Same old Ankaragucu !

After excellent victories over Tepecik and Alanyaspor, it was back to the same old rubbish from Ankaragucu that see them go into the playoffs instead of being champions. A 1-1 draw with a team sitting 1 side out of the relegation zone is just not good enough. Thankfully Alanyaspor also drew today which see us still sitting 2nd in the table.

Team - Bayram Olgun, Metin Aydin, Serhat Aykuz, Selim Teber, Onur Atasayer, Muhammed Gonulacar, Serhat Gulpinar, Kaan Kanak, Mehmet Erdem, Mehmet Cakir, Omer Yalcin

Subs - Gokhan Akkan, Aydin Toscali, Orhan Evci, Volkan Yilmaz, Mehmet Tasci, Bilal Gundogdu, Umut Nayir

Altinordu showed again why they are worthy champions with a 3-0 win over Kizilcahamamspor. Yet again i will mention they have the 2nd lowest budget in the league but have still managed to win the league at first time of asking.

Its important that Ankaragucu finish 2nd as the higher up the table we finish the better chance you have of avoiding the top teams in the playoff first round. With Levent Kale out injured today, it was a surprise to see Mehmet Umut Nayir dropped to the bench. The clubs top scorer however came off the bench in the 2nd half to put Ankaragucu 1-0 up.

From then on you would have expected Ankaragucu to go on and win the game, but Iskenderun grabbed a late equaliser to share the points.

Ankaragucu have 2 games remaining. Next week at home to Altay, before travelling to Bandirmaspor for the final game of the season before the playoffs. The new coach will need to get the team in shape for the playoffs could be one of the most important weeks in the clubs history.

e-bilet...fuck that

A normal Friday evening in Ankara. A young man walks arm-in-arm with a beautiful girl, strolling through sanitised Genclik Park, oblivious to the blind drunk activities that used to take place there at the Sahil Restaurant where Sir Eski Kanka used to pay through the neck for some weird soda/champagne thing for the not very good singer in a short skirt.

"Canim," she says. "Why don't we just pop over the road and get a ticket and see the beautiful football that I'm told Genclerbirligi are world-reknowned for?" the young lady said to her man.

And so they dodged the taxis and entered the 19 Mayis Stadium area.

"We would like a ticket to the match please Sir," she asked.

"Have you got a Passolig card?"

"Er... no..."

"No fucking football for you then. Fuck off you fucking fuckers..."

Genclerbirligi 1 - 0 Bursaspor

An absolutely wonderful Friday evening for football. The weather was in the hole, on the wall, curling upwards, spinning nicely, lickedly splittedly ace! Pretty nice really.

So down we went to the Beer Bus. We had a few of the regulars  ... Oz Kanka (Me!!!!), Little Oz Kanka, Spine, Flying Dutchman Kanka. And we had Melih, his son and a small relative.

So we had seven people, but just six tickets!

It was easy enough as they let us squeeze through the turnstyles with the kids.

First potential explosive encounter avoided!

With day tickets not allowed to be on sale anymore the crowd was definitely smaller than usual. Of course, this meant that everyone in Maraton was a season ticket holder and therefore passionate for Gencler.

Kick off and ...

Everyone was sitting.

No one was singing.

As soon as we had an attack that was half decent and people like myself would naturally scream support, we would be shushed by the crowd. We were quiet. We were sitting. We did not sing. This was a wonderfully weird protest. We were quiet...

No sounds at all. Everything was quiet and then at the sixth minute all of the Gencler fans start shouting against the passolig cart.

All quiet again until the 16th minute when the same anti-passolig card screeds were shouted.

This was a match with thousands watching and besides those small points we were all quiet. The atmosphere was brilliant! This was a crowd united in silence.

And then again in the 26th and 36th minute the crowd chanted against the passolig.

But for most of the time we were quiet... The football seemed okay. We had most of the ball and I was fairly confident that we go ahead.

