I moved home in the same year Arsenal moved away from their spiritual home in Highbury, not that they or I had particularly planned it that way; while Arsenal’s move involved a mere hop and a skip over the Drayton Park railway lines mine took a massive leap over longitudinal lines to move to a house I had purchased a couple of years earlier in Turkey. I had previously rented it out to holidaymakers but now felt that it was my turn to enjoy the sun, sea and sand that Bodrum had to offer.
Initially, I was mortified that things did not get off to the best of starts with my Turkish neighbours. Silly disputes (they always involve swimming pools in these sort of places) were being fuelled by neighbours on the other side. They were from Leeds employing, needless to say, dirty tactics! However, we soon put ‘dirty Leeds’ behind us to become the best of friends and football (or should I say Arsenal) played a big part in it. I was and am still thankful that they are staunched followers of Fenerbahce as I am not sure things would have turned out quite so well had they been fans of Galatasaray. I still have raw memories of the Battle of Copenhagen in 2000 that contrasted so sharply from the Parma Festival in the same city in 1994 for more reasons than what occurred on the playing field.
The Turks, women as well as men, are obsessed with football and the behaviour on the terraces here provides a throwback to the times fought out on the terraces in the 1970’s and 80’s in England. I have watched Turkish matches on television here with crowds of 57,000 ‘women only’ in attendance because previous trouble resulted in the Turkish football authorities banning men and children over ten years old from being at the game! The sight of 15,000 and more Turkish men congregated behind the locked gates – presumably wondering where their dinner was – was a funny sight to behold. I was delighted that I could follow all the Arsenal matches on TV and, keen to learn the language of my new home, the football commentaries gave me my first lessons at learning a notoriously difficult language. I quickly picked up ‘penalti’, ‘gol’, ‘ofsayt’ and I even heard one commentator refer to ‘Arsenal showboating’ in the days when Arsenal could and did. One of the amusing ways in which Turkish incorporates English words and phrases into their vocabulary is the way they still refer to ‘gol averaji’ to mean ‘goal difference’ as if nobody bothered to alert them to the change in the law back in 1976! Learning the language became much more tricky outside of football commentaries.
I knew for sure that all hostilities had ceased with my neighbours when on an early visit back to England I asked them what they would like me to bring back as a gift. I had expected a request for a sneaky pack of bacon or a slab of Cheddar Cheese but was rather shocked when Suphi asked for an Arsenal shirt. Didn’t he know the cost of such things in England? On the one hand, I felt rather proud he had asked for such a thing, on the other hand I knew they didn’t know how expensive authentic Arsenal shirts cost, particularly when ‘genuine fake’ shirts are available for pennies at the local markets here – even if the badges do fall off with the first wash! Like the swallows and storks here, my neighbours migrate back and forth from Istanbul according to the seasons and the next April I was proudly presented with a genuine Fenerbahce shirt. I know it to be genuine as the badges are still in tact all these years and several washes later.
In 2011, they were to come with me on a trip to England which was to be their first trip ever away from their homeland. Any special requests, I asked? Yes, came the answer; they especially wanted to visit Greenwich and have a tour of the Arsenal Emirates Stadium. I am pleased to report that they were markedly underwhelmed by the arbitrary looking mark on a brick wall to denote the meridian line, but the Arsenal Stadium tour did not disappoint and they talk about it to this day. A ritual has now been established over the years – Suphi wears his Arsenal shirt when he comes to me to watch a match on the TV and I reciprocate wearing my Fenerbahce shirt when I go to them. The exception to this was when we watched Fenerbahce v Arsenal in the Champions League in August 2013 when we we decked out in our own colours. They were, however, appreciative of me not over-celebrating as I struggled to contain myself while watching our three nil thumping of them from my vantage point on their ‘away’ sofa.
