
Sultanahmet
As we moved on towards the real jewels of Istanbul we passed the Basilica Cistern which I had the pleasure of visiting on a previous trip. An underground display of beauty that has remarkably been there for over 1500 years. Just another 150m on, you will find the awe inspiring Hagia Sophia, completed by the Eastern Roman Empire in a mind-blowing 537 AD. During its existence the building has been an Orthodox Church, a Catholic Church, a Mosque, a Museum and now once again it is an active mosque.
The stunning architecture continues just across the square with the relatively new Blue Mosque at a mere 400 years old, built by Sultan Ahmed to rival the great Hagia Sophia. A classical building from the Ottoman Empire who ruled Turkey from 1453 until Turkish independence in 1923.
Incredible History
Added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1985, the Blue Mosque is just part of this picturesque area, there is also Topkapi Palace, a tranquil park and numerous other stunning buildings. It is well worth spending a day or two around here, but we’re not here for tourism. We’re here for football!
We didn’t enter the buildings on this occasion but preferred to sit around people watching and savouring the vibes of such a lively area. As we left we made our way past a Free Palestine protest and jumped in an Uber to our next destination.
For a mere £15 we set off on the 45 minute drive across the city, such a handy way to get around making all stadiums in the city accessible. We arrived in good time and picked up tickets which our friend Ogulcan has assisted us with purchasing the day before. I don’t usually purchase much more than a keyring in the club shop, a scarf at a push but given the prices here it would be rude not to pick up the orange home strip for a bargain £15.
Around the stadium were just a couple of restaurants which didn’t sell beer so we headed straight inside. Not the simplest process given our inability to read the Turkish tickets but we got there in the end. Eventually with a bit of perserverance we found our spot inside the sparsely populated Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium.
Interesting name
The 17,000 seater stadium was built 10 years ago and named after one of the great Turkish football managers, still a bit random as he neither played for nor managed Başakşehir. He was national team manager at the time of construction and it seems a potential plan for him to manage both Turkey and Başakşehir never came to fruition so all round a rather strange situation.
This is just one part of Başakşehirs controversial and interesting existence. A relatively new club formed in 1990, after 2 years they jumped up from the amateur ranks and within 17 years they were playing Super Lig football. The new stadium’s inaugural match featured a cameo from Recep Tayyip Erdogan, former local mayor and now the 12th president of Turkey.
On a shortened pitch, he helped himself to a 15 minute hat trick, in fairness to him the second was actually a top finish but the third was truly laughable. The defender appeared to sub himself off midway through the attack and the keeper did well to get out of the way of the ball, even the president himself looked a bit sheepish after that one. It was only right that after such a stellar performance the number 12 shirt should be retired.
The opening of the stadium had come not long after the club was bought by owners with strong links to the ‘justice and development party’ of which Erdogan was the leader hence his presence. Many believe picking up such a small unsupported team was as an affront to the Big 3 and their fans who had united against Erdogan and his regime in the Gezi Park riots the year before.
Strong Political Influences
Supported by the Government, investment bought a plethora of former top level players, Emmanuel Adedbayor, Gael Clichy and Robinho as well Turkish stars at the opposite ends of their careers in Emre Belozoglu and Cengiz Under. After 5 consecutive top 4 finishes, their time finally came in 2020.
Ironically the lack of fans and any atmosphere due to Covid gave them a level playing field. This wasn’t far off their usual playing environment and as the bigger teams missed their fans giving Başakşehir the chance to take the Turkish title which they welcomed with open arms. Only the 6th team to do so in the leagues 65 year history after the Big 3, Trabzonspor and Bursaspor.
European recognition
The club hit further fame across Europe later in 2020 when a comical Demba Ba goal helped them to beat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United in the Champions League. Fighting on 2 fronts was a struggle and they finished the season in 12th but have since returned to their usual Top 5 finishes.
Going forward Başakşehir promote themselves as a long term sustainable club without the fan pressure to sack players and managers on a whim based on short term performance. They also intend to continue promoting the club to the youth in the community and establish a new style of support in Istanbul.
Back to the day’s action and we had prime spot just behind the managers for not much more than a fiver. However it was probably the worst seat in the house as the ‘Grey Owls’ were bringing the noise to the arena in the tier above but we couldn’t see any of their antics.
Başakşehir went into the game still in the relegation zone after a horrible start to the season, recent form had seen a little uptick and they were hoping to build on that against mid table Hatayaspor. Their 100 strong travelling support had made the 1000km + journey were looking to see their team solidify their mid table position.
The hunt for young fans and growing the local support didn’t seem in great flow with a mere 1,566 turning out to show their support. For context, half of the clubs in English Footballs 5th tier would find that a disappointing turn out.
Early lead
To their credit, undeterred by their lack of numbers, the home fans created a lively atmosphere. Despite not having the big name stars that we saw on offer at Besiktas vs Fenebahce the night before, they cheered on their main man Krzysztof Piatek to lay one on a plate for Mehdi Abeid to tuck home his second of the season. The respective league positions began to show as the visitors played themselves into the game, hitting the post and missing a couple of sitters before the half time break.