We are not customers. We are fans.

Half time and time to start singing!

It was time to stand up and sing all the songs and the chants that we were supposed to do when they were actually playing.

We had exhausted our songs and the teams started to come out onto the pitch. For the fans... it was time to leave.  

"We are not customers, we are fans!" was the chant of the fans as they filed out.

So it was that we left the stadium just as the second-half had kicked off.

I don't know for sure how many people left. My guess is about 60 percent of the crowd in Maraton (a crowd already massively reduced thanks to the new ticketing procedures). There were a whole heap of people sitting on the left-hand side who didn't leave their seats.

In the taxi on the way to the Red Lion Club I learnt that Ermin Zec had scored.

Yeah. That'll do.
 

Good, I guess

Stop the presses. Genclerbirligi has beaten Bursaspor 1-0. Take that industrial football!!

More soon.

ANKARAGUCU RENAME BOZUYUKSPOR !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The new name is …....... Bozukspor …...... which is …..... loosely speaking, means …. not working (Eski's translation !!!).

A very pleasant Spring/Summer day saw Ankaragucu finally secure victory in the 2^nd half after a halting display of ups and downs.

ANKARAGUCU 5 Bozuykspor 0

A good turn-out of kankas today with Maniac Kanka Harun, 61 Kankie Elif, Apple Kanka Erman, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Paddy Kanka Paul and Cider Kanka John.

The tribunes were full as usual, with Gecikondu and Maraton bursting at the seams. There were 8 in the away end …............ and they were not Police !!

Surely a World Record was made here today when a Bozuyk defender upended Levent in the 33nd second of the match and was awarded a yellow card ! This was significant later in the 1^st half when Levent hobbled off – hopefully not a serious injury.

6 minutes in and then came the 6^th highlight of the match (after the 5 goals). On cue, the whole of Maraton let fly with millions of pieces of confetti (me included) and it was impossible to see the action through the white haze ! Amazing sight.

Each team was sussing the other out until the 16^th minute and then, just as we were about to burst into song for Bursaspor …....... a free kick to Ankaragucu on the right. With everyone (including me) expecting the long ball to the left, Kaan nips it into the inside of the right post with everyone stationery ! Aaaannnkaarrraaagooojooo and then Olay Olay Booorrsssaaspor Booorrrsssaaaspor Olay Olay !!!

Ankaragucu was full-on now and near the half hour mark missed two good chances to increase the score when Mehmet shot past when it was easier to score and then Kaan tried a scissors kick from a throw-in which was saved.

On the half hour mark and Bayram was brought into action when he saved a goal bound shot, but the attacker was offside.

Then on the 33^rd minute mark, the goal of the match. A break down the right by Aytac and a great shot which was parried by the keeper. Aytac was following up and he hit his 2^nd shot at an acute angle to deceive the keeper.

Almost half time and Mehmet scored the 3^rd 'goal' ….... almost. The offside flag was up and we have to accept the linesman's decision.

Into time added on and Bayram to the rescue. A skilful back-heel by the Bozuyuk attacker gave a shooting opportunity, but Bayram saved well.

Ankaragucu started brightly in the 2^nd half with Kaan and Umut having chances. However, the match drifted into mediocrity and I was beginning to have thoughts about the match 2 weeks ago when Ankaragucu blew a 2-0 lead against Ofspor.

It took until 15 minutes before the end for Ankaragucu to awaken from their slumber ! Umut was involved in a ping-pong in the box with 2 attempts and then Mehmet had a great chance with the goal at his mercy but shot past the post.

10 minutes to go and the tribunes decided to do a 'Mexican Wave'. Shit ! I don't believe this ! What do we have to celebrate I said to myself ? OK, we are 2-0 up but we are playing crap !!

2 minutes later and I choked on my outpourings !!! A fast Ankaragucu move with Mehmet in full flow. The cut-back and there was Erdem to shoot past the helpless goalkeeper.

