It soon became apparent, queuing at immigration that anyone wearing a shirt and tie was having their passport stamped without question, with everyone else being questioned by 6 British Policeman standing at immigration.

Having looked at our passports we were asked the usual questions, name, address, date of birth despite this information being in our passports, which team we supported, whether we were members of englandfans (some were asked for their membership numbers) and wait for it, whether we had a Banning Order against us. (If we had then surely we would not have got out of the UK).

The questioning and search of our luggage continued before we were moved to a holding room at 4pm where on entering our passports and air tickets were taken from us.
Here we joined others that had also been detained, making 23 in total. The room was locked, though there was an emergency intercom, and we sat there watched by 3 security cameras. Whilst it was clean, it had only a couple of sofas so most of us had to sit on the floor. We had a toilet which was ok and toilet paper but that was it, nothing to eat or drink.

Nothing happened for hours until at 9pm a Turkish official entered and said that 10 of us were being moved to an adjoining room, presumably to make the long night ahead of us more comfortable. We moved and this new room was clearly meant for women. Like the other it still just had 2 sofas, 2 blankets but the toilets were better. We turned the lights off to try and get a bit of kip but the Turks turned them on again saying they couldn't see what we were doing through the cameras with the lights off.

At midnight, 8 hours after we were detained, we got our first meal, courtesy of Lufthansa, it was only spare airline meals, but typical of the so organised Germans to come to our aid, complete with cans of coke. (This wait shows why Turkey so deserves its appalling record on Human Rights).

The stalemate continued until 3am when a chap from the British Consulate came in to advise us that we would be "returned" by our respective carriers (BA, Turkish, Swiss, Lufthansa or Austrian) later that same day, as it was deemed "had we been let in that we might attempt to try and enter the stadium". He returned half an hour later with a Burger King meal for us.

The numbers began to lessen from 8am but with our Austrian Air flight not taking off until 3pm, we had a long wait ahead of us.

At 10am our room door was unlocked and we were allowed to sit in the foyer. We were advised our air tickets and passports were now held by Austrian Air staff and would be returned to us on arrival in Vienna, but we would not know until we were on the plane whether it would be possible to book us through to London.

Close to the time of departure we were escorted to our plane, staff having checked us in in our absence and once on board we were told we had, thankfully, been booked through to London.

We were treated no differently to other passengers on the flight, and on arrival at Vienna, our passports were returned. Our passport's had not been stamped with any Turkish or "deported" stamp. We'd just been "returned" but there was nothing to show this in our passport.

Back at Heathrow, it was through customs on the bus and back to the Van as quickly as possible where we heard only the last few minutes of the game.

The biggest problem with all of this was not really the way we were treated, but the considerable lack of communication and information given to us until the British Consulate representative arrived, and of course the 10 hours without anything to eat or drink which was totally unsatisfactory.
There's no moral to this story, we were simply trying to follow our team, and having booked our flights 10 months ago, we had resigned ourselves, given the recent events, to watching the game from our hotel room, but it would have still been nice to have soaked up the atmosphere and seen the sites of Istanbul......... perhaps next time.
 

The security at the airport was very lax only one person manning the four gates for British passport holders, two lads from Derby were held but that was more because they had been spotted at Birmingham on the way out and had names taken. We got our visa's stamped and were through with only one question "why Turkey" and the answer Vacation seemed to be accepted.

On arrival at our hotel in Atakoy which was about halfway between the airport and the city we met five Leicester lads who had got through about an hour before us, quick beer in the hotel we strolled over the road to a parade of a dozen or so bars and restaurants. The people in the bars didn't even give us a second glance and the waiters etc were very friendly, all our drinks came with bowls of crisps and nuts. The manager of one bar gave us his card and said if we had any problems to give that to anyone and tell them to ring him.

We stayed in the bars till around 4.00am and continued back at the hotel till around 7.00am before crashing out only to be woken around 9.00am by a reporter from Channel 5 who wanted to do a piece for the news. I had also been on Sky Sports earlier in the week, if you saw it I was the man in shadow who managed to get my "passport to Portugal" in the picture which the reporter laughed at when I told him the FA had sent them out to all members.

Channel 5 accompanied us into Taksim Square and did a bit of filming and then we sat down for an interview, must admit I can't remember it word for word as I had the mother of all hangovers (and to be honest so did the reporter). Whilst with Channel 5 I was called by ITN who were anxious to speak to any fans in Istanbul, I had spoken to several of the media regarding the ban and just wanted to put a fans point over and let them see we just want to follow our National team when they play. Obviously with any of the press you know they can show it with any angle they want but from what I have heard it was a fair reflection. They asked about what we were doing about tickets and what our plans were to get in the ground, all I could say at the time was I had spoken to a contact in Istanbul and was just waiting for confirmation.

Once our media bit was done we went to meet up in the Hilton as this was the place I had been told to head for, we met up with the Leicester lads and a lone traveller from Watford. The hotel had a terrace bar with views over the Bosphurus towards the east side where the game was to be played, we spent about four hours there and decided to head off about five for the game. My contact had gone a bit quiet when I wouldn't pay £400 for the tickets as well as £200 to "the fixer" at the ground, so we needed to find something else.

We got a ferry near Besiktas' s stadium, this was a little moody but when ten England fans got out of cabs it know doubt surprised the locals a little bit so went over in two groups of five. On arrival on the Asian side you could sense it was totally different, not disrespecting anyone but it was certainly more run down than the European side. We could hear the call to prayer from the minarets, this was, we knew going to be more difficult than at anytime during the day. We now split up in to two's and three's as we got towards the first cordon we went into solo mode, this wasn't too bad but as we didn't know where the ground was it could have proved difficult. It wasn't a case of follow the crowd as people were walking in every direction, I decided to go one way and hope for the best.

After about ten minutes we could see the light where the stadium was, as we got closer we could see more police and about 200 yards from the ground there was a bridge over a canal which had as many police as I have seen at any football match in my life. This was where we thought our adventure would end, I looked for a way over the canal apart from swimming when we were approached by a Turkish lad. It was probably obvious that we were English as we walked around ignoring each other trying to look inconspicuous, he asked if we wanted tickets and he just happened to have five. The price was 150 million lira, which worked out at about £75 which we thought was good. Within seconds the deal was done and was even better as it was the price in total I.e. £15 each, obviously they were fakes but as we had never seen a real one yet it didn't really matter.

We now had to get through the cordon by the bridge, we weren't helped when the police came towards us so we all split up again. One lad was pulled and upon realising he was English he thought it would be game over, this is where your true English character comes out. He said he just wanted to see the ground and then go back into the city and watch the game at the hotel and had no intention of breaking through the cordons. One of the police took his passport away and upon return gave him it back, this relaxed him because he knew he wasn't going to be arrested, they just told him to go back to the city. At this stage you also get the every man for himself coming through, because you know you can't all get through together, you can keep your eye out for your mates even when doing this. I now watched the cordon and they were not checking ID so the time came and I went for it, I faced a Turkish woman and went through as if listening to her conversation and got through. The next 100 or so yards was fairly nerve wracking as the road was lined by shoulder to shoulder police facing the crowd, you just expected a tap on the shoulder but I made it to the ground and my mate followed about a minute or so later. We were trying to work out where to go when a Turkish lad came up and spoke to us in English, not wanting to do a Gordon Jackson in the Great Escape we ignored him and walked away. As with a lot of us we mistrust strangers and the Turks in general are not our favourites, the lad followed and was insistent in speaking to us. He asked us to show him our tickets and then pointed to where we should go to get in the ground, so much for my previous thoughts on the Turks ( would never forgive them for the killings, but then not every one of them was holding a knife that night). Our tickets where for different areas and he said that possibly my mate wouldn't get in this side of the ground but wished us luck.