Still struggling to shake off last night’s hangover, i headed off to see what refreshments were on offer. I instantly regretted not taking the lads up on the suggestion of a tasty looking sandwich, I did, however opt for the yoghurt based drink, even just writing it seems it was destined for failure.
Silviri Arslan, possibly one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted, the clue was in the name. A complete contrast to the effect of Salep from the previous day’s action. I ended up missing the first 10 minutes of the second half cowering in a toilet cubicle before I finally felt like I wasn’t going to be sick.
Turns out I didn’t miss a great deal, Hatayaspor had the better of the second half but struggled make it pay. On 94 minutes they were offered a lifeline as a lengthy VAR review culminated in an annoyingly soft penalty for the away side and a second yellow for centre back Jerome Epoku. Up stepped Azerbaijani international Renat Dadasov to even up the scoreline…but no, a tamely hit penalty left former Turkish International Volkan Babacan an easy save to make, sending what home support there was into raptures as they secured a much needed 3 points.
Time for a beer
An exciting finish to the game but we were glad to get out of there as the temperature had plummeted after the sun went down. Attempts to find a post-match beer were almost chuckled at by a couple of young lads due to the nature of the area. Heavily Muslim and no sign of a bar to be found anywhere, so we headed back to the comfort of one of Istanbul’s most well-known Irish Pubs, James Joyce.
We enjoyed the familiarity of the Premier League on TV as Tottenham gave Newcastle a good spanking. After gathering myself together I finally managed to face a pint of Weihenstephan. As always, regardless of the potential local culinary delights on offer, Lee fancied a curry. So we walked through the busy streets of Turkish restaurants to find a quiet empty Indian. I expressed my disagreement of our choice, unfortunately in earshot of the owner who got his revenge by proceeding to blow my head off with a buttered chicken of all things.
Back across the river in Kadikoy we sampled another Weihenstephans surrounded by the friendliest and best looked after stray dogs you will ever find. One last beer turned into several as the rock bar we found ourselves in turned out to be a great spot for one final blast before finishing our Turkish experience.
Fortunate Timing
Our trip turned out to be perfectly timed as the final game of the weekend was to take the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Referee Halil Umut Meler was attacked after a 97th minute equaliser by Rizespor vs Ankaragucu. He was not only punched to the ground by Ankaragucu president, Faruk Koca, but more club officials got stuck in and proceeded to kick him while he was down leaving the referee hospitalised.
Former politician Koca is still a member of Erdogans justice and development party. The incident highlights the levels of distrust and chaos not only in Turkish football but politics as well and the continued negative influence of politicians that is blighting the Turkish game.
As a result football was suspended at all levels in Turkey and didn’t return for 9 days. A truly lucky escape as any groundhoppers traveling the week after us would have had a wasted journey.
As with all my videos I will rate Başakşehir as a footy trip out of 100 across 10 categories
Team Ability – Regular top 5 finishers in Europe’s 9th best league, currently 62nd in UEFA club co-efficient either side of Slovan Bratislava and Molde – 5/10
Atmosphere – In fairness to them, given the small number of fans they made a decent noise but there is little more damaging to an atmosphere than a near empty stadium and even the Istanbul derbies fail to sell out – 4/10
Stadium Quality – Actually a really nice stadium, only 10 years old and part of a nice training complex. However, no real character, stories or history leave it hard to score highly – 4/10
Beer/Food at stadium – Admittedly I was hungover but one of the worst drinks I’ve ever tasted. Not a sniff of a beer and I stupidly missed out on the only decent thing available – 3/10
Tourism – Although part of one of the most unique cities in the world it is a fair trek out from the areas of interest but still achievable – 6/10
Accessibility – Istanbul is surprisingly cheap to get to and good value on arrival, a bit of a mooch out to Başakşehir but cheap enough in a taxi – 5/10
People – Few interactions to write about but the people around the ground were pretty happy to help us and practice their English – 7/10
Stadium Surroundings – Very little going on, way out from the centre and not a beer in sight. A couple of restaurants would give some form of activity if arriving early – 4/10
History – Only 34 years old and funded by the Government, they have won the title and played Champions League football but they don’t hold much of a place in the hearts of football fans – 3/10
Ease/Cost of ticket purchase – Full marks for availability of tickets but actually getting them is an awkward process due to the painful Passolig system which is thankfully on its last legs – 6/10
Total – 47/100
Overall not somewhere that ranks highly as a place for a Footy Trip. In such a competitive area there are plenty of better options in the heart of the city. The lack of history, enthusiasm and football culture put it low on the list of teams to visit in Istanbul for a Footy Trip.
Either way, an absolute pleasure as always to travel around the world enjoying the delights on offer, thanks again for joining me and until the next footy trip, take it easy