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UEFA Cup Final - Shakhtar Donetsk v Werder Bremen
Wednesday 20th May 2009

A Cup Final Neutral

Andy Greeves

Shakhtar Donetsk

For two of the last three seasons, I have purchased a ticket for the UEFA Cup Final in the hope my team, Tottenham Hotspur, would be playing in the showpiece event. No sooner has the ticket money been taken from my credit card by UEFA each season, Spurs were knocked out of the competition. This has resulted in me travelling to Glasgow in 2007 and Istanbul this year to watch sides I have no affiliation with whatsoever. In fact on both occasions, one of the finalists on show had knocked Spurs out of the UEFA Cup - Seville two years ago and Shakhtar Donetsk this season.

On Wednesday 20th May, I headed to Turkey and the UEFA Cup Final to watch a game through neutral eyes again. The excitement, nerves and desperation to win I had ahead of Spurs' appearance at the Carling Cup Final in March, was replaced with relaxed, blasé thoughts of simply enjoying a good footballing spectacle. This laid back attitude seemed out of place given the occasion and venue that lay ahead. This was the 38th and last ever UEFA Cup Final and it was being played in Istanbul, an electric, sprawling and near overwhelming city that never sleeps.

The sight and sound of supporters of Werder Bremen and Shakhtar Donetsk on the day of the match dispelled the ambivalence I felt travelling on the plane from Gatwick to Sabiha Gokcen. This was a match that mattered, as hard as it was for me to concede that fact with my team not involved. Bremen were looking to win their first major European honour since 1992 while Donetsk were already making history as the first Ukrainian side to ever play in a European club cup final.

The journey to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium added to the drama of this big occasion. I crossed the Bosphorus by boat, from the European side of Istanbul where I was staying to Kadikoy, in the Asian area of the city. Around 200 football fans were silent, in awe of the landscape around them as the sun set. The only sound was of camera flashes and one intoxicated German fan, unable to stomach the combination of ten pints of Efes and a choppy sea.

On arrival in Kadikoy, myself and my fellow Spurs-supporting girlfriend Cathryn walked towards the stadium through a bustling shopping district. Green and orange were, of course, the prominent colours being worn by the droves heading in the same direction. Sky blue Manchester City and yellow Fenerbahce shirts were doing the rounds in fairly large numbers too. The streets were also lined with locals, selling hats, flags, scarves and beers out of large bin bags. Vendors were even pushing toothpaste, battery operated toys, belts and scissors on football fans, such was their desire to cash in on the influx of tourists.

On a warm evening, we gave in to the persistence of the beer sellers and had a nice chilled drink outside the ground. Standing and watching the crowds enter Sukru Saracoglu was as interesting as the game that was about to start. Unfortunately, the seemingly perfect pre-match build-up was about to be overshadowed by what we were about to witness and experience next.

We saw a man brutally beaten up outside the ground, for what we could only assume to be for a ticket theft. He ran passed us in to a nearby subway, where six or seven men in yellow jackets pushed him down the stairs and proceeded to smash beer bottles over his head. Despite turning away, the sound and sight in the corner of my eye of what was going on made me feel like the nauseous German on the boat earlier.

Feeling shaken and worrying for the man, myself and my girlfriend were then subjected to a terrible ordeal trying to enter the stadium. We passed through various 'checkpoints', which were inadequate security checks on the way to the turnstiles. We then entered a small pen, ready to go through the turnstiles. While in the pen, the turnstiles jammed, causing a mass of people to be trapped.

Rather than stop more fans coming into this area, stewards allowed more and more people in, causing a crush. Given the panic around us, a number of women and children were in tears, yet the officials did nothing. It was only after a few minutes, when the electronic turnstiles kicked back into action that a very serious incident was averted. One worries what could have happened had the crushed supporters not have remained to calm, or if the game was a sell-out and more fans were in this pen.

Understandably, it took a while to actually start enjoying the game. The bright opening exchanges did eventually help take our minds off the panic and violence we had just seen. Adriano gave underdogs Shakhtar the lead on 25 minutes after neat build up play from the Ukrainian team. Mircea Lucescu's men had definitely got into the game quickest and this was a deserved lead.

Naldo equalised ten minutes later for Bremen from a free kick which Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov should have done much better with. He allowed a moderately struck shot to go through his hands, which should have proved the perfect spur for Bremen to kick on. But the Germans never seem to get out of second gear, allowing Donetsk far too much space across the pitch and for dangerous full-backs Srna and Rat to penetrate their back line all night. Without the suspended Diego, Werder were also a shadow of the side that had wreaked havoc on opponents' defences in previous rounds of this season's UEFA Cup.

A fairly non-eventful second half only delayed the inevitable. Jadson restored Shakhtar's lead seven minutes into extra-time and with it, brought a European club trophy win for a Ukrainian side for the first time ever. The usual ticker-tape explosion on the trophy being handed to Donetsk brought an end to 38 years of UEFA Cup history.

The fan watching I had indulged in outside the stadium continued inside the ground all night. The anger of Bremen fans, who threw flag poles onto the pitch and delight of the Shakhtar supporters, who lit flairs polarised the difference between winning and losing. The only shame is that a total of just 13,000 fans between the two clubs travelled to the final. The atmosphere was pretty flat as a result and obviously neutrals such as myself did not help this cause.

The greatest noise of the night was provided by Fenerbahce fans, who had purchased thousands of tickets months ago to stop their rivals Galatasaray attending the game had they progressed to the final. Of course, Galatasaray were eliminated in the round of 16 by Hamburg, meaning not one of their fans was inside the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium. The ground instead rocked to the chant of "Always and everywhere, Fenerbahce". Maybe neutral fans can play a part in the final after all?!

A bizarre evening for myself and girlfriend was complete with the journey back to our hotel. With the ferries no longer running across the Bosporus, as it was 1:30am local time, we had to get back to the European side of Istanbul by taxi. We shared a ride with two Manchester City fans heading for a hotel near the Blue Mosque exchanging tales of our evening. As we left each other at the mosque, they sang "We hate Tottenham".

The night of being a neutral was over and Premier League hostilities were resumed!

Hotels in Istanbul

Andy Greeves

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