Besides going to watch my local amateur team, Gumusluk, where the referee and other match officials regularly have to be escorted off the pitch by the Jandarma, I have only been to one proper match. In August 2014, I went to Istanbul to watch Arsenal v Besiktas in a Champions League qualifier. I had stumbled across an English teacher on Facebook, via a connection with a Turkish student of hers, and it was clear from her postings that she was a fellow Gooner. She was quick to accept my offer of tickets in exchange for a posh ensuite room in her house for the night so off I set with details only of the bus-stop at which I was to meet her. Sadly, that year, Besiktas were having their stadium redeveloped, so rather than attend the match at their usual home ground boasting commanding and glorious views over the banks of the Bosphorus near the Dolmabahce Palace, we had to settle for a grey, faceless, austere concrete stadium, built in anticipation of an Olympics that never happened, situated in an urban wasteland reminiscent of the old Wembley with its surrounding trading estates. Having collected our tickets from an Arsenal steward that somehow managed to find us, we welcomed the multiple coaches of Bulgarian Arsenal fans bused in for the match where we were greeted like celebrities with questions such as “Are you really from London?” We appeared to be the ‘real deal’ to them!
The usual waft from burger bars outside the Arsenal was replaced by the smoke of more nutritious looking BBQd home-made kofte served up with fresh tomatoes and parsley by women in headscarves. At the turnstiles, we were searched and all metal objects including loose change were unceremoniously removed from our beings. In the typical Turkish way of things not quite making sense, the stallholders selling tea (no beer!) and snacks would not accept Lira notes for payment – only small change! A kindly Arsenal steward came to our rescue emptying his pockets of Turkish Lira for us.
The match itself was a dull, lifeless nil nil draw and not something to remember. The 500 or so Arsenal fans present had come from Bulgaria or Cyprus or just about anywhere other than England and one of the main highlights was Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, skirting over the large running track to acknowledge our support by throwing their shirts into our small crowd at the final whistle. The lasting memory of the match is that of the Besiktas supporters. An incessant cacophony of noise that not only made it hard to concentrate on watching the match but caused me to marvel at how the players could manage to actually play. While the match itself was not one to remember, breakfast overlooking the Bosphorus the next morning certainly was.
I watched the return leg in my local bar in Gumusluk. The bar, normally full of ex-pats of an evening, was packed with Turks and the tension before the match was palpable. I had got there early to get a front seat view of the screen and found myself seated next to a young lad decked out in his Besiktas colours, flanked by his mother and father. His mother turned out to be the vociferous and potentially volatile one, and, I felt, likely to turn hostile at any moment. I felt myself on my guard as the sole Gooner in the bar. Thankfully, the usual Chelsea and Manchester United fans from Devon and other far flung corners of the UK were not there. The match did not make comfortable viewing; we had survived an obvious penalty in the first half when Jack Wilshere had fouled Ramon Motta and I seem to recall another shout for a penalty that had not helped to placate the mood in the bar. Alexis Sanchez provided the goal that would see us squeeze through the qualifying round – again in the quirkiness of the Turkish language they refer to ‘elimination’ rather ‘qualifying’ – and we managed to hang on and underdeservedly win the game despite going down to ten men after Mathieu Debuchy was sent off 14 minutes from the end.
At the final whistle, the young boy, under the influence of his mother, was particularly agitated although even I thought I would be safe squaring up to a lad of no more than ten years old. I draped my ‘half and half’ Arsenal/Besiktas scarf, bought at the Istanbul tie, around his neck, murmured some consoling words that I did not really mean, and made a bee line for the exit. I was intercepted by the bar owner who thanked me for for my gesture reckoning I had prevented trouble breaking out. We have laughed about this so many times subsequently. She hates hosting Turkish football matches in her bar – fights regularly break out after screening local derbies and that’s after consuming fifteen glasses of tea rather than the fifteen pints of lager favoured by the British. Hardly profitable for a bar!
Whilst football rivalries can bring the worst out in people it is also a force to bring people together and I remain grateful that it is a subject that enables me to connect with local people in my assumed home. Especially, as so many of them turn out to be Turkish Gooners these days!