My problem was that as I got to the gate it was closed, so had to wait for someone else to attempt entry which after a few seconds they did. He was guided to another gate further down which happened to be the press entrance, straight through just flashed the ticket and I was in the ground, or so I thought. At this point people were being searched,as you couldn't take phones or cameras into the ground and I had a phone and two cameras in a bag over my shoulder. This was when I heard the dreaded words "ID Card", I just carried on walking but to no avail I was stopped, as I didn't get searched I wasn't too worried about the situation. They again asked for my ID Card, but just played dumb until they asked in English " where is your ID Card and what are you doing trying to enter the ground", my reply was that I was Canadian and didn't carry one. They asked for my passport which I said was back at the hotel, after what seemed like hours but was probably not even two minutes they just shrugged their shoulders and let me into the ground. Obviously the Canadians are well liked throughout the world and not seen as a threat to anyone or anything, now all I had to do was find my section of the ground. I saw it and just got in the queue, I couldn't believe my luck, all I had heard in the weeks building up to the game just wasn't happening and here I was in the ground five minutes before kick-off. The people ahead of me just passed their tickets to a steward and went through a turnstile, or so I thought, at this point your ticket stub was taken and just like when you give your boarding card in as you get on a plane they put it through some scanning machine that makes the gate open. I just pushed and nothing happened, I looked back and the steward tried it again making sure it wasn't creased but still it didn't work. This was it so close yet so far, the steward just tore the ticket in half and gave it back to me. Fortunately he didn't call for the police so I could carry on trying at another gate, but that wasn't to be it was now a case of where to watch the match. There was a building at the corner of the ground that housed the media with satellite dishes all over it, my luck was in again as I saw the cameraman from Channel 5. He seemed pleased to see that I had got that far and agreed to help me get into the building, I carried his camera but we had to wait for the Turkish national anthem to finish. This struck me as odd because all the police stood and saluted during the anthem, have a look round at the next home game and see if our boy's in blue do the same. The building was actually the Fenerbache supporters club and had a couple of tables for the press inside, I met up with the reporter from ITN who wanted to know what had happened to my mates but as my phone was dead I hadn't heard from them. She lent me her battery and as soon as the phone switched on, the messages poured through to tell me that three of them had made it into the ground. At this stage I was as pleased for them as if I had got through and accepted the offer of drinks from the journey's around the table. 

What can I say about the match that is any different to anyone else, nothing really at times it was unbearable and when four minutes injury time came up at the end of the ninety I really dreaded the worst. The crowd in the bar was making plenty of noise for most of the game, especially the penalty and theirs that got turned down, when it all ended it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

The press seemed genuinely pleased that some of us had made it, it might be that they didn't have any stories of trouble to report but I genuinely believe that wasn't the case.

I got a lift back with Channel 5 to the Hilton and met up with Kevin Miles, the Leicester lads and two women from the Home Office who had watched the game in the hotel. Two of my mates who got into the game came back as well, when we regaled anyone who would listen to our adventures it was beers all round and lets start celebrating properly. Also in the hotel was Alan Shearer who at least said hello unlike Big Ron Atkinson who just seemed to scowl at everyone, a few guys from Radio 5 had a beer with us as did Paul Kelso from the Guardian. We stayed at the Hilton till about 1.00am and headed back to our hotel and the bars around that area.

On arrival we were greeted like long lost relatives and ushered to sets where the waiters moved tables around for us, all the time this was happening the bar was packed with what seemed to be the whole place doing a solo Turkish hokey kokey, quite surreal really. As we ordered drinks, again bowls of snacks ranging from crisps to melon and apples to grapes were put on the table, we were also given a continuous impersonation of Beckham's penalty by a drunken 60 year old local. All I can really say is that the next few hours were a bit of a blur and we where just relieved that we had done it and not come to any harm.

We flew back on Sunday afternoon and in all honesty say that my views on the Turkish people have changed dramatically, they were courteous and friendly, they were perfect hosts and I think were genuinely pleased that we had made the effort.
I believe the FA made the wrong decision about the tickets, but that's two games I have attended since the "ban" and am actually thinking they can do it all the time for me as we probably enjoy ourselves just as much without the rest of the travelling hoards, as we get more space in bars and if Turkey is anything to go "spoilt rotten" by the bar owners who are desperate for us to spend money in their bars.
One other thing we we didn't see was one spotter sneaking around, what a refreshing change that was.
 

