Special fans make it a Turkish delight

WELL, I’ve returned from Istanbul safe and sound and have had all pre-conceived views of the city and its people blown away. It has to be one of my favourite trips of recent times for a whole host of reasons.

The city itself is fabulous — the architecture is beautiful, the people friendly and fun, the culture interesting and the kind of football experience that makes you fall in love with the game all over again.

Taking a ferry across the Bosphorous is certainly a wonderful way to travel to a game. Contrary to much of what we had heard, the Turks were helpful and courteous and went out of their way to escort us to the ground. They are obsessed with football and it was so refreshing to speak to them as many had not had their vision tainted by the biased English press. They spoke passionately and knowledgeably about not only our league but of all the top leagues of the world. It was like a breath of fresh air.

Of course we have all seen the pre-match displays the Turks put on, but this was something special even by their standards. The noise was difficult to put into words but it left an impression such that I now desperately want to return and experience that atmosphere from the home end.

There were no health and safety jobsworths banning mosaics in case of a life-threatening paper cut. No one insisting on flags being no bigger than a postage stamp, fire-proofed, and only handled by SAS trained stewards.

There were no luminous jacketed saddos marching up and down the terraces with clip-boards taking down seat numbers for later bannings for the heinous crime of standing or swearing.

Football in Istanbul is a participants, not a spectator, sport. You get involved, you sing, you whistle, you jump up and down, whether you are in the cheap seats or the boxes. There is nothing that even comes close in England — no not even those “special European nights at Anfield”

Speaking of Liverpool fans — I see they had problems at the turnstiles at the Emirates Stadium . . . but of course they are only being the best fans in the world. By hook or by crook they’ll get into that ground eh?

We were lucky to get into the Manchester City game after one of my lot was threatened with arrest for giving out match tickets to the rest of our party and collecting the money for them. Would this happen outside a theatre or a rugby ground? Of course not. Football supporters are treated with contempt and utter disregard wherever they go. Often the draconian measures have been instigated by the game’s own governing bodies who seem hell-bent on making following your team as difficult as possible.

Of course what makes this situation even more preposterous is that many Premier League clubs have joined forces with a particular company where fans can flog their “spare” tickets — what’s the difference? The club (and the company) get a cut. So “touting” is fine as long as the clubs get their share.

As you may recall, the other week I remarked upon the strange phenomenon of Arsenal fans beginning to morph into Liverpool fans. Well it seems the process is almost complete, as on one well-known Gooner site I saw an Arsenal version of the Fields of Athenry. The Fields of Ashburton Grove — I kid you not. With any luck, their football will follow the Liverpool example too.

So the gap is now down to three points with United still to come to the Bridge — and if we beat them 18-0 we’ll be neck and neck. Easy.

Most of us do not believe we can overcome Fergie’s mob but I have to admit it has been fun watching the red side of the office go from strutting peacocks to trying to make themselves part of the wallpaper. The Liverpool fans who were gobbiest at the start of the season obviously shut up some months ago; the silence has also been deafening from those Arsenal fans who were at their most nauseous during the press “young Arsenal; young beautiful football; young Premiership title; young lions” love-in of a couple of months ago. And now the United fans are all getting a bit jittery after much posturing and whistling of the Ronaldo song at the tea-point.

They shouldn’t be so worried — what with the Premier League moving Chelsea’s games to ridiculous times and dates I’m sure they’ll get their chosen winners in the end. Although this season has been extraordinary in so many ways, it would be a brave man that bet against us.

* Contact Trish on [e-mail]