I’ve been to plenty of games over the decades where fans have been treated badly. I’ve been stuck in car parks; locked in stadia; pushed and prodded by Police & stewards and much worse, so I’m not someone who has never been to a major game as a regular fan coming along saying ‘look this was disgraceful’. I know some rival fans have said: ‘you won, just suck it up’ or words to that effect but what City fans (and I assume Inter Milan too) experienced both before and after the final was not acceptable at all. It wouldn’t be acceptable at a sixth tier game, never mind Europe’s showpiece footballing occasion.
I had an absolutely incredible 40 odd hours in Istanbul, much of which was stuck on buses or desperately searching for transport, and I enjoyed Istanbul as a city. Seeing your team win Europe’s major trophy for the first time is pretty special and nothing will detract from that BUT it is important that our negative experiences are remembered. Hopefully, UEFA will listen and do something about this, but I doubt it.
This is just my experience and I know many fans will have experienced worse. I’m not trying to say ‘look at me’ or anything like that, I’m just trying to get it recorded and I would absolutely love fans to post their own stories as comments at the bottom of this page. I’m just one fan and there are multiple stories.
On the day of the final my wife, youngest daughter and I went to the fan park at Yenikapi about 2pm (my phone has recorded the time of photos, so I can work out specifics if needed). It was more geared towards non-attending fans rather than those who had match tickets and so we decided to head off to the stadium on the buses provided by UEFA.
There were searches and drinks, food etc were taken from fans at this point. One young guy in front of me had his roll-on deodorant taken (it was 75ml instead of the maximum 50ml allowed). He was somewhat upset as he’d only just bought it and felt he was already somewhat in need of using it after a long sticky journey to get to Yenikapi. I tried to avoid getting close enough to see if he did need it or not but he was convinced!
After going through the searches we got on a bus that was already fully seated but those given the task of filling buses by UEFA insisted we fill the standing area too.
I was uncertain about that as I’d heard about general traffic issues, but thinking I’d like to get there as soon as possible we boarded the bus and stood near the back.
There was no air conditioning and there were only a couple of windows capable of being opened but which didn’t seem to want to be opened. Someone managed to force one and a bit of a breeze came in occasionally.
Unfortunately, our bus driver seemed to have no idea of how to get to the stadium and he frequently took the wrong turning. Some fans near the front had the route on google maps and were trying to tell him but it seemed a pointless exercise. There were also road signs, which we all saw but somehow he missed them.
There were long traffic jams at times but the anticipation of the final kept spirits high.
We chatted to other fans about their experiences. Two guys near me had landed at SAW airport about 5am and been on buses for most of the day. They hadn’t seen much of Istanbul. They were understandably concerned about post-match transport back to their hotel, which was near SAW, and we discussed whether it would be better for them to get a bus back to SAW and then a taxi from there to their hotel. To be fair, we were already talking as if it would be chaos after the match. I’m not certain if any of us had a premonition or whether we just thought ‘it’s UEFA!’
The journey took a lot longer than expected and without air conditioning or any water available it was difficult for some of the passengers. The driver continued to get lost but our spirits remained fairly high – though frustration was creeping in. As we went around roundabouts many of us on the bus started to do that ‘wwwwooooooooo’ noise that’s done when we’re anticipating a trophy lift or similar. If the driver missed (I should say ‘when’ as he seemed to miss it more often than not) the turn off the ‘Wwwwoooo’ became a boo. If he got it right it was a cheer.
Another time we missed the turning off the motorway and the driver started trying to reverse. Fortunately for our safety a police motorcyclist just happened to be on the hard shoulder and he waved to the driver to move forward.
When we got to the stadium we ended up at the Milan end. I’m not certain if that was the intended route but from hearing others it wasn’t. From there the bus moved on to another dual carriageway as we had to travel around again. This time it was all too much for the bus and we stopped. None of us knew why and then someone heard that we’d broken down and the bus could not move off. The driver kept the doors closed and without water, air conditioning, a breeze the conditions worsened. It looked as if the driver was never going to let us out and so some started trying to force open the doors.
