Istanbul, an intimidating area to attend, historically, as we remember the Welcome To Hell reception received in Eric Cantona’s time at United, but a region of late that has been more subdued in the hooliganism/violence aspect for a United visit. Nevertheless, a city you visit with an eye like Paul Ince, keeping watch around corners to make sure you don’t get caught unaware and find yourself in a spot of bother.
That underlying element of potential flashpoints on the streets and in the bars adds to the atmosphere of a European away visit to Turkey following the reds and, to be quite honest, the only real concern anyone would have heading there outside of not spending your bank account on the hikes up prices being charged for visiting fans in the Irish bars and such in the city centre.
Luckily, this trip was far more relaxed that expected, with a rather welcome local attitude and a fun but boisterous group of reds invading Istanbul for songs, pints, local cuisine and a splash of culture along the way.
A biblical downpour was threatening kick off on the day of the game, with umbrellas, ponchos and sprinting from door to door being seen regularly, as we eagerly anticipated our visit to RAMS Park.
To get to the ground? Well, the easiest and safest way, of course, were the numerous coach’s put on for United fans leaving the city centre in a convoy across hectic traffic and through awful weather conditions.
Amusingly, the local police, who were stationed on board each coach, initially only allowing the capacity to be filled to reach full seating levels. Being rather aggressive in their enforcement of this, until they soon realised there were far more reds than seats and allowing passage to the game on board the coach’s.
In the knowledge that alcohol would not be served in the ground and with a rather early departure time for the coach’s, fans were, as you’d expect, sinking a few beers beforehand and arriving to the coach, cans in hand.
However, mister Turkish policeman on the coach was quick to inform everyone “no alcohol!”…
Once on board the coach’s, we were forced to sit there for what seemed an eternity, but more like an hour to 90mins before departing.
Add to that the travel time to the ground, and you had coach loads of fans with no toilet facilities for 2+ hours. When I say coach’s, please don’t think these are the 54 seater, lush bus style coach with USB connections, tables, LED lights and toilets on board.
Think more of the school bus you took, in the 80’s
Upon arrival at RAMS Park, you’d be forgiven for thinking we had time travelled to the 80’s while en route to the ground, as we disembarked in a dark, squalid area known as “the away end entrance”
Let me set the scene for you:
A few thousand United fans, by and large only able to speak English.
A few thousand United fans, with their tickets on their phones, as was an acceptable form of match ticket, scanners to be there for QR/barcode code entry.
A few thousand United fans, many smokers who would have a cigarette lighter on them, many of them needing portable power banks to keep their phone charged on a long day and night at a football match, you know, for the likes of your match ticket, for example.
A few thousand United fans, wearing trainers, not Wellington boots, albeit they may be fashionable, they’re not that popular amongst football fans.
What we were met with?
Random yellow vested, what appeared to be stewards but nobody was quite sure what they were, performance very loose and random “ticket checks”, scanning the tickets with what you’d expect a Tesco shelf stacker to use. To this day, I have no idea what this scanning was for or about, as you still needed to scan into the ground?
A dark, dingy alleyway entrance, with just 2 turnstiles of the 4 in use.
A flooded area, ankle height in places, with shipping pallets sporadically thrown around to stand on to get through this lake of Turkish water we had to battle past.
Two stewards in operation, one with zero English, one with English but zero intent to assist anyone.
The scanners? They weren’t working, they wouldn’t accept digital tickets and some sodden wet and tatty paper tickets were impossible to scan.
Directed to the “ticket office”, I laugh as I use this term because directly behind us was a window with a Turkish lady present, who spoke very little to no English, and had absolutely no facility to reissue, reprint or even care about, any match tickets.
Chaos
I finally managed to blag my way in luckily, before kick-off, by basically begging the less aggressive (marginally) steward to let me try my digital ticket time after time after time until by fluke, it scanned, many weren’t that lucky.
That got me through the turnstile to the next challenge of Takeshi’s Castle, the internal stewards and police.
Searched by overzealous, almost excited, stewards under the careful smirk of the police, they confiscated anything they felt like.
From lighters to coins to power banks, AirPods (because someone is likely to launch their £200 headphones at another fan) down to a flag commemorating the passing away of a young United fan, to many people’s disbelief.
Your choice was give this stuff to them, or leave the ground
They gathered their loot in bags and every last person knew as they walked past that these guys had scored a massive win for themselves in the form of other peoples belongings and valuables.
Shameless
Finally getting to the actual stand, it was archaic inside, by no means modern to say the least, but that’s not a real complaint of any weight, nobody’s too arsed about that, it just kept in keeping with the away end debacle of shit standards.
The laughable overcharging for refreshments rose a wry smile from most, and anger from many, being absolutely bled dry of their finances for a drink, a cup of Pepsi, poured out of a 2 litre bottle, the handsome sum of €5, as an example.
Add to it the state of the toilet facilities, something you’d expect to see in Guantanamo, it was far from a 5 star resort…
Typically, after the game, an unnecessarily prolonged holdback of the entire away end, ensuring it was last any chance of securing public transport of any use to the city, they loaded up the coach’s again leaving many stranded and forced to pay ridiculous prices to passing taxis chancing their arm at making a wedge off people stuck in a bad predicament.
I’ve witnessed some shambolic treatment over the last few years of fans of an English football team in Europe, Istanbul being my 10th European away in the last 3 or so years, and Istanbul is by far, and a distance ahead of any other, the worst I have seen.
UEFA need to up their game and enforce a standard for European travelling fans to expect to see and witness when visiting a ground in one of their competitors.
Safe access, accomplished stewarding with stewards fluent in the visiting fans language, ticketing issues not existing at the turnstiles and a less heavy handed approach to entry/confiscations.
Let’s not mention the notorious Spanish police and their penchant for battering football fans of English clubs.
Do better Galatasaray, do better UEFA.