Our trip started with a minor problem - arriving at London City Airport at 7am Friday 9th October we were told that we were not booked on today’s flight. We were actually booked for the 9th June – still at least the police don’t know we’re travelling. Thanks to the FA ban (Mr Barber) a number of England fans are not turning up for their flights and they squeeze us on the flight to Frankfurt, and with a bit of negotiation at Frankfurt we are on our flight to Istanbul and arrive at 5pm. Only problem is we cant get a flight home for another 8 days – never mind we’ll worry about that later!

We get pulled by the English old bill at Passport Control in Istanbul, but smartly dressed and with bogus flights to Ankara the next morning on the pretence of business we get through into Istanbul.

Arrived in hotel and found ourselves upgraded from our £100 a night room, to a five room suite – muppets! Invited the boys around for a quick drink in our room before heading out to sample the delights of Istanbul. A few hours later everything is closed so we head back to the hotel, a £100 drinks bill and we hit the sack about 4am.

Had a lie in and met our Turkish hosts for the day at 3pm (five hours till kick off). Today our pre match routine has changed, no England Shirts, they have been replaced with Fenerbache shirts and in our effort to blend in with the Turks our pre match drinking session has been replaced by Turkish grub and a coffee. For the first time ever I will find myself entering a stadium without consuming a single beer – hopefully it will be an exercise which goes unrepeated.

After a short walk to the ground we had to tackle the "ring of steel". Our group consisted of 4 Turks (2 male, 2 female) and 3 English (2 male, 1 female) including the 365EnglandFans spy known as "Heineken Media" as he always reaches the parts of a ground others cant reach.

2 of us wore bright yellow Fenerbache shirts (not very subtle) and Heineken wore a Turkey top! We kept out heads down throughout as 2 of us have blue eyes, unlike any Turks, and got through the first checkpoint. The second one looked to be a little harder as ticket checks, searches and Turkish ID were being checked – and we could see that they were religiously checking everyone. This is where our pre planning and Turkish hosts came into action. We were introduced as special guests - a Manager of TNT and wife from the USA and an overseas worker from Germany (Heineken) and this worked for the last two checkpoints – We were in! ..... only to find that the tickets would not open the electronic turnstiles – we were in the wrong place and it looked for a while that we would have to go back out and start again . . could we be that lucky again. But it was not the case – we were only on the wrong level and moved along to the next turnstile!

Once again we found ourselves inside the ground and quickly took our seats - still two hours to go before kick off – another first – we normally only just make it in for the national anthem. Those two hours seemed like an eternity and we attempted to remain inconspicuous – a very difficult task – as you looked around the full stadium, the vast majority of Turks wore the red of Turkey – and there was us in the bright yellow of Fenerbache – the only two in the ground!

Three England players came out to look at the pitch and were greeted with every swear word I know in English, in English, and signs dotted around the ground "Welcome to Hell", "You’re going to drown in the Bosphorous" and "The Rapers". The noise of the whistles were deafening, the crowd were intimidating but at the same time looked very impressive when the whole end bounced up and down chanted their song.
When the national anthems were played we heard the first bar before the Turks starting booing, after that we never heard another note. Every Turk, including the police, sing their national anthem so we had to mouth the words like you do in church when you don’t know then.

We cheered and booed in all the right places as the police never took their eyes off us. 42,000 Turks all wearing red and there was us two muppets wearing bright yellow Fenerbache shirts. Left on final whistle and jumped straight into a cab, back to the safety of the hotel and another £100 bar bill.

We managed to change our flight to Sunday and are writing this on the flight home.

Sky Sports said No English Fans got into the ground.
They were wrong! There were at least 8 of us, including one behind the goal wearing a Rangers shirt !.

No problems at Ataturk, taxi to hotel near Sultanahmet Square. No problems.

Didnt see any obvious English fans bar 3 in Macdonalds and then on the day of U21 met a couple of English who had tickets for U21.

Tried to ask police if we could get in but he waved his arms about a lot and I assumed that meant no.

Next day went on the Bosphorus cruise and decided that with no ticket we would watch game in the hotel. An old guy approached me and asked me if England were playing Turkey. On replying yes he said he would pretend to be French. Sad!!

Felt a bit envious as I could see the fireworks and lights over the Marmara but there you go.

Next day got flight back to Heathrow only to be stopped by plain clothes asking me the purpose of my trip. He asked if it was for the football and I said it wasnt. The appearance of my girlfriend did the trick and he let me go.