That's it I thought, but no ! Kaan (my Man of the Match) made a great lay-off to Umut who let fly and buried the ball in the net with the keeper motionless !

That's it. But, no, Umut headed over and Erdem shot past in the closing moments as we made our way down to the exit.

Into time added on and Erdem produced a piece of magic to skip past a few tackles and placed his curling shot around the goalie and into the far post for No5.

What a finish ! However, let's not be euphoric yet. The Coach has to instil the fact into the players that a game of footie is 90 minutes !!!

Back to the Chopin for celebrations and then to The Anatolian Bar on Bayindir Sokak where our friend Ismail has opened a new bar. We will be visiting this venue more in the future !!

No change at the top of the League as Altinordu and Alanya both won. The Play-Offs beckon !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

So long Cebeci and thanks for all the goals

An absolutely beautiful day on Sunday in Ankara and with the wife out of town we decided, bugger it, lets go and watch a football match. Genclerbirligi played yesterday so we headed off to see Ankara Demirspor, the capital's railways' team versus Yesil Bursa AŞ at Cebeci Inonu Stadium. 

 

I'm not sure these Ottoman-era houses have
actually been "restored", more like "rebuilt".
But still, this street was certainly lively on
Sunday.

Ankara Demirspor 0 - 1 Yeşil Bursa 

I don't have any particular love for Ankara Demirspor. Before the match I had no idea of their colours or what league they played in - it is the Spor Toto Lig. 3rd Division No. 1 Group ie a long way down the leagues. But it seems that the Cebeci Inonu Stadium right in the heart of Ankara is going to be demolished at the end of the season to make way for ... another bloody AVM.

Ankaragucu played their first-ever match in Ankara in 1922 at the place where the Cebeci Stadium is today. The stadium as it is was built in 1967 and has a capacity for 37,000 people; admittedly most of those people would have to stand.     

Post-lunch cuppa.

The location of the stadium is wonderful. Many tourists actually think it must be the capital's main stadium because it's wonderful curvy lines are easily seen from the Kale. 

It is such as shame that yet another sporting space is going to handed over to TOKI. Yet more history thrown out the window. Yet more money for developers. 

I have only been to the Cebeci Stadium once but I thought I ought to check it out one last time before they demolish the place. Little Oz Kanka had never been so it then became my fatherly duty to go today. 

We got a bit lost on our way to the stadium but it didn't matter as I had factored in that we needed lunch first. It seemed as if we had hit pay dirt when we found a street of "restored" Ottoman houses all advertising breakfast at midday for 10 lira. 

I didn't see any art. It was nice though.

Of course, it was all Turkish breakfasts and not a rasher of bacon to be had anywhere. 

In the end we found a nice kebab place and gorged ourselves. 

It was all a bit of an adventure for us as we normally never go to the Cebeci area. It was very nice though but the "restored" houses were just a bit too much restored.

In many ways the real beauties can be found in the back streets and these back street places certainly need restoring, proper restoring.

I just hope they aren't simply torn down and replicas put in their place. 

This is a clock tower from ancient
Angora- built circa 2008.

We had been informed that the match kicked off at 1:30 pm and so we showed up with about two minutes to spare and got our 3TL paper tickets. 

Went straight to the gate and was told we would have to wait for security to show up. 

"But the match starts in two minutes," I told the friendly fellow.

"It starts in an hour," he said laughing at the silly foreigner.

Oh well, time to do more exploring. 

The Cebeci Inonu Stadium entrance.
Purposely left to rot.

An hour to spare and what better thing to do then to check out the Ulucanlar Prison. I'm not going to give a run down of the prison museum. Just to advise you not to visit on a Sunday.

This is possibly one of the most thought provoking museums in Turkey and the crowds of people trying to get a photo of themselves smiling next to the gallows on which people like Deniz Gezmis were hanged is well... not so nice. Then there were others (adults, not children) who heard me explaining some stuff in English to Little Oz Kanka and then said out loud; "Onlarin burada ne işi var". Then there was just the depressing comments being made by parents to their children.