BG thank you for a truly marvellous piece of writing. You have a gift for descriptive prose. I could smell the fragrant smoke off those koftas and taste those fresh tomatoes. It’s lovely that football proved to be a lingua franca in your new home, as you moved from Highbury to Bodrum. We are truly blessed to have such an international bar here with people who continue to follow The Arsenal from afar.
Super cool stuff, Bodrum. Still not finished, just made it to the part about the neighbours’ ‘away sofa’ 🤣🤣🤣
My trip to Turkey 20-odd years ago included a walk past that Besiktas stadium on the “banks of the Bosphorus near the Dolmabahce Palace” and a great day it was too. 🙂
Great stuff Bodrum. Wonderful that _somone_ has found a good use for those half-and-half scarves.
When’s the Interlull going to be over? Please let it be soon.
COYG
A great read from start to finish, BG, and good on you for keeping the peace. 😀
Excellent stuff, Bodrum Gooneress. A most enjoyable window into the Turkish Gooner’s perspective. There’s an art to watching your team from behind enemy lines and you’re clearly a master or should I say mistress at it. It’s certainly my impression from the visits of Galatasaray that the Turkish are very passionate about their football and don’t often take prisoners.
super, super post, ms. gooneress. i love the pics, and the stories put me right there. i must say how a kofta would go down so well before any arsenal game (with or without sarmisakli yogurt sos), let alone one in turkey! thanks for sharing that all with us 🙂
Speaking of an Arsenal-Turkey connection Eddie stuck a big one in the Turkish net.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/54424615
Boothroyd added: “Eddie Nketiah is in esteemed company with Alan Shearer.“
and how about frannie jeffers? feast or famine, what?
Thanks BG for an enjoyable slice
of life in a Turkish town!
BG,
I echo the thanks for a colourful and very enjoyable piece crackling with atmosphere . I’ve never been to Turkey and one of the reasons is I was so utterly disgusted by the Galatasaray fans in Copenhagen in 2000. That was a day I’m really not keen to recall! The Danish police were out of their depth but there were some heavy duty scumbags afoot that day and they provoked an inevitable reaction among some Gooners .
Your experiences are much happier ones and I wish you well as this season unfolds
Ned in the previous drinks.
Just a guess of course but I
imagine the only non-negotiable
is control of the purse strings.
There’s a clear slant to freeing
up time for non-PL stuff as well
so the 18 team PL may be close
to a Must Have as well.
Lovely piece, Bodrum – a Turkish delight.
Sorry, someone had to 🙄
What an entertaining piece, a really enjoyable read. 🙂
Bodrum — that is a wonderfully evocative description of your new homeland, and its obsessive relationship with football. One could feel the atmosphere of the bars, the grounds and even your neighbor’s drawing room. 🙂 Please do write more.
The various Turkish footballing rivalries are famously hostile and sometimes frighteningly violent. There was an article in the New Yorker a few years back where a woman journalist detailed her experience attending derbies in Istanbul, it is worth a read for the exhilarating (and a bit scary) matchday experiences as well as the history of these rivalries. I think I found it: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/03/07/the-view-from-the-stands
Looks like we have some excellent midfield prospects coming off the assembly line.
C100@16 – The article on Gooners Town about Miguel Azeez and the one it links to about Charlie Patino are certainly exciting, v exciting in fact.
To help me get my feet back on the gound, could you, or maybe Ned, provide some insight into how often the hopes for 16 and 17 year olds come to fruition?
COYG
I don’t think I’ve got any more resources than you Pangloss to answer that question. If the Monks can, bravo.
Maguire sent off for England. How much did he cost United?
Pangloss
Does come to fruition mean playing for the first team, playing a certain number of games or going beyond there to maybe international recognition?
At the moment we have Willock, Smith- Rowe , Nketiah , Saka and Maitland-Niles who have come through in the past couple of years and are in the first-team squad . Players like Ballard , Sheaf , Medley, Coyle , John- Jules and Bola are out on loan but many will not return to the club . Beyond that Bellerin came through the academy as did Wilshere and Martinez before him .
