Sunday, December 31, 2017

Kankalar Group - The Multinational Ankaragucu fan group!




The Kankalar Group has been up and running for almost 15 years and is made up of both Turkish and Foreign internationals including America. Australia, UK, Holland, Romania, and many other nationalities who follow either Ankaragucu or Genclerbirligi.

Over the last couple of years, the Kanka Group has been gaining more media attention due to Social Media and last weekend our Ankaragucu Kankas Jim, Damon, Murat and Miguel were interviewed by Anayurt.

You can see the full article here Anayurt article with the Kankas

33 comments:

  1. Hi Guys...great Blog....got this from Tristan Browning on the European Football Weekend group as we are interested in seeing a match at the 19 May Stadium, ideally Ankaragucu as my mate is trying to watch a game at every stadium Leeds United played at in European matches....the questions have if you can help are:

    1. we know the ground is due for demolition....but when as we see this keeps changing.

    2. who are playing there - we note all the game reviews still mention both teams playing there

    3. Where is the new ground being built....is it the same site ?

    Cheers lads

    Richard Gandy, Leeds

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  2. Hi Richard

    Thanks for getting in touch. Unfortunately with Ankaragucu, nothing is ever straight forward which makes answering your questions difficult at the moment.

    Ill go over the questions just now and any further information required just let us know.

    1. The stadium plans keep changing and it looks like both Ankaragucu and Genclerbirligi will complete the season at the 19 Mayis stadium. They will then both move to the newly build Eryaman Stadium at the start of next season for 1 full season before moving to a newly build stadium for both clubs.

    2. Both Ankaragucu and Genclerbirlig play at the 19 Mayis Stadium and usually play on alternate weekends.

    3. ill double check this for you and come back to you with the answer

    Something else you must take into account is that in order to enter any Turkish Stadium for a football match in the top 2 divisions, you must hold a Passolig card. This was introduced to apparently improve crowd behavior and you cant enter the stadium without this.

    Its easy enough to acquire though so when you are coming over for a game let us know before hand and we can help you with that.

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    1. Fantastic help Nady...I presume the ultimate new ground is not going to be on the present 19 May site then ?

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  3. Hi Richard from the Ankara end of the Kanka Group. Nady is our very important link in Glasgow for this Blog and his knowledge of Ankaragucu is 2nd to none !

    I'll be your link in Ankara when you finally decide to come here. Have you a rough idea when that will be ? As Nady said, it is possible to get the passolig card on line, so that won't be a problem. We sit/stand in the Sag Kapali part of the Stadium.

    Please try to let us know in advance when you are coming, so that we can advise you if it's a home match, and also bear in mind that Ankaragucu matches are now televised, so that means the match can be on Friday/Saturday/Sunday or Monday !

    To answer your last question, it seems that it will be on the present site eventually, but as Nady said, nothing is cast in concrete here until the cement trucks move in !!

    Look forward to hearing more from you.

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  4. Hi Eski....possibly in May dependant on if Leeds get to the play offs....so it might be for the last Genclerbirligi game....we would prefer Ankaragucu as thats who Leeds played...its just fitting it around important Leeds games...interesting that the new stadium maybe on the same site, in terms of ground hopping Thanks for your help

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  5. Slightly off topic. But when did Ankaragucu play Leeds? And Richard, no matter which game you come for, we will look after you.

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    1. September 1972 narrow win 2-1 on aggregate in the Cup Winners Cup...robbed by a (proven) bent ref v AC Milan in the final

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    2. Thanks for the kind offers...we will look at in more details when my mate return from his Oz holiday !

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  6. My son just looked at my last comment and said it looked like a challenge, some sort of a "let's fight". No!!! You are welcome here Richard. Let me buy you the first beer.

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  7. Well, we learn something new every day Richard !

    I wonder if our Maniac Kanka Harun was at that match - Ankaragucu v Leeeeeedddzzz ??!!

    C'mon Harun, it's true you are over 40 now, but can you remember that far back ????

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    1. Sorry Jimbo,its time when i was burn :))

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  8. Hi guys....looks like Leeds chances of getting to the play offs are fading, so we may well be on for the weekend of 18/19 May.....i noticed that last season the last round of games were on a Friday & Saturday, which seems unusual....do you know when these are likely to be fixed. We may well try for a game in Istanbul as well as the Genclerbirligi game, but will need to see...thanks !

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  9. Hi again Richard and good to hear you may still be ON for Ankara. As I said previously, the matches are on TV so they could be on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

    It looks like Gencler will be ending up in their normal mid-table position, but there is still a lot of water to flow under the bridge before we can be sure.

    As for Ankaragucu, we have fucked-up recently and are in danger of losing touch with the top two. However, as always, we live in hope and are looking to finish in 1st or 2nd for automatic promotion. If not, it looks like the effin play-off lottery beckons !!!

    It's still impossible to say for sure who will or will not be playing on 18/19 May, but between Chris, Nadeem and I we will try to find out soonest.

    As for Leeeeeeedddz ....... no comment, but at least Hoooodirrrrzzzfeeeld from Yorkshire is doing OK ??!!!!

    Stay in touch and watch the Blog on Sunday for my report of the Ankaragucu victorrrrreeee !!!!

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  10. Thanks a lot....just wondering if there would be 4 game days on the last round go games in a season ?

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  11. It is possible Richard. Last season Be-in Spor TV covered the Super League and TRT Spor TV covered the PTT Championship. However, this season Be-in Spor TV has them both and therefore the monopoly. So, they are in control and more or less dictate to the TFF which match and when. So, we have to play the waiting game I think !!!

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  12. Hi all

    We have just seen that the Super Liga fixtures up until the end of April are now announced, thus leaving only the last 3 game days to be fixed.

    From your end do you have any idea when these will be a announced....we are reluctant to book flights as can only be in town for 3 nights and notice that there are usually games over 4 nights...

    However, when I have looked back over the last 4 seasons the last round of games are only played on just 2 days, usually Friday & Saturday, albeit in 2015/16 these were on Wednesday & Thursday !

    If we know they are on Friday or Saturday we can book...not sure if you guys can shed any light on this

    Alos, is there any up to date news re the closure of the 19 May Stadium and its re development ?

    Many thanks for your help

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  13. Hi again Richard. If you have been following my latest posts on the Blog you will have seen my fixture list for Ankaragucu on the run-in. Also, you will have seen that our 'oracle', Nadeem, has other things on his mind at the moment, ie, a honeymoon !!!

    So, for Ankaragucu, our last 2 home matches are scheduled for 22 April and 6 May, but ..... as I've mentioned many times, this is not set in concrete. The TFF may decide to change the date with only one week's notice, depending on how the table stands at that time of the season with only 1 or 2 matches left and all to play for.

    So, as soon as we know 'for sure' we will let you know.

    As for Genclerbirligi matches, I'm going to pass you over to our webmaster, Oz Kanka Chris, who will be able to give you some info about the Super League run-in, and in particular, Gencler matches.

    The new Stadium in Eryaman, on the outskirts of Ankara, is still under construction but there is no date set for its opening or the closure of the 19 Mayis Stadium.

    Stay in touch and we still look forward to seeing you here.

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  14. Thanks Eski, yes seen the fixtures for Ankaragucu but we can't make their last home game as its Leeds last one that weekend as well

    We look forward to hearing from Oz Kanda re Genclerbirligi for the last Super Liga weekend

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  15. They won't announce the fixtures for the last few weeks until very late... and even then they are liable to change them up to just a few days before the match so that all relegation and promotion matches happen at the same time. We go through this crap every year.

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  16. Thanks Oz

    Do you think the last round will however definitely be either Friday or Saturday - its seems to be most years bar one year when the last round was Wednesday/Thursday as we can afford nights so can be there Friday night through to Monday to cover eventualities

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  17. I really have no idea I'm afraid. But I can't see why they would want to play them early in the week...

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  18. Ok thanks......over the last 4 years it's been Friday/ Saturday twice, Wednesday/Thursday and 4 years ago Saturday/Sunday but never a Monday so fingers crossed its a Friday/Saturday again....we will be in touch again nearer the time

    If you do hear snitching regarding the dates or the fate of the old stadium and have a chance to let us know we would be grateful

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  19. Hi again guys......only a couple of weeks to the end of the season and I see that no details are yet up for either of the final game days - you did warn us !!

    We are going to wait until the final day is confirmed to try and attend the Genclerbirligi game...can we just ask please

    1. With regard to the Passolig card - how much notice do you n need to help us get one for the game ?

    2. Any more news on where both teams will play next season ?

    3. Any thing more about the fixtures we may not have heard about

    Cheers and thanks again lads

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  20. 1. On getting Passolig. I would say 2 weeks is needed.

    2. No news yet on where we are playing next year.

    3. Nope.

    I'm really sorry at not being able to give more info but that is how things work (or not) here in Turkey. I'd still go for it though. Order your passolig card and we will get you into the match no matter what. And I think I offered a few posts ago a beer!

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  21. Ok, thanks

    Do we need to do the Passolig online then - maybe cutting it a bit fine ?

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    1. Seen the online application...its 44 TLR so may apply anyway for future use...just put down support no team...any thoughts Oz ?

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    2. Yes. Put down `no team` The card lasts for two years I think.

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  22. Thanks again

    It says we would have to pick up from the stadium, and we face a dilemma as if the game is Friday night we can only fly out on that day so may not have time to pick the card up

    If we wait until the fixtures are fixed and then apply for the Passolig card a week before can we get the single issue card still ?

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    1. On the picking up issue you can still get into the match with a temporary passolig card but Im not sure of the procedure. Or you can e-mail us a photocopy of of your passport and we could use that to pick up the card before the match. They don"t hand out the cards on any match days.

      It is all a pain in the neck.

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  23. Morning Oz, still no news re next weekend fixture day for Gencler I see. We are still waiting to see then will check flight...but have not applied for the Passolig card yet. A few guys on European Football Weekends FB page say that as long as you apply and are accepted you can bring your documentation proving this, plus Passport and go to the offices the day before and get the single game pass. Where are the Gencker offices ?

    Secondly is there any more information regarding the fate of the May 19 stadium....will either club use this next season ?

    Thanks for you help

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  24. Yep... they certainly don't set the agenda early.

    The office you need to go to is not the Gencler office but the Passolig office at the stadium.

    Still no news on whether 19 mayis will be used next year.

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  25. Okay, thanks again...we will be in touch if we book to fly over !

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