"Why were they here," asked a child about the prisoners (who include Bulent Ecevit, Nazim Hikmet, Bulent Tanik, etc etc.)

"Because this was a place for traitors and they all deserved it," said the father. For him, this was a fun park.            

But do visit though. It is an important part of our history. Just don't do it on a Sunday. 

So finally we got into the stadium just after the national anthem and watched some footy. 

It wasn't the best in the world but there was plenty of attacking and plenty of shots. I didn't really care but Yesil Bursa went ahead in the second half and despite some wonderful chances Ankara Demirspor couldn't equalise.

All in all it was great to get out, to watch some footy without the stress of actually supporting one of the teams, to explore a different part of Ankara and to say farewell to a stadium that could have been great. All they had to do was to "restore" it.
        

The ticket booth,

The ticket,

The field,

The gawkers, 

           

The fans,

The end.

Better then losing... I guess

We really are in the who cares section of the season. We can't go down, we can't go up. Still, a win's a win.

Gaziantep 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi

Owing to Little Oz Kanka having his own footy match to play on Saturday we missed the first half... and the goal.

So, we were one-nil up and then...

We were robbed, repeat robbed! A clear hand ball in the box and no penalty.

Didn't matter as we held on.

Little Oz and myself are heading off to the Cebeci Stadium tomorrow for Ankara Demirspor's match against somebody. 1:30 pm KO. It may well be the last time I ever get to see a match at Cebeci because the plan is to turn the place into... yep... you guessed it, another fucking mall.

 

No one can stop us from finishing ninth!

"Are you this shit every week?"

We had a couple of guests on Sunday. David from Istanbul and Bernard from Ankara. A shame Genclerbirligi were not very good hosts. Yawn.

Genclerbirligi 0 - 0 Kayseri Erciyes

Alanyaspor 1-5 Ankaragucu match report !

Finally, Finally, Finally the Ankaragucu team arrived and showed exactly what we knew they were capable of with a stunning 5-1 win at Alanyaspor in new Coach Celal Kibrizli first game in charge !

Team - Bayram Olgun, Aytac Oden, Sehat Aykuz, Selim Teber, Onur Atasayer, Serhat Gulpinar, Kaan Kanak, Emre Tasdemir, Muhammed Gonulacar, Levent Kale, Umut Nayir

Subs - Gokhan Akkan, Metin Aydin, Omer Yalcin, Aydin Toscali, Mehmet Cakir, Harun Aydin, Mehmet Tasci

So the new coach made a number of changes to the team, and there were even places on the bench for Mehmet Cakir and Aydin Toscali who were supposed to have had their contracts terminated. The first noticeable change was that as i predicted midweek, he moved Emre Tasdemir into a further forward role and young Onur Atasayer came back in at left back.

Celal bey showed that he isn't just going to settle for defensive performances in away games against the leagues stronger sides. He played to our own strengths and played both Umut and Levent up top. And guess what ? We produced our best performance of the season. Well done to our new coach !!

The problem with Ankaragucu this season, has been the poor choice of coaches who haven't played to our own strengths and instead gave to much respect to the other teams. Can Ankaragucu now build on this at the perfect time with the playoffs coming up ?

Things didn't start to well with Emre Akbaba giving Alanyaspor the lead after 14 minutes. I actually said to Damon here we go again another poor performance coming up against one of the stronger sides. How wrong was i not to show any faith in our new coach ?

The equaliser came after 29 minutes through Kaan Kanak who has started to show the form we know he is capable of.

The score stayed that way until half time, none of us could have predicted what would happen in the second half.