But we lost Gnabry to Werder Bremen then Bayern and we had a lad Yunus Musah who came through the academy and then left to join Valencia where he is making rapid strides. He is a contemporary of Azeez. Josh Da Silva at Brentford who is in the Under 21s with Nketiah left to get first-team football
But it is difficult to compared the current model run by Mertesacker with the previous one as he has changed the philosophy and structure of the Academy . The loan system provides a pathway to first-team football But it also obscures progress and makes exact comparisons difficult . All that can be said is that our current production line is very efficient
Bravo TTG. Fine answer.
Wonderful reportage, BG. Slice of life that told you so much about the country and its culture. And engagingly and evocatively written.
Pangloss@17: the short answer is not that often. Just in raw numbers the odds are stacked against anyone breaking through from the Academy to the first team. We have a bunch of graduates in the first-team squad now but that is he exception that proves the rule, and arguably Gedion Zelalem was the one of that general generation who disappointed early high hopes. Tracking back, Alex Iwobi met expectations, but Chuba Akpom has not, Jack Wilshere would probably have been the prior case. of expectations met I don’t count Cesc or Hector or anyone else shipped in from Barca, as they were proven entities even at a young age. Of course, one of the great hopes at that age was Serge Gnabry, who has certainly made good, but unfortunately not for us. Oguzhan Özyakup and Fran Mérida would be a B-list versions of Gnabry. Jeff Reine-Adelaide was another of whom there were high hopes. Not dashed in his case, but certainly not fulfilled. Going back to the 90s, there were starlets like David Bentley, Jermaine Pennant and even the TGSTEL. I am sure those in the bar will be able to expand this list.
TTG already has.
There have been around 100 Academy players who have gone on to make a Premier League appearance for some club, during which time, at a guess, the number of players going through the Academy must number in the low thousands, perhaps more. Someone at the club must have seen something in everyone of them that suggested they had it in them to be a professional footballer. But at that young age, it will always be a roll of the dice — and the odds don’t favour the youngster, even if they have all the luck with injuries and their physical development.
Pangloss
Another element which confuses the situation is that over the last ten years we have developed and let go several players – Ozyakup, Malen , Reine- Adelaide Bennacer even Coquelin who have made a strong impact after leaving us . Sometimes we insert a sell-on fee and even a buy-back clause so we get some revenue after they leave us and in Coquelin’s case a substantial fee. Sometimes like Like Ayling they reach the Premiership with other clubs .
A good way to measure success is to look at our Youth Cup finalists over the last twenty years and see who made it . Very few is the answer but the last team which I saw two years ago had ESR and Saka in it . The goalie went to Everton where he understudies Pickford and the jury is out on Balogun , Smith and John- Jules as well as Medley and Ballard . Thompson , Burton and Amaechi were sold and may well have sell-on clauses if sold again .
Often it is better to develop two world beaters in a modest side rather than a very good side with no outstanding talents . That may be the case with Azeez and Patino because the results on the U18s have been modest so far
Gareth Southgate is clueless. Who is the player on fire right now? Grealish. Not played. Who is in a slough of despond? Maguire, who is played and sent off for two badly mistimed tackles. Build the England team around James Maddison, Jack Grealish, Rahim Sterling and Harry Kane. Drop the hapless Pickford.
Humph. I only watched because Ainsley started. He, of course, was hooked when £80k Maguire got himself sent of.
Thank God for The Arsenal.
Thanks Ned
I forgot Iwobi ! He probably paid for youth development for several years and we received about £1m when Akpom came back to Middlesbrough this season .
Very enjoyable read BG,
The landlord would be mightily impressed at the standard of posts in the new bar.
C100/TTG etc,
Re young Azeez,
He played the full 90minutes last night, in the under 21’s 2-1 win away at Crawley Town in the EFL Cup, and scoring an absolutely belter of a goal.
