first person özgür korkmaz istanbul - turkish daily news
the heavy weather conditions in the country affect different groups in various ways. a bunch of excited gençlerbirliği supporters is forced to end its trip to support the team at vestel manisaspor halfway.
traveling to an away game is a sacred matter for football fans, especially if the journey involves an overnight bus or train trip.
fans, all proud of what they are doing, chant slogans and sing anthems all night long, drinking just enough to stay awake.
ıf everything had happened as planned, ı would have supported my team in the stands in manisa sunday and traveled to izmir later, but instead ı was in the turkish daily news headquarters in ıstanbul yesterday writing a story on how ı traveled all weekend to reach nowhere.
ıt all started early last week when alkaralar (red-blacks), a supporter group of the ankara-based turkcell super league side gençlerbirliği, decided to organize an away trip for the weekend's league game in manisa, located 40 kilometers north of izmir. as a gençlerbirliği supporter living in ıstanbul, ı was excited at the opportunity to watch the team, and of course at going on the away trip itself.
during the discussions on the group's web site (www.alkaralar.com) regarding the organization of the trip, some supporters voiced their concerns about the weather conditions; the turkish state meteorology service predicted extremely cold weather and heavy snowfall for the weekend. but others, including me, ignored the warnings. after all, they were just a bunch of experts and scientists whose job was to forecast the weather, why not ignore them!
my very own journey started saturday morning with a flight from ıstanbul to ankara at 11:00 a.m. the snowfall had already started but the plane had the advantage of flying over the snowstorm.
ı spent the day in ankara, wandering around kızılay, a place ı did not really like when ı was a resident of the capital, but noticed that ı missed the city ı once hated. unfortunately the cold weather, plus the heavy bag on my shoulder, forced me to cut my walk short and go into a cinema. at 11:00 p.m. ı joined the supporters to begin the journey to the impossible.
the guys gave me a warm welcome, as ı was the only “hero” who came from outside ankara. the topic of discussion on the bus of course was gençlerbirliği's league condition; a club founded in 1923, known as being the team that has always caused problems when playing the title hopefuls, struggles this season lying just over the danger zone trying to avoid relegation. everybody was excited to be traveling to manisa, where the team was scheduled to play vestel manisaspor, one of the opponents in the club's relegation dogfight.
the supporters on the bus, a group of 40 which included two girls as a special occasion for turkish fans, gave breaks to the debate over the club from time to time to attend the chanting and singing. the songs suggested a “champion gençlerbirliği,” definitely wishful thinking.
we were only around 100 kilometers away from ankara when the weather conditions got worse. we had a stopover in a gas station, drank tea, and decided to continue the trip.
ıt was all joy and entertainment for another two hours, and none of us sitting at the back of the bus realized the tough conditions of the road, unlike the older ones sitting in front. that is why we were all surprised when the bus stopped at another gas station at around 3:00 a.m. sunday morning. we all got out of the bus, some to smoke (yes, no one was allowed to smoke on the bus, another big surprise for traveling turkish football fans), some to use the restrooms, and found out about the real reason of the stop: the driver refused to go any further.
“ı have a wife and children back at home,” said the semi-bald driver in his mid-40s. “the road conditions are getting worse, ı cannot rely on my bus on such an icy road, ı will not risk my or your life.” ıt was only when the driver mentioned how we paid attention to the bus. the old, loud bus with flat tires had done a very good job just to get us that far.
but of course, we did not give up easily. most of the group wanted to continue the trip, despite the driver's opposition. some fans, mostly the older ones, tried to persuade us to agree to go back to ankara, but they had absolutely no chance if it was not the driver saying “ı will not go anywhere but ankara even if you point a gun at me!”
we were back on the bus, going back to ankara, when ı played my last card. “ı have plans,” ı said, probably shouting, “ı must go to izmir. drop me in the next gas station and ı will find a way to go.” fortunately, no other one backed me up and we all stayed in the bus, a group of devastated fans who had nothing to do but sleep for the rest of the trip.
the bus arrived in ankara at 7 a.m. and after that it was another trip for me to ıstanbul, bidding farewell to the dream of spending a couple days in izmir. the road that normally takes 5.5 hours took 8 hours, with lots of cars and buses stuck in snow on the highway. ı tried to listen to the game from my radio on the way, and ı was partly successful. but as nick hornby, writer of the fever pitch, a beautiful autobiographical book about an arsenal supporter, once said “radio football is football reduced to its lowest common denominator.”
but even on the radio, ı am happy to have witnessed a victory; gençlerbirliği beat vestel manisaspor 2-1 and moved three points above the relegation zone. but the club's tough season is not yet over, and so our job as supporters. let there be snowfall, storm or flood, ı will by all means be in the stands in the next away game two weeks later, luckily the team comes to ıstanbul to play kasımpaşa.