Three goals in 10 minutes from Umut Nayir, Kaan Kanak (with his second) and Levent Kale put Ankaragucu 4-1 up to send the travelling Ankaragucu fans wild ! I must also mention, The European Ankaragucu group Avrulali Guculer made the trip to the game in their numbers from Germany, Belgium and Holland and looked like they had a great time.

There was even time left for Aydin Toscali to make it 5-1 and the result will send out a message to anyone involved in the play offs that Ankaragucu mean business and won't go down with a fight !!!

Well done lads !!!

Ankaragucu vs Alanyaspor match preview !

Ankaragucu today appointed Celal Kibrizli as their new coach ahead of this weekends match at Alanyaspor. After the disastrous 3-2 defeat at home against Ofspor last week, Fuat Aykuz was sacked along with Serhat Aykuz, Ibrahim Sahin, Mehmet Cakir, Erhan Guven, Aydin Toscali and Serkan Sirin. Celal was given a 1.5 year contract today and took charge of his first training session at the clubs training facility.

The new coach has previously had spells as coach with Sekerspor, Goztepe, Karabukspor, Caykur Rizespor and Kizilicahamamspor to name a few. This time the club have went with someone who wasn't previously with the club. Both Hayati Soldas and Fuat Aykuz this season were sacked having previously played for the club.

The match at Alanyaspor will be a tough match and with so many changes to the team it will be a challenge for Celal Kibrizli in his first game in charge. Alanyaspor like Ankaragucu lost last weekend too and it looks like their title hopes have also ended. Both teams will be looking for the 3 points to keep pressure on leaders Altinordu and also secure their play off spots.

Gokhan Kaba and Emre Akbaba are the two players Ankaragucu will need to watch out for with them scoring 25 goals between them this season. It will be interesting to see how the new coach will set the team up. Will their be places in the team for the likes of Harun Aydin, Mehmet Tasci and Metin Aydin ? Will he go with Umut and Levent up front or will he be more cautious ?

Kick off on Sunday will be 1230, lets hope we get back to winning and the team can bring the 3 points back to the Capital Ankara !

Ankaragucu terminate 7 staff members contracts !

Mehmet Yiginer and the Ankaragucu board have wasted no time in taking action for yesterdays embarrassing 3-2 defeat at home to Ofspor. As reported after the game Mehmet Yiginer entered the players dressing room and vented his feelings to wards the team with reports of punches even being thrown.

Today it was announced that Manager Fuat Aykuz and his assistant Umut Gecemen, along with players Mehmet Cakir, Aydin Toscali, Serhat Aykuz, Erhan Guven and Ibrahim Sahin have all had their contracts terminated. At such a critical time in the clubs history Yiginer has shown that he will not tolerate these type of results and performances.

From the players who have been released only Mehmet Cakir will be missed from the playing side. Aydin has struggled since he returned to the club, while new signings Serhat and Erhan have failed to impress. Ibrahim Sahin has struggled with fitness too and wont be missed.

The one thing the Ankaragucu teams gave over the last 3 years was hard work from the young players. Some of these new signings have the talent but lacked the desire and work ethic of the youngsters.

It will be interesting to see how replaces Fuat Aykuz. Both Hakan Kutlu and Mustafa Kaplan have been mentioned. In other news Galatasaray are interested in Emre Tasdemir and Umut Nayir. If the club lose any of those two players then it will be a huge blow to the club.

THE OLDE cliché ….... A GAME OF TWO HALVES !!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Team - Gokhan Akkan, Erhan Guven, Selim Seber, Serhat Aykuz, Emre Tasdemir, Muhammed Gonulacar, Kaan Kanak, Mehmet Erdem, Mehmet Cakir, Serkan Sirin, Umut Nayir

Subs - Bayram Olgun, Metin Aydin, Mehmet Tasci, Harun Aydin, Omer Yalcin, Onur Atasayer

Ankaragucu kissed goodbye to winning the League today in Ankara after a shocking 2^nd half performance, and with Altinordu winning today in Nazilli, will have to hope that they can be sure of making the Play-Offs by beating Alanya next weekend.