He looked right at home against opposition players much older and more experienced than him, and at only 18 yrs of age, just looked so impressive.
Highlights are on the Arse website.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/12103872/premier-league-clubs-reject-project-big-picture-proposal-but-agree-bailout-for-league-one-and-two-clubs
So Big Picture is gone and forward
we go with Little Action instead.
Ho hum.
A really informative and enjoyable read BG. Your experiences are well founded.
My company had subsidiaries in Turkey ( Istanbul & Izmir ) and without doubt they are some of the most fanatical supporters anywhere to be found. It was mandatory our conversations would include discussions how our respective football teams were doing.
Shortly before I retired a meeting was called for all our European national managers to attend and our Istanbul office were the host – it was October 2008. Excitably one of my good colleagues from Istanbul rang because we were playing Fenerbace in the champions league at this time (2008) and he would try and get tickets for the match. I jokingly replied I would love to attend but would like to watch with him at the Fenerbache end wearing my Arsenal shirt. He took me seriously and said he couldn’t permit it as my life would be in danger.
In fact I had dinner with around 15 of my European colleagues and naturally the match was on tv. Many of these colleagues supported Arsenal as their English team due to the wonderful football we played in the 2000s. It was a great attacking game of football, we were superb 5-2 winners with many chances at both ends. Both Abu Diaby & Theo had excellent games. The restaurant manager however got more & more excited as the match progressed, particularly as the match went our way. He was running up & down screaming at the tv. Naturally each time we scored I jumped up with glee. My colleagues eventually had to restrain me as by now the manager was so worked up they thought he might attack me with one of the carving knives. We left at the end of the meal rather quietly and fortunately there was no sign of him anywhere.
I always enjoyed my business visits to Turkey and once friendships are made they remain for life.
Thanks for the Turkish insight. As referenced above, I also liked the look of the pre-match food. Much better than the “meat” and onions floating in a warm-water trolley outside Highbury in the 60/70’s.
UTA.
Hello, all.
Just taking a break from lurking to say:
1. Thank you for this excellent piece, BG. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
2. There is only one Arsene Wenger!
3. From all indications, I think Partey will be huge upgrade for us.
4. I think Xhaka will still start more games than most people expect.
5. I hope to god Leno doesn’t get injured.
6. Liverpool and The Red Mancs can stick their European super league and project whatsitsname up Fergie’s red nose.
7. £15 for a game in TV? F. off PL!
8. Our transfer business this summer gets a B+ from me.
9. Barring significant injuries to key players, I think we can finish in the top 4.
10. I hope our games become easier on the eye.
Right, I think that covers it all. I have a recently published book to promote and I’m no Arsene Wenger so I have to put in the hard yards myself.
Cent, great to hear from you.
Congratulations on being published! Bravo!
If you are willing, please share the name of the book and if it’s available in stores and/or online here in US I will definitely buy and ask others to do same.
I have read a fair bit of Wole Soyinka and Ben Okri. I met the great Soyinka once here in Boston in a reading event and tried his patience with a barrage of silly questions that he answered smilingly. 🙂
Uply,
That’s a great story ! Your valour was exceptional!
Clive,
I watched the website highlights from Tuesday . Azeez looks a real talent, he has a silky touch and great confidence . Lopez returned and apparently played very well and I believe may also be a contender for a squad place relatively soon once we get rid of Kolasinac! He has been seriously injured .
Morning TTG
I am concerned that Kola will have to play at City with KT out.
You can bet your life they will overload on that side of our defence.
Given Gabriel didn’t play league game at Pool,another puzzle to answer for Arteta.
He may have to play to cover that side.
A more natural choice than AMN.
BG.
Thanks so much for what is just a fantastic piece of writing. I absolutely loved it. Have a drink on me!