Was it worth it not to see the game. Definitely!

This seemed to take the spotters by surprise. In truth anyone could have produced all this, but after questioning and a home video, I was through. I'd love to claim a great scam got me in to Turkey, but all they needed to do (and probably did) was check the stamps in my passport - which coincided with venues and times of previous England games. More likely is that they simply let in the lone traveller who had no record anyway.

Weeks ago I had lowered my expectations of the weekend to being an opportunity to see a beautiful city (yes, it is) and watch the football in the safety of a hotel. In fact based on what I was being brainwashed with before travelling, I expected to spend much of the weekend holed up in the hotel. Being pleasantly surprised (OK, astounded) by the friendliness of the locals I chatted to, I sought out a ticket in bars around Taksim Square. No luck at all. On the Saturday I headed up to the ground to have a look before the game. I wore a Turkish T Shirt and was 2 days unshaven, which judging by (friendly) comments was totally unconvincing, bordering on laughable.

By chance a local fan stopped me and offered a ticket for £70 equiv. I said 'no' based on seeing the stringent ID checks. After much persuasion - I was walking away - he persuaded me to go to the gate where he headed for one particular policeman who waved me through to the 2 body searches and turnstile without checking any ID. The first check was the key one, after that just standard ticket inspection and missile searches. How much of the £70 went to that policeman I wondered? Incidentally this all after the tout took me in to the police compound and offered me drinks in what looked like a police social club. I'd love to say I supped up whilst laughing inwardly at my new friends, but this experience spooked me, thinking I had been stitched up, so I asked to leave this 'hospitality' area for the ground itself.

Once in the ground and hoping I'd located the right seat, I tried to join in all the bouncing and singing - not to have done so would virtually have been an admission of Englishness - but I wasn't convincing and I was asked, in broken English, by a group around me if I was English. They were menacing and I said the first thing that came in to my head "Yes, but my father sells carpets in Izmir, I support Turkey". Complete nonsense I know but I was nervous at this point and said the first thing that came into my head. Maybe the Turkish shirt supported my ridiculous claim sufficiently to be given the benefit of the doubt; but whatever the case, I was lucky again. I was sat/stood only 2 seats from a policeman, but his ability to prevent any trouble was undermined in my mind by his fascination with making a paper aeroplane out of the programme.

No heroics here - in fact I learned what a bad liar I am - and I'll happily admit to pathetically mimicking the local fans in order to preserve my cover, and also to trembling with fear at one point in the ground. Anyway, just thought I'd share experience. Cheers.

Upon arrival at Attaturk airport in Istanbul, I noticed 6 counters for GB passport holders. There were about 6 GB police officers questioning everybody. I chose to wear a shirt and tie and upon being asked why I was travelling to Turkey, I said that I was travelling to Ankara on business. I showed them a business card and was duly let in to the country. Unfortunately 2 friends of mine were not allowed in and sent home the following day. The visa cost to enter Turkey was £10. Got a taxi and travelled alone to my 5 star hotel.

By now it was about 1530 and I had to think about getting to the U21 match. My hotel was 5 minutes walk away from the stadium. I tried the press entrance, but to no avail. The ticket office would not sell me a ticket and no local would buy a ticket for me. I almost gave up as it was raining and I had no coat. Behind one goal is a 2 tier open stand and the locals inside were getting soaked. 30 minutes before kick off ,stewards began to open up the exit gates and told the fans to walk outside on the pavement and back in to the main tribune. I saw this as my chance and managed to "join them". Next thing, I was in the VIP area, on the half way line next to the press. Fantastic!!! Got a Teamsheet and after the dreadful match, got in to the press area. Next thing, I was whisked down some stairs in to the press conference and was standing next to many of the players in the dressing room corridor, when the press were interviewing them. (This is why I am known as Heineken - I can get to parts of grounds others cannot reach!)

Was on the look out for programmes but none were issued for the U21 match.

Went back to my hotel and them went by taxi in to town for a few drinks and something to eat. Then got back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Saturday 11 October The day had started. But this was no ordinary day. I was in a foreign city on my own and I had a whole day to pass. Went to breakfast at about 0930 and then went to the Besiktas stadium shop to make some purchases. Tried to access the U21 stadium again for some photos, but there was no way in. Used the swimming pool at the hotel for about 2 hours and also made the most of the sauna and whirl pool. I was living like a king for the day. Received a call from my Turkish work colleague, who had secured tickets for myself and MR and MRS X. He met us at our hotel at 1400 and took us over to the Asian side of Istanbul for something to eat. We had some local food and drink and sampled what local Turks do for their pre match preparation. No bars full of drinking fans, only coffee shops selling cakes and coffee. Met up with the other Turkish friends who were to accompany us to the match.
We got to the stadium at about 1800 and knew that we would have a job to get in. I never give up, until I know that all is lost. We got past the first security check point as our Turkish hosts said that we were foreign visitors from USA and Germany. The security were told that our ID passes were at the hotel. The story worked and we were past the first check point. Unfortunately, we had been directed to the wrong tier of the Marathon Tribune. Our seats were in the lower tier, but we had gone to the Upper tier entrances. We thought that we would have to go out and in again but luckily a steward said that we could enter via the VIP entrances. Our match tickets cost TRL140 million (approx £64 each) and the view from the seats was brilliant. We had to put our tickets through a machine (like they have at airports). This checked the bar codes as there were fake tickets about. Going through the second check point area, we were all frisked but we had no phones with us, only money in our pockets.

Now WE WERE IN!!!!!!! Stuff the FA by saying that there will be a ring of steel and no English fan will get in. We just proved them wrong. We had to wait about 90 minutes for kick off and enjoyed ourselves by watching the crowds sing and dance in the stands. Many flags and banners were put up and there was a huge Turkish shirt dropped from the upper tier of your stand before kick off. The locals love Mr Collina as they have never lost a game when he has refereed it. Well they still have that record!!!! They were chanting his name when he was warming up. As I went to the U21 match, I picked up the tune to the Turkish chants and songs so knew how to hum them. This is because the fans at the U21 match, sung them the whole match and the tune stuck in my head. It got on my nerves at one time. We had to keep quiet as were close to the front of the lower tier, and GB police were looking up in the stands for any fans who got in. Also all it would take is for one Turk to tip off the local old bill and we would get ejected. We kept our heads down and quiet until kick off.

My Turkish hosts told us to jeer and boo when they did. This would make us look like we should be there. I was wearing a Turkish football shirt and looked like the locals. MR and MRS X were wearing Fernebache yellow home shirts and they looked out of place. Well who cares now!!!! I would never boo the England team, so when all around us were saying booooooooo!!!!, I was making the noise of a cow, moooooooooooooo!!!!!! Quite funny as my Turkish friend at one point said that I was making the sound of a pregnant cow!!!!

The game passed and we left just after the final whistle. Got in to a cab and travelled back to the hotel and straight to the bar. MR and MRS X joined me and the mobile phone never stopped ringing. I had left it in the hotel and there were 25 missed calls. Did you get in everybody asked??? Yes I said to all concerned. My phone bill has just come in and it was almost £80. Who cares as I was one of the lucky ones. Had a late night in the bar and went to bed at about 0230.

Sunday 12 October Woke up for breakfast at 0830 and left the hotel at 0930. I was off to the stadium again to hunt down ticket stubs and any teamsheets and programmes. Got to the stadium and went to see the very unhelpful stadium manager. NO he said to me, you cannot go and have a look inside and take some photos. I went around the stadium and found an open exit gate, but it was manned by a security guard. He also said NO. Found a few ticket stubs for friends and went back in a cab to the hotel. Left about lunchtime with MR and MRS X for the airport and flew back to Heathrow via Vienna. Really enjoyed the trip and would do it again.
 

On the Saturday we caught the free shuttle bus into Istanbul centre from our (airport) hotel, also on the bus was another English lad (wolves fan) who later admitted to me that he first thought I was either a cop or reporter!! charming eh?. C and I said that they fancied going on a boat trip up the river which did not really appeal to me so I carried on to the last stop which was the square where the 2 Leeds lads were stabbed, arranging to meet the other 2 on the return bus at 1800.

The Wolves lad asked if he could tag along with me which I agreed, we went into a few bars around the square and talked about how far we thought we should push our luck and both decided that we were gonna have a go at getting in. First we caught a cab to Galatasaray's ground which stank and was in a worse state than the Maracanna !!. We took a few pictures and then got in a cab over the bridge into Asia and up to the ground.

We both agreed that if it looked a bit moody when we got near then we would tell the driver to turn round and go back to hotel to watch the game, as it was we got to the stadium and there was a very small police presence just loads of crazy Turks going in 4 hours before kick-off !!. We got out of cab took a few photos then went up near to the turnstiles to see if anyone was showing one of the famous Turkish ID cards, were they hell, everyone entering the ground was only handing over match tickets.

We realised that if we could get a ticket we stood a realistic chance of getting in; within 2 minutes we both had a ticket !!!!!!!!!. Mine cost 40 Euros and S’s cost 50$. We got them off a sound German bloke who if I could meet him now I would take him out on the town for free. He had no intention of ripping us off and wished us luck in getting in, face value of the tickets were 50 million Lira which is roughly 25 quid. After we got the tickets we went to try and find a little bar until it got dark (thought we stood a better chance of looking Turkish in the dark !!) We only managed to find a shop so we bought 6 cans of beer and sat chatting for 2 hours about all the games we both had been to. God knows how we hadn’t met before cos I knew most of his mates and he knew most of mine including most of the hull loons !!!.

It got to half 6 and we were feeling a bit braver after a few beers so we went for it, stopping on the way to purchase a Turkish red and white baseball hat each for 2 quid. I zipped up my trackky top to my nose and pulled down my hat over my eyes and to be honest I was shitting myself !!!!. Got to the ground and I tried to get in first, but as no mobile phones were allowed into the ground I stuck mine in my underpants between my arse and balls and passed through the turnstile with ease. It was done on a bar code system like in a supermarket the gateman scanned in my ticket and a big red light above turned to green and I was in. I went straight to the toilet
pulled out my phone and rang S who was waiting outside within 2 minutes he was in too, result !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

We didn’t want to stand together in the ground talking so we split up and arranged to meet outside after the final whistle. I sent 1 million text messages telling everyone I was in. I stood on the second tier behind the goal that Beckham missed the penalty up near the drummers and flare holders. To be fair nobody gave me a hard time in the ground but I think if we had won it could have been a bit different.

At the end of the game I left straight away to meet S and when we met up we both cheered and shook hands and basically made a lot of noise. We disappeared to another shop bought some more cans of beer and waited nearly 2 hours sat on a wall supping to let all the traffic settle down. Traffic is a big problem in Istanbul. Then we got a cab back into Europe to the hotel and straight into the hotel bar. The 2 boat trippers were gutted not to have tried but fair play to them, they were made up for us, though I get the feeling that quite a lot of people were actually pissed off that we got in, and were hoping we would fail. By now it was gone 3 in the morning I went up to my room had a quick shower and went to airport for my 0800 flight home.

Met shearer at the airport. All in all I had an ace weekend and made a new mate from wolves who'll probably remain one of my best mates till i die. Who needs the travel club eh??
 

We could see the players pile into the tunnel at half time but not what went on. The atmosphere in the ground was fine, certainly not as intimidating as some of the places I have watched England play. At the end there was perfect silence at the final whistle, we could hear the players cry out at the final whistle. Before going off Beckham and Neville applauded all four stands, don't know if this was for the benefit of any of us that got in but it got decent applause from the Turkish supporters.

The Turks were pretty relaxed after the game although the walk back to the ferry terminal was a bit nerve racking.

On the ferry back to Europe DC whispered at one point "You know? We deserved to get in there tonight."

Overall impression of the trip was that it was one of the friendliest away trips I have ever been on. Once the Turks knew you were there for the football you were not just another tourist but a welcomed guest. Istanbul is a lovely city and I honestly hope that we can have another trip there in
the near future.

PS . A friend of mine also managed to blag his way past the first cordon. With no match ticket he went up to a portakabin where some officials were having a tea break, he told them he was English and could they help? They laughed, made him wait a few minutes, then went over to a gate, unlocked it and showed him in where he was able to watch the game with no problems.