ANKARAGUCU 2 Ofspor 3

It was joy joy and more joy when we, Maniac Kanka Harun and Sixty One Kankie Elif, entered the Stadium where we were met by Apple Kanka Erman and long time Blog Supporter Ahmet Arif Sezgin.

Gecikondu and Maraton were full and the others almost full. In the away end there were about 50 'immigrants' from Trabzon !

The noise factor was high volume and during the National Anthem the Gecikondu boys covered themselves with yellow Ankaragucu Crests.

The match started at high tempo with Ankaragucu in all out attack and after 4 minutes played could so easily have been ahead with shots going over and past.

7 minutes in and it was mental in the Stadium. Gecikondu was showering confetti all over the place and Maraton unveiled a huge Ankaragucu flag which covered most of the tribune.

10 minutes in and Ankaragucu won their 4^th corner for sustained pressure, Umut attempted scissors kick was off target.

The breakthrough arrived 2 minutes later from an Ankaragucu free kick. Man of the Match (in the first half !!) Selim sent a free kick just outside the box over the wall to open the scoring with the Goalkeeper rooted to the spot. Here we go I thought !!! Mmmmm, sometimes I hate myself for being so optimistic !!!

16 minutes in and we were serenaded with the Bursa chant. Btw, they won today !!

25 minutes gone and it was still all Ankaragucu and from a corner Selim's header was just wide. 5 minutes later it was Selim again trying to waltz the ball through the Ofspor defence but his shot was blocked and from the rebound Mehmet's shot was saved.

One minute later it was almost 2 when Emre's cross was connected by Umut but his header narrowly missed the top left hand corner. 5 minutes later Umut missed another great chance when he should have tapped-in, but …..... he didn't !

Ofspor finally got into the act in the 40^th minute from a breakaway, but a great saving tackle by Selim saved the day. Selim was involved again 3 minutes later when another free kick was sent goalwards, but this time the goalkeeper was ready for it !

Approaching half time and Emre was through on goal but as he about to shoot he was 'brought down' or 'fell down'. The referee blew immediately and we all thought he would point to the spot, but …...... grrrrrrrr ….... he ran directly to Emre and bandished the yellow for diving ! I shouted some 'naughty words' to the referee, but I don't think he heard me ! Harun and I were convinced he was brought down !

Half time arrived and only 1-0 up was a miracle. How many chances do you have to spurn to keep your supporters on edge ??!! Also, at this stage, Gokhan didn't have a save to make, and all he did was to kick out the occasional goal kick !

Into the 2^nd half then and it was still all Ankargucu but, as it the 1^st half, the telling ball and shot for goal was missing. However, 12 minutes in and the best chance of the game eluded Ankaragucu when Mehmet's shot hit the post and rebounded back to him, but the 2^nd shot was over.

Just after this, Levent came on to a hero's welcome as Kaan went off, and it only took 3 minutes for Ankaragucu to make the game safe (as we thought !!). A great right wing cut-back cross came over for Umut to nod in for a simple goal.

Here comes the avalanche …........ yessssssssssssss. But …...... noooooooo !!!

5 minutes later there was an Ofspor free kick on the left just outside the penalty box and the free was swung over with Gokhan rushing out to clear, but ….... he missed it ….. and the lurking Ofspor forward slotted in. Bayram's height would have been useful !!!

Ankaragucu rallied and from a breakaway, Umut almost scored but headed over.

Into the 66^th minute, and it was at this stage when the game swung in Ofspor's direction. I couldn't quite decide if they stepped up a gear or if Ankaragucu switched off, but the tide definitely turned, and what was more irritating was that Ankaragucu was kicking into the Gecikondu end !!!

Then, when cool heads were called for, Ofspor scored within 2 minutes to equalise ! Gokhan must accept the blame again when he failed to dominate his box and allowed the headed equaliser !

