My Trip To Watch Fernebahce vs Galatasaray

I got there on the thursday, dropped my stuff off at the hotel and straight to find tickets for Besiktas vs Athletico Madrid in the UEFA cup. Thankfully there were still a few hundred tickets left so we managed to get them for less than £25.
The first thing that impressed me about the locals in Istanbul was their passion for football. I've been to a few countries watching football, including Italy and Spain but the Turks absolutely LOVE football. I didn't meet anyone who didn't know who Cardiff City were! (when you think that just over 10 years ago not everyone in england knew who cardiff city were this is some acheivement )
The ground started to fill up about an hour before kick off and the atmosphere was unreal. There's no singing section cos THE WHOLE GROUND SINGS! I mean it was absolutely rocking! Besiktas started the game 3-1 down from the first leg and after about 20 minutes they were 4-1 down and the tie was over, but this didn't stop the fans, who sang continuously for about 3 hours. The truth is, i was in awe at what i witnessed and i came away devastated that football in Britain has lost it's soul!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUnNSKOm ... BZtLzAcpU=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT84Wwep ... HJOebvUvU=

The next few days i tried to get tickets for the Derby but it was sold out so my only option was to find a tout. I was getting quoted prices like £800 which was out of my price range.
On the saturday we decided to head up to the ground 5 hours before kick off when it was quiet to increase our chances of getting a ticket. When we got there, we were amazed to see that it was rammed outside the ground with about 40000 fans there! 5 HOURS BEFORE KICK OFF. It was a party atmosphere with flares going off etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfNJijHj ... HJOebvUvU=

I almost got caught out as i was looking for a ticket. I asked some local gypos (i didn't know at the time) and they said they could get tickets. Before we knew it along came their heavy's and there were loads of them. They asked me to go down the lane away from the police, so i thought f**k it, if i dont try now it might be my only chance. I got half way down the lane and i asked to see the ticket and i could see it was a fake, so i said f**k this and walked back out and as i walked back out there were loads more gypos walking at the top of the lane!
Anyway to cut a long story short we managed to get tickets for £130 each. Expensive, but that's what we went out for.
We went into the ground early cos we wanted to make sure our tickets weren't fake. (thank f**k they were fine)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-KfzynD ... lTHPsmreE=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwECt_Oa ... lTHPsmreE=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oft-6kvy ... lTHPsmreE=

It was about now i realised that the fuckers had banned away fans, i was gutted!
Even though no away fans were allowed the fernebahce fans decided to fight each other and the police!
i saw about 10 separate incidents where the home fans were fighting each other.
The intimidation factor for the away players was incredible. The noise and hatred towards them was something i haven't witnessed before. All sorts of missiles were being thrown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztWfNg71 ... 57B4eFGxw=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE3rWPt5 ... lTHPsmreE=


The game was a cracker with Fernebahce going 2-0 up with two storming goals and the stadium got even louder!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m1kEukM ... BdgvAeB0c=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vaQ8g_m ... bQbvZ5Pjg=


As the game went on Galatasaray got stronger and stronger and came back to 2-2 which was met with the home fans disapproval and again missiles rained down onto the Galatasaray dug out. I noticed a bottle crack one of the coaches on the head. Galatasaray hit the bar with the last kick of the game and it finished 2-2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfe3RPhQ ... MnqjCEi3Y=

After the game highlighted how far behind they are compared to us when it comes to crowd safety. The police wouldn't open the gates to let us out. More and more people were filling up the concourse and a potential hillsborough was developing.
in the end everybody decided that the only way out was over so people started climbing over the fences and that was our way out!
Over to the Galatasaray part of town where they celebrated through the night and had like a parade for the players

All in all a fabulous trip and i'd recommend it to anyone. Be a bit savvy around the ground when buying your ticket though, and if you can make a contact over there.

Like i said earlier though, it left me gutted that football over in britain has lost it's soul and passion :ayatollah

sounds like hell of a trip!!
and tyou must be slightly mad

One hell of a trip and it looks like you had a fantastic time.

Looked like a real eye opener of a trip lol Are there many woman and children who go to the games over there? Or is it men only?

awesome

One hell of a trip and it looks like you had a fantastic time.

it was awesome and something i hope to again

Looked like a real eye opener of a trip lol Are there many woman and children who go to the games over there? Or is it men only?

There were women and children there but it definitely wasn't a family sport like it now is in Britain!
It was a throw back and i loved it

sounds like hell of a trip!!
and tyou must be slightly mad

The only time i thought i must be mad was when i was in a taxi when we first got there and he was reversing up the dual carriageway!

I met all of the Besiktas team last year they were all training on the beach in antalya there were hundreds watching them, they were all then at our hotel really friendly swapped my city top for a Besiktas one

sounds like hell of a trip!!
and tyou must be slightly mad

The only time i thought i must be mad was when i was in a taxi when we first got there and he was reversing up the dual carriageway!

did he owe you money when you got out

I met all of the Besiktas team last year they were all training on the beach in antalya there were hundreds watching them, they were all then at our hotel really friendly swapped my city top for a Besiktas one

Baz the Besiktas fans were superb mate. They never stopped for 90 minutes even though they were 6-1 down on aggregate all 4 stands were rocking

YYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oi oi oi oi oi!!