Gareth Southgate strikes me as rather tedious company and his team selection suggests this may spill over into his football tactics . Five at the back AND two defensive midfielders and Grealish not called on and Sancho brought on at the very end . His loyalty to the dolt Maguire, the sleazebag Walker and the flakey Pickford is hard to fathom . At least he has the sense to drop Dier . I am finding watching England a chore despite the reputed strength of our pool of players .
TTG.
The England team has a Saka shaped hole in it. If he pushes on this season then he has a shout in the summer tournament.
Maddison is a top player, he should play. Foden, Grealish and Mount all have quality. Sterling and Kane are great players. Greenwood and Rashford both good players to have. Coady looks good at the back.
I actually thought Walker was my MOTM against Denmark. I’m not sure about Rice and Phillips, certainly not both at the same time. And I will be thrilled when Henderson buggers off. He is functional but dull to watch.
How Southgate manages to produce such defensive and dire performances out of that lot is beyond me. Still, he may be successful with that system in a tournament format. If not he has to make way for someone who wants to give these players a chance to play some football. I can’t handle watching Maguire hoof long balls at Kane all day.
I hope to see a gradual improvement in the Arsenal attacking play though. Mikel will make sure we are solid but then he will want to build us up as goal scoring force and we have a lot of exciting talent. I’m looking forward to how that develops this year.
TTG@36
I must disagree that Southgate had
the sense to drop Dier, I heard Dire
pulled out injured. Other than that I
entirely agree with your post 😄
Matt,
I don’t read much before England games so I didn’t know about Dire. He is an utter donkey .
GSD,
Yes , it is quite a feat to produce such a boring side with all the talent we have at our disposal . Beware a wally in a waistcoat!
I’ve finished Arsene’s book. Doesn’t take long to read partly because it was very much shorter than I expected . Won’t comment until we discuss it post the review on here
My 2-cents on Southgate is that he is trying to find his best match squad by trial and error, rather than having a clear idea of how he wants to play and building a squad to suit.
All hope for KT’s availability on Saturday is not lost:
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/football/mikel-arteta-hopes-kieran-tierney-can-cut-14-day-quarantine-short/ar-BB1a3k9l
@37
That is bad luck for Guen though
I read he doesn’t have any
symptoms.
Mavro will meniscus surgery,
apparently that means another
length break for him.
I hope their luck changes soon
– and ours with KT as well.
The number of players who have tested positive for Covid-19 or are having to be in quarantine as a result of close contact with those that have only underlines the foolishness of continuing with international football during the pandemic.
TTG. Careful about calling Dire a donkey. I wouldn’t want to insult the donkey.
If Arteta ever tires of football, he has a career as a politician. His presser answer about his views on the Premier League rejecting Project Big Picture was a masterclass in saying nothing:
Well I think it was a very clear statement from the Premier League about what is going to happen. We all have to review the actual context and how we can help each other to make football more sustainable. But I think it has to be agreed by everybody and yesterday’s statement was very clear regarding that.
Reminds me of the former Japanese prime minister Noboru Takeshita, who liked to say, ‘my words are clear, but my meaning is obscure”.
Ned@45: Absolutely spot on! It’s so egregiously irresponsible I don’t understand why the individual European nations cannot get together and tell UEFA to pipe down. The negative impact of international football at this time on the national leagues will be high, and entirely avoidable.
Swings a curling ball towards the penalty spot for…
Nodded in, minimal celebration.
Appreciate the classy assist Bath.
Dr F. Thanks for asking. The likes of Wole and Okri have set standards that will take a lot of years, talent, hard and very smart work for my generation of writers to come close to, but we are giving it a shot.
Yes, my work is available, anywere Amazon delivers, through this link:
I’m more than happy to share it and grateful to anyone who buys, reads and/or promotes it in anyway.
cent, congratulations. that’s stellar. proud to know you!
here’s something else to be proud of, gooners. https://www.goonersvcancer.com if you haven’t donated, or didn’t know about it, give it a look.
welcome back, cent, noosa, CER and potsticker…hope to see more of you. though i daresay, cent, you’ll be out on tour signing your book (may you cross paths with arsene!).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>