All square at 2-2 with 20 minutes to go and all the tribunes were urging them forward …... attack …. attack ….... but, to be honest, Ankaragucu was looking shell-shocked and shaky, and ….. I felt that Ofspor smelled …........ blood !!!

It was end to end now and with 15 minutes remaining, Gokhan was almost caught out again, but managed to punch clear.

2 minutes later and Ankaragucu should have broken the deadlock. A great lay-off by Levent left Mehmet with a shot on goal, but his goal bound shot was blocked.

Back to the other end, and Gokhan prevented another goal from Ofspor with a fortuitous block with his feet.

Into the last 10 minutes and the tribunes were baying for a goal. Emre crossed from the left and Umut's header was wide. Levent crossed for Umut, but he delayed his shot and the chance was gone.

4 minutes left and I suppose, hand on heart, you could settle for a draw after the spirited Ofspor fightback. Yes, me included !

However...... how many times have I used that word in my posts ??? Yes, however, with the Ankaragucu defence posted missing with the push forward, Ofspor broke away and scored the winner with ease to silence the Stadium.

To use my favourite statement when I'm playing darts …...... never say ….. never ! So, all credit to Ofspor for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and putting Ankaragucu into the brown smelly stuff !!!

So, the play-off beckons for Ankaragucu with Altinordu looking comfortable at the top. Next weekend's '6 pointer' against Alanya on the south coast takes on new meaning for both teams who lost today. We all hate the prospect of a Play-Off Lottery, but …... it's Ankaragucu's last chance to avoid another season in the 2^nd Division.

All the best from a very disappointed Eski Kanka Jim

Hello industrial football

Got a friend in town and want to take her to the footy? Maybe your son wants to take a friend to a match. Relatives are visiting and want to experience what it is like to have real singing in a stadium. Maybe you just read this blog now and then and decide on one lovely sunny day, "Bugger it. I'm going to the footy this afternoon!"

Well, you can all get stuffed because the government are introducing a new e-ticketing procedure called Passolig. Without a Passolig card you will not be able to get into the stadium for matches in the Super Lig and the 1st Division. For the moment you Ankaragucu fans are fine... just don't get promoted.

From the Passolig website:

With the new regulation which will put into force as of 14 April 2014 paper tickets will no longer be used and fans will enter the stadiums with PASSOLİG Card. With this new card system, tickets will not be printed and the information on matches will be uploaded to electronic tickets. This will enable a more speedy entrance to games, without waiting in queues.

The match tickets of sports fans who own PASSOLİG Card will be uploaded to their cards automatically. Season tickets will also be uploaded to PASSOLİG Cards. The information on and all details of the match will be sent to the e-mail addresses and mobile phones of the card holders. The card holders will also be able to print-out their ticket (information*) on the mobile terminals which will be installed in the stadiums. In short, PASSOLİG Card holders will have an easy access to all sorts of detailed information about the uploaded matches.

* I added the word information as they seem to have mistranslated. You won't need to print out tickets at home or on these fancy mobile terminals. 

Okay, so basically to go to a match you will have to have a card that is similar to a season ticket card that many of us already have. You casual fans are a bit stuffed though.

Apparently there are lots of benefits to having a Passolig card. Let's take a look at the "Advantages of Passolig" page.

No waiting in queues in front of the stadiums.

Except for that queue at the actual gate.

Enjoy watching a match safely and comfortably with your acquaintances on your own seat, away from all the negativity.

It's the negativity and the standing that I like! Also make sure your acquaintances have Passolig cards.

Benefit from pre-match stadium activities and have a chance to win free tickets and promotions.

If pre-match activities includes free beer down in Kizilay, I'm all for it! Free tickets? I already buy mine. Promotions? Refer to beer.

Easily access licensed products of your favourite team at home and abroad. 

When I'm abroad I often have this sort of conversation with Mrs Oz Kanka.

