Liverpool supporters enjoyed the buzzing city of Istanbul on their trip to watch the Reds play Galatasaray, but Draconian policing ruined the matchday experience.
Istanbul, a place that elicits so many emotions when I think about it.
For any Red who can remember, thoughts will forever drift back to the night of May 25, 2005 when mission impossible was accomplished.
As events unfolded at the Ataturk, there I stood in pure disbelief behind the goal where Jerzy Dudek pulled off a remarkable double-save from Andriy Shevchenko.
A very chubby 13-year-old me witnessed what probably remains my favourite-ever night supporting Liverpool.
As far as first European aways go, I could not have asked for a better trip to pop my cherry in a metaphorical sense.
Fourteen years later I returned to the scene of my greatest night to watch a Liverpool side who were newly-crowned Champions of Europe, face Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup.
The venue may have been different, but excitement levels remained as I went back down memory lane in the vast, sprawling metropolis of Istanbul.
Having my own independence to explore local tourist attractions and go at my own pace in a vibrant yet crazy city made me appreciate it more for non-footballing reasons.
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A stroll down memory lane
So, when Liverpool’s draw for this season’s Champions League threw up an away day against Galatasaray, the temptation to explore the possibility of a return to Istanbul was all too great.
The lure of a European away is the chance to go to places that you would seldom consider venturing in any normal circumstances.
Add to the fact that cheap flights are aplenty if you know where to look, as well as the chance to turn what can be straightforward trips into odysseys, European aways have and always will hold a lustre for the diehards.
My own trip was far from the norm. As a Scouser exiled in the Middle East, I flew directly from Doha to Istanbul and arrived on Monday night eager to explore a city that straddles two continents.
While its sheer size and regular gridlocked traffic may be enough to deter some, Istanbul’s unique landscape and stunning local landmarks are enough to entice visitors from all corners of the world.
In a seemingly never-ending sprawl, this city never sleeps and its streets buzz with life emanating from bars, restaurants, coffee shops and markets that attempt to draw you in at every turn.
After a very enjoyable Monday night that ended in the early hours of Tuesday morning, match day was somewhat of a challenge that a couple of coffees tried (and failed) to ease the pain.
A leisurely stroll around Sultanahmet Square offered a chance to reset the equilibrium as well as an opportunity to see the magnificent Blue Mosque that stands proudly nearby.
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‘Draconian policing’ – the matchday experience
While the day may have been a relaxed affair, the night that followed certainly wasn’t. As the trip drew closer, a couple of things came to light that drew concern.
First was the fact that around 2,500 Liverpool fans were to have no choice but to travel to Rams Park on 30 buses provided by local authorities with a departure time of 6pm, four hours before kick-off.
Basic maths alone would suggest the number of buses were more than inadequate to comfortably carry fans, not to mention the fact that none of them had a toilet on board for a journey that was suggested could take up to two hours to complete.
Any fan who refused to travel by bus would be refused entry into the stadium by Turkish police.
Next couple of hours should be fun heading to Rams Park… 30 minutes wait and counting for the bus to leave. pic.twitter.com/EnhK5ZKGiZ
— Joel Richards (@JoelRichards91) September 30, 2025
Secondly, no one was allowed to take phone chargers with them into the stadium, despite the preference for every Liverpool fan to download their tickets digitally to their phones.
Although there was an option to print tickets off, the fact that supporters were not allowed to take power banks with them into the stadium, where they could remain up to 90 minutes after the final whistle, raised concern.
It is disappointing to say the least that football fans are still treated in such Draconian ways by authorities across the continent.
With many Reds still traumatised by events surrounding the 2022 Champions League final in Paris, you sometimes wonder what the point is in fans going through all this hassle just to watch a game of football.
Those thoughts certainly entered my mind as I boarded an already overcrowded bus in Sultanahmet Square.
After an eventual departure about 30 minutes later, we slowly made our way to Rams Park and eventually arrived just over an hour after our scheduled departure.
From there, another hour passed as we queued and moved at a snail’s pace in a confined space to enter the stadium.
Thankfully, Liverpool fans once again remained calm in the face of such shoddy treatment, in a situation that could have got out of hand very quickly at the first ticket checkpoint that almost resulted in a bottleneck.
Once again, over zealous policing was the order of the day as fans were searched at least four times. Anybody who wore a souvenir Galatasaray cap saw their purchase confiscated and some female supporters suffered the ignominy of having their sanitary products taken off them.
It must be stressed that we were not the first set of away fans to receive such shoddy treatment in Istanbul, with many Reds having read about the experiences of Man United and Tottenham supporters in the past two years at this venue.
As for the eventual match that followed, the less said the better.
After the final whistle, the insults had not yet finished. An hour-long lock-in was followed by an unnecessarily long 45-minute bus journey back to Sultanahmet Square that didn’t see this long, drawn-out affair end until just after 2am.
The morning after brought about a more serene affair with a walk around Istanbul’s famed Grand Bazaar and, of course, a kebab was consumed before my departure back to Doha.
As is sometimes the case, the football got in the way of what was otherwise a great trip in the company of mates and fellow fans.
Here’s to a smoother journey for anyone making the trip to Frankfurt.