Eoghan Bannon-Wright was one of the 2,500 Liverpool fans who travelled to Istanbul for Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Galatasaray.
This was the 18-year-old Liverpool John Moores University student’s 15th European away trip following his club, but far from the easiest.
Aside from costing him £700 ($943), it was also a logistical nightmare, with fans forced to travel to Rams Park four hours before kick-off, horrendous queues outside the ground and over-zealous stewarding.
He kept a diary for The Athletic about how the supporters were treated during their stay in Turkey and by Galatasaray, who have been approached for comment.
Eoghan Bannon-Wright outside the stadium (Eoghan Bannon-Wright)
3.30pm: The atmosphere in the centre of Istanbul is brilliant. All the Galatasaray fans we meet are very friendly. There’s some banter but it’s all good-natured. No hint of trouble. They tell us to expect a lot of noise inside Rams Park and they certainly delivered on that front.
Sightseeing at the Blue Mosque, Taksim Square and Grand Bazaar followed by a boat trip down the Bosphorus with a few hundred other Liverpool supporters, enjoying a few beers in the sunshine and singing songs. Everyone excited about what’s to come as Liverpool look to bounce back from the defeat to Crystal Palace.
5.30pm: The mood starts to change a bit when we head for Sultanahmet Square where we’ve all been told to catch buses to the stadium at 6pm. It seems crazy that we have to set off four hours before the 10pm kick-off (local time). The stadium is only nine miles away, but the local authorities told Liverpool that boarding the buses was the only way that away supporters could get into Rams Park.
It soon becomes clear that there aren’t enough buses for everyone. We manage to get on to one but we’re packed in like sardines with standing room only.
Liverpool fans on buses to the ground (Eoghan Bannon-Wright)
Outside, there’s confusion and a lack of organisation. Some with match tickets are denied entry onto the buses. The police don’t seem to know whether to go with what the stewards are recommending or what their bosses have set out.
Some fans give up and decide to make their own way to the stadium by taxi. Despite warnings about not being able to get into the stadium if you did that, they got in fine.
The buses finally set off about 6.30pm and it takes just over an hour to get to Rams Park. There were police on every bus, searching everyone as they got on board, with alcohol banned. There are no toilets (leading to some fans improvising with empty water bottles) but once we’re on our way, things settle down and there are no problems.
7.40pm: The queue outside the away section when we arrive at the stadium is huge. This is the issue with everyone getting there at the same time. There don’t seem to be enough turnstiles open, so we decide to hang back. Some stewards tell us we have to join the queue, as apparently it’s not safe for us to wait outside, which is clearly not true.
Liverpool fans queue outside the stadium (Eoghan Bannon-Wright)
There are three separate ticket checks and three security checks by the police and stewards, which seems ridiculous in such a small area and holds everyone up. We had been warned that they would confiscate things like power banks for mobile phones and iPods, but they actually go much further than that. As well as emptying people’s wallets and taking all the coins, they also take away any Galatasaray merchandise people had bought as souvenirs. I’d bought a cap but that was taken off me. How can you possibly justify that?
Some of our female supporters had lipstick, toiletries and other make-up confiscated. It was so overly zealous. One steward told me to take off my shoes and remove everything above my waist so he could check I wasn’t carrying anything else.
It was nearly 9.30pm before we finally make it to our seats — four hours after we had headed to the square to meet the buses. The toilets inside the ground are grim and the queue for a bottle of water is so long it’s not worth joining.
Toilets in the away section of the stadium (Eoghan Bannon-Wright)
The Liverpool stewards in attendance tried to be helpful but they couldn’t really do anything. All they could do was watch and report back.
1am: After being kept inside the stadium for an hour after the final whistle, we are finally allowed out. A lot of fans decided to get off before the final whistle which meant that they avoided the lock-in post-match.
There’s a general mood of annoyance, more so with the police and the stewards rather than the defeat itself. The performance wasn’t great. We dominated possession but just didn’t do enough with it after giving away the early penalty that Victor Osimhen converted. Arne Slot will figure it out. We’ll bounce back at the weekend.
Liverpool fans in their section of RAMS Park (Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
Rather than board the buses back into the city, I manage to get a taxi straight to the airport. I get there just after 2am, ready for an 8am flight back to Manchester.
All the problems getting into the ground ruined the trip a bit. We were told by UEFA that things would change after the shambles in Paris at the 2022 Champions League final but the reality is that, in some countries, visiting fans still get treated disgracefully. Nothing has changed. UEFA need to do more.
I would come back to Istanbul as a fan again but they need to learn some lessons. Following your team in Europe shouldn’t involve that kind of hassle.
(Top photos: Eoghan Bannon-Wright)