Istanbul : The Passion Of Besiktas

 The Passion Of Besiktas

Since moving to Istanbul back in June 2009 I have tried hard to hang to following a few traditions from back in England. One is football and is probably one area where I forget my surroundings and let out my emotions of joy or frustration. I cannot explain why I get passionate it is just a game to many , I know but it is more than just a game to me and also the thirty thousand fans I had just stood with .

My wife believe it or not is passionate she also explodes in frustration and screams of joy during a football game. So Tuesday 15 September 2009 myself and my wife joined some Turkish, English and American friends at a pub in Etiler for a night of football to watch Besiktas  play host to Manchester United. It was a first time for both of us, me my first football match in Istanbul and my wife’s first ever visit to a live football game in a stadium.

Strangely until my wife had met me she had gone past the Besiktas ?nönü  stadium  all her life without ever venturing inside. So anyway I am not going to give you a commentary or a report of the game I just want to share what it was like standing there for two hours with thirty two thousand passionate screaming dancing fevered people and myself thinking should I be here.

It is 9pm when we arrive in Besiktasand has usual the district is jammed solid with traffic, just like it was on our wedding day. The streets are full of mostly men and a few women dressed in black and white tonight and has we turned into Dolmabahce Street the road to the ?nönü stadium the singing and chants of Besiktas are in full swing. On arriving at the stadium one could really use the term organized chaos because remember we are in Istanbul.

[SinglePic not found]Having found our turnstile entry and joined a queue, I am not sure if that is the right word but you will get the drift . Standing there myself and my wife Figen who was appropriately dressed in black and white for the match, and me well I looked like an Englishman has always.I looked back into the crowd waiting to enter I could easily spot my friend Jeremy some 10 yards behind why because like me we stand out like sore thumbs. Then my wife did my worst fear she talked to me in English and suddenly thirty heads turned and stared , I just thought oh no please not now the moment passed and I gave her a squeeze of the hand and she understood.

Queuing up to enter was a tense time many of the crowd eager to enter the stadium so the last thing I wanted was attention because just like the other two thousand people eager to enter through the turnstile I get impatient has well. It was all soon forgotten has we entered the stadium and both of us in awe of the singing from inside the stadium has we made our way to our seats , so we thought.

[SinglePic not found]There are no rules , if your ticket states seat number A12 or something well don’t be surprised if you don’t find it , basically you go in and find a suitable place to watch the game.That suits me because you could have been allocated a poor spot , so we made our way to the top of the stadium ,and wow was it worth it. Reaching the top and then viewing the surroundings again it is superb. The minarets of Besiktas light up in the background , the stadium is alive and in the distance I see the Manchester United section. It seemed like 200 to 300 supporters such a small number for a club supposedly having a large worldwide fan base. Has for the home side fans of Besiktas they were in full swing , dancing , singing , chanting it was a display every supporter of football needs to experience ,I have never seen anything so passionate has I did that night. In fact I forgot about the game itself , I was just totally gripped by the atmosphere.     

The chanting of  ”Kartal gol gol gol”  rings out aloud , echoing around the stadium , more singing to the tune of la la la la la ol Besiktas just erupts in an amazing volume. I can only compare this to being  at a Live Aid concert  in the old Wembley stadium back in London or standing there in Hyde Park London whilst 30 thousand women scream at a Robbie Williams performance during Live 8  .Besiktas fans are the loudest in the world and that is an official statement widely publicized on record.

It gets better and louder during the last thirty minutes has an intense whistling is created by the whole of the stadium , it was an eary feeling that made you lose all focus of the game going on below or in front of you  , in fact the chanting effect of these passionate supporters make you lose any concentration on the game and only when it pauses you realize why you are there. The game itself was mediocre unexciting event, however the passion of the Besiktas fans turned the evening into an experience I reccomend to any partially interested football fan.

The fans of Besiktas are normal everyday working class people with a passion that does not recide on violence for the game . Yes prior to the game I was mildly concerned at the prospect of trouble because of where I am from but that was soon forgotten ,it was an experience that has left me wanting more and I am sure now I will go  to the Be?ikta? ?nönü Stadium once again in the very near future. “Kartal gol gol gol” “Kartal gol gol gol” “Kartal gol gol gol”.

“Be?ikta? fans are proud of the ?nönü Stadium’s record of football’s  loudest ever decibel level (132dB) in a match against Liverpool breaking the previous record which was held by the Liverpool fans in Anfield”.

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