Me: You know what London/New York/Paris/Wagga Wagga really needs?
Mrs Oz Kanka: Friendly cultural respect for foreigners?
Me: No. What they need here is somewhere to buy a Genclerbirligi scarf. And not just any scarf you can buy for 10tl down at the stadium, but an official licenced scarf at four times the price!

No need to another card for your transportations.

This is pretty good as you won't have to line up to get tickets for the metro or buses or what not. One slight hassle is that this has not yet been introduced for cities including Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Adana, Konya, Eskisehir, Diyarbakir, Trabzon etc etc. It will be good though for when we happen to be in Gaziantep, Kayseri, Kütahya, Düzce or Aksaray.    

Use your PASSOLİG Card in the cafes and buffets in the stadiums without having to carry money in your pocket. No need to worry about coin change being taken by security before you enter the stadium.

It is true that I often forget to put money in my pocket. I don't have any hassles with losing coins though as I have a 10-year-old mule for that purpose.

So despite my lack of enthusiasm some of you may want to continue to go to the football and now you want to know how do you get your free card.

Well firstly, it isn't free. The card will cost 15tl. This is to increase every year with inflation. According to an article in Klasspor, 40 percent of this will go to the clubs, 5 percent to the TFF and Aktif Bank, who are running the system, gets to keep 55 percent.

By the way, it is just a pure coincidence that Calik Holding that owns Aktif Bank has extremely close relations with certain people.    

Aktif Bank probably won't make that much money out of the yearly fee, but they will hold something much more valuable, they will have all the details of every football fan in the land. And in the name of offering us "promotions" our mobile phone message folders and e-mail accounts will be forever spammed.

There are three types of bank cards that you can choose from (none is not an option). They are the normal bank cards - debit, pre-paid or credit card.  

Whenever you sign a deal with a bank it always comes with a 27-page terms of use agreement that nobody has ever read. To save you having to even think about ignoring the Passolig terms of use, I decided just now to take a look.

Oh look... that was quick. Section 2 is the official "you agree to get spammed by anyone Aktif Bank damn well like" section.

By accepting the Terms of Use, you accept that the personal information you provide may be shared with Aktif Bank’s affiliates, companies in the same group, Turkish Soccer Federation, associated program partners or contracted institutions; and that electronic messages of a commercial nature concerning marketing activities regarding products and services provided by Aktif Bank or the aforementioned institutions, including promotions, advertisements, commercials, campaigns, announcements, etc., may be transmitted to you by electronic mail, telephone, mobile phone (SMS), fax, letter, printed materials, and similar methods.   

Don't worry though because the very next section states:

Aktif Bank shall not disclose personal information to third parties except for the circumstances set forth in the Terms of Use. 

Number nine is a nice one which seemingly bans this blog post. Lucky I haven't actually accepted the terms of use yet.

Use of the information supplied in the Site, including reproduction, translation to another language, storage or processing, is subject to Aktif Bank’s prior written permission. Therefore, information published on the Site may not be reproduced, published, copied, amended, derivative works may not be created, provided and/or transmitted without Aktif Bank’s written permission. All or part of the Site may not be used without permission on another internet site, and links may not be provided to the Site.        

It doesn't matter how much I blather on about it here. We are going to have to get these cards at some stage. On the Gencler site it says that season tickets for this year will not require a Passolig card, but that no paper tickets will be sold as of April 14. For next year, we will have to get them.

I'm not sure how it is going to work out for all. My son doesn't have a mobile phone. Does that mean he isn't allowed to go to the footy anymore?

Amongst the chaos... Gencler win!

I have to apologise, thus breaking my lesson from my last post, because I completely forgot about Gencler's match this weekend. If the match had have been on Friday night or on Saturday I would have been all over it. But instead it was on a Monday night after the elections and I was so caught up with the news and the corruption and vote-stealing that I forgot the match!

We won though. So that's good.

Eskisehir 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi