Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Turkey’ Category

Oct 11

Cim Bom Call

Not a five-year, nor ten-year plan – the time is NOW for a Euro League exclaims the Chief of Galatasaray Football Club, know affectionately as “Cim Bom”.

Unal Aysal, President of the Turkish Giant hopes for a 20 strong League in 2018, to replace the current Champions League format.  He goes on to say: “It’s the future of football. It has to be created, and not in 10 years, but as soon as possible.  Football is a great industry, a growing industry. A European super league would bring a lot of support and energize football in general. I think it would be 20 big teams, with three to five teams changing every year. It can be fixed in a way to be useful to European football and bring new horizons by football. It can be controlled by UEFA or the clubs, preferably by the clubs.”

The European Club Association and UEFA naturally resisted any attempt to give the Turk’s lone voice any credence – giving the party line that a Euro League is already in place, “the Champions League”. Purely rhetoric, or a PR stunt, who knows? Aysal says that financial backers and sponsors are queuing up but anybody can say that. Show me the money or commitment from the other clubs to this proposition.

Who makes the cut off will be interesting. Naturally, Cim Bom expects to be there. Celtic is one such club that would be anxious to continue to gain a share of the European purse having banked circa £22M last year. Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain are allegedly plotting.

The proposed timeline synchronises with the expiry of the memorandum of understanding between UEFA and the European Clubs Association, a framework for European club and international football, which runs to the end of May 2018.

Sep 11

Talking Turkey

Adrian Stores, Managing Director at ACROBAT Consulting & Marketing LTD and FC Sports Marketing LTD presents a case study at Salford City Stadium to delegates.  The Event was organised by Enterprise Europe Network and United Kingdom Trade and Investment .  More information.

Nov 1

Los Turcos

It was an innocuous conversation with a waiter at Istanbul Grill Cheadle that led to me wanting to discover the origins of a story.  He gave in trying to guess which team I follow in Turkey – that is my second team, Kocaelispor.  He then started to show me pictures of his beloved Deportivo de La Coruña.

So what was the fascination of a Turk with a Spanish team (especially one competing with one of my clients!).

In Spain they are known as ‘Los Turcos’ – which translates as “The Turks”.

And……. apparently in Ottoman times, a sea-captain, Barboros Hayrettin Pasa, sailed to Spain and generated curiosity and  interest in Turkish life. To this very day the locals still appreciate that affinity with Turkey and are seen to express this love both visually and vocally.

The nickname “Turcos” was originally used as an insult for Deportivo de La Coruña by rival Celta Vigo fans.

Sep 9

Off the radar

I’ve witnessed many a professional football club, diversifying activities in a desire to seek additional income streams ‘into the coffers’.  Well the latest certainly wasn’t expected.

Turkish Süper Lig Club, Trabazonspor, has come up with an idea to become involved in a hydro electric power station.  This might help address compliance with UEFA Fair Play rules.  Trabzonspor’s reaction to these new restrictions is a government-approved 28 MW hydroelectricity plant planned for Trabzon, Northeastern Turkey.

Sadri Sener, Chairman at the Club has said that it needs a guaranteed source of income, and that the local conditions for hydro power are ideal in the mountainous hinterland, which has a plentiful supply of rainwater. 

Other sources of energy considerations are prospering in stadia developments we have been involved with including, wind, rain water harvesting, solar panels and ground pumps.  A changing face of football as alternative revenue is sought.  Why not?

 

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »