Written by Here’s an interesting thing: on Tuesday 20th September 2011, the Turkish top division club Fenerbahce held a league match against Maniaspor and the stadium was completely filled with women and children. That’s 41,000 women and kids wedged into the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.
According to those present, the atmosphere was akin to a Justin Bieber concert (for our American friends) or perhaps a Take That concert for the Brits. So the big question is why was this happening? Not too long ago Fenerbahce got into a spot of hot water during a friendly against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. There was a pitch invasion by the (male) fans and the punishment was to play two matches behind closed doors.
However, the last thing clubs and Football Federations want is matches, which can be viewed live on television or via highlights, played against the background of deserted stands. So the Turkish football authorities hit upon the novel idea of admitting only women; the pitch invaders were male so keep them out but why not let in those who clearly are not going to be causing mischief?
From a wider perspective this has to be a good move. Although the demographic for football supporters has changed over the past twenty years or so (and I’m talking about the U.K. here) from it’s traditional white, working class male followers, it can be still be a pretty intimidating atmosphere for women and children unused to the intensity generated at matches.
The atmosphere at the Fenerbahce match was a refreshing change; players were politely applauded onto the pitch, there was a complete lack of abuse or insults and overall it was more like a giant girls night out. Flowers were thrown onto the pitch at the end of the match and the ladies who usually attend the matches were quite capable of leading the usual chanting (minus the ones with bad language). Unfortunately the team could only manage a 1 – 1 draw.