I think the driver then relented and the doors opened. We all climbed out and then started walking along the busy dual carriageway (which had no pavement, only the tarmac road) up hill towards the stadium.
Midway there was a boy with bottles of water he was selling to drivers and he suddenly hit the jackpot as we all started buying from him. He was only charging 5 Turkish lira each bottle which was a bonus. Post match some were demand well over 10 Euros for one small bottle.
The bus journey and walk up hill had taken over three hours. It should’ve been about 1 hour we were told.
At the stadium we entered the City fan park. Queues for drinks and food seemed extremely long, while the merchandising operation looked haphazard with no queueing system at all.
After a short while in the fan park we decided to head into the stadium as it was now open. The thought being that food and drink would be easier to buy in there.
We got in about 6.40pm. We bought a programme and scarf from the merchandising store there. Our fan pass was supposed to give us 10% off in the fan park. As it was impossible to buy anything there due to the general disorganisation of their merchandising operation we asked about the discount in the stadium. We were told the discount/fan pass was not valid. I’m not certain whether that’s true or not but none of the staff seemed even aware of what a fan pass was so I guess it was true.
We bought some basic food and drink. The cost was as extortionate as everything UEFA do and the staff basically gave us half a cup. When we asked for the full measure that was advertised and we’d paid for we were made to feel we were in the wrong. We still didn’t get the full measure advertised but gave up as the queue was getting longer behind us and the staff did not think we were right, even though the sign was there with prices and measurements.
Once in our seats everything for us was as it would normally be at a game like this and I have no complaints about that whatsoever. It was wonderful being at the final and we were excited by it all. We’d bought the cheapest unobstructed seats we could at 70 Euros (we can quibble about prices but that’s not a logistical issue on the day).
I’ve talked about the game elsewhere and it was magical and wonderful to see City win this historic and greatest of all European trophies. The Blues truly are Europe’s greatest team. It’s as simple as that.
After the celebrations we left the stadium. For us it was a fairly short journey compared to others to the coach park. Before the game we’d checked where we needed to be for the ride back to Yenikapi as I wanted to have a plan in my head.
We left the stadium via and extremely narrow exit gate. Fans were funnelled through it and it was totally inadequate. I’ve experienced worse at football games but these was Europe’s most prestigious game. It shouldn’t be like this.
We had to walk across a roadway which was supposed to be free of traffic but a black VIP style car pushed through the crowd with the police and stewards more worried about getting the car out than fan safety. We were expected to jump into the deep gutters on the road’s side or elsewhere.
When we arrived back at the coach park it was total chaos. Barriers were not where they’d been pre-match and the entire coach park was full of people desperately trying to find a bus to get on. Buses were full and everything was at a standstill. Nothing moving forward and no hope of getting on a bus.
We found a bus to Yenikapi but it was full. Then we decided to walk down. aline of buses thinking that we’d eventually get to one that had space, but it seemed like a fruitless task. Eventually, we decided to head back to the fan park and wait for things to calm down.
When we got to the fan park the stewards were holding everyone back who was in there and there seemed no way in or out. We walked over to a UEFA representative who seemed to be an information/help point. We asked about the metro thinking that might. be a better option. She told us it would be open and that it was on the other side of the stadium, past the Milan fan park. She showed us a map with it on and so we headed for that.
Desperate for a drink we saw someone selling water (there were lots of people selling flares and beer too) and we asked him how much. I honestly cannot remember how much he said but assuming the figure he gave was in Turkish lira like the boy earlier, I remember thinking it was excessive but we were desperate so we’d pay it.
We were given 3 bottles and then he demanded the money but this time the amount he’d said was in Euros, increasing it significantly. Thinking back it was something like 20 Euros each but I can’t honestly remember the specific amount. We then said ‘no thanks’ and handed the bottles back but he took my bottle and unscrewed the top and told me I’d have to pay. I pointed out that he’d opened it not me and we walked away but he grabbed me and was trying to demand money from him. I made it absolutely clear that he had opened it and I pulled myself away.
I think he realised that so many people had seen this that he couldn’t get away with his con and I walked away.
We continued to walk up towards the Milan end and after we had passed it we met a few fans coming the other way who said the metro was closed. A family, which included. a young, exhausted boy, were by this time walking with us. Their experience had been similar and we agreed to carry on for a while because there were a lot of mixed messages.
More fans started to come back saying the police had turned them away as it was closed. We were told the next metro was at 6am in the morning and one of the family walking with us checked his phone and found the same information on there.
A beer seller then offered to get us all a taxi at over 450 Euros which we refused. We debated carrying on to the metro but so many were saying it was closed or that they’d been turned away that we reluctantly decided to return to the coach park.
Loads of Blues passed us heading away from the coach park and to the metro. We told them what we’d heard and some turned around but others carried on. I have since heard that some people did find the metro open but I don’t know if this was earlier than we had got close to it or not.
None of the police, who were mostly sat on the grass, could help and UEFA representatives were nowhere to be seen by this point.
I started suggesting we could bed down for the night on the grass verge and get the metro at 6am. I was even looking for the best space possible, but we decided to carry on and if we couldn’t get on a bus then maybe we’d go back to the grass.
Back at the coach park and it was still chaotic. Buses seemed stuck. Fans were milling around not knowing what to do. One of the MCFC staff coaches was there and a City staff member genuinely seemed to want to help, especially as there was a young boy with us, but he couldn’t do anything about the UEFA buses.
We walked in between the stationary, packed buses looking for any bus that had space. A driver opened his window and said: ‘Where you going?’ We said ‘Yenikapi’ and he let us on to his packed bus. It was the first time anyone had been able to help and I think it was the sight of the small exhausted boy that influenced his thinking.
There was some standing space at the back of the bus and we went there. We managed to sit down, squashed in, and just felt relief at being on a bus. We didn’t care how long we’d be there.
There were a couple of Blues on there that I knew. I should’ve asked how long they’d been stuck there but didn’t get chance.
The bus didn’t move for ages but when it did our driver seemed to be determined we’d get off the coach park as quickly as possible. He cut other drivers off, grabbing every inch he could. Normally, I’d be worried about safety and the possibility of a bus not stopping in time etc. but I didn’t care by this point. Just get us back to Yenikapi.
I’ve been a restless leg sufferer for many years and have been on medication for over a decade. I hadn’t brought my medication to the stadium and so I was somewhat uncomfortable and my legs and arms were suffering BUT this was minor to what many others struggled with on the night. How disabled, elderly or young fans coped I don’t know. There was no help, other than from other fans.
Our driver was clearly a local as he took us off the official route and cut some time off the journey, but we didn’t get back to Yenikapi until 4am. Others were much later. Some would have been earlier.
From Yenikapi we had to walk to our hotel which wasn’t too far away. Others, including the family with the small boy, had to go to Taksim or other areas.
That’s the general story of the journeys to and from the stadium. I know others had worse ones. UEFA totally let fans down and had no organisation whatsoever post match. They didn’t seem to care about what we went through. What makes this worse is the knowledge that there were issues like this when LFC were in the final there back in 2005. This means that either UEFA haven’t learned anything from staging that game or that they simply don’t care. Surely someone at UEFA should have said: ‘Can we get the transport and logistics right if we go back to that stadium?’ and if the answer was no then it’s really simple: Either get the logistics right or don’t stage the game there.
Istanbul is a wonderful city and the other stadia appear to be in much better locations, but I guess their capacities are too small. I get why UEFA would want to stage. a final there but to get so much wrong is not acceptable. It’s not as if they’ve had this final thrust upon the stadium 0- it’s been scheduled to be there for several years!
One of the things that became abundantly clear to me during the early hours of Sunday morning was that the behaviour of the City and Inter fans ensured that this final did not end with significant injuries and issues. Had either set of fans decided to create issues then who knows how bad things could have got.
UEFA need to explain why they are inept at staging games like these – and if they don’t feel they are inept then they need to explain why fans are treated like they are. Something as simple as water should be available. We’d paid 70 Euros for our tickets – others had paid 7 times that – surely a free bottle of water was possible? They’d taken all our plastic bottles off us before we went in, so it was impossible even to get tap water. Clearly thye wanted us to spend, spend, spend but without adequate drink stalls we couldn’t even if we had the cash to afford their ridiculous prices.
Gary James' Football Archive 
We went to the stadium by metro as we’d seen on Twitter that the shuttle buses were not being efficient. It took 90 mins – not many officials about to help guide anyone but we made it. The metro landed us in the “Inter end” and we had to walk to the fan park. There was no obvious signage and despite lots of stewards standing around in high viz jackets whenever we asked directions for the fan park they looked completely blank or just shrugged – like it was something they’d never heard of! After about a 25/30 min walk we found the fan park (up a hill!!) By this time it was about 6.15/6.30. We were being told that the fan park had run out of beer and was closing at 7pm not the previously advertised time of 8pm… we were meeting people so decided to go in. This in itself was horrendous. 100s of people being funnelled into a tiny entrance with 2 people checking tickets in order to allow entry. The queues were building and there was pushing from behind but they didn’t open the barriers to stop the squash. There was no beer. So we left – found some fella outside selling beer out of a carrier bag and sat under the tree outside the ground. At about 7.15 the police came along and insisted we all had to go the stadium now. For us getting into the stadium was a painless process (I’ve heard from others it was horrible!) The queues for food and water in the stadium were horrendous. I’ve heard of people queuing 90mins to get water!! After the game we tried to go to the metro station but were told as we left the ground that we had to go back to the fan park. After that we didn’t see a single steward. There was no one controlling queues or advising fans about the buses in the fan park. It was pitch black. Terrible terrain. We walked through the car park (which was at a standstill) and found ourselves on a busy road. I wanted to get to the metro (I had google maps on) but there was a row of police blocking us from turning right to walk the 40 mins towards the metro. They kept telling me it was closed and I wasn’t allowed to walk that way. So we ended up like 1000s of others on a motorway trying to flag a taxi. After about 30 mins I saw a little dolmus (transporting workers I think!) someone from the bus shouted we’re going towards the city. We (11 of us) piled on – the driver was great – charged us 50 lira each. I was given a seat by a lovely young bloke (sometimes it pays to be older and female!!) We careered through the streets for about 20 mins (I have videos of this part of the journey – much singing and celebrating to the amusement of the locals!!) This young chap then guided us to the metro-bus (I think it’s when the metro is shut it’s a bus replacement ??? But I could be wrong!) – the chap at the station just opened the gates for us so we didn’t have to pay. We travelled on this for about 20/30 mins. We were deposited in the middle of a motorway… where we managed to get a taxi back to our hotel (in Fatih). We got back about 3.15am. Compared to others it seems less horrendous a journey – we weren’t ripped off (particularly) and the locals who helped us were amazing. We were all on a high and so in a way although irritated just got on with it. UEFA screwed the fans over – again. This was my first experience at an away game in Europe (not so for the rest of the group). I was shocked the others amongst us less so. Something needs to be done. The final shouldn’t have been held there. But I guess money talks. 🤷♀️
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Pleased you are highlighting this Gary as it seems to be lost to the general media and City! I’ve posted like many others on the thread on Bluemoon which I’m sure you’ve seen. Would hope that your influence will get some sort of response from City (I’ve given upon UEFA). The sight of elderly and disabled people going through that will haunt me forever. Good luck!
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We had an awful post-match experience too. Stuck in a queue for about an hour in the car park, only to get to the front and overhear someone ask a policeman when the next bus would come along. We were shocked to hear him say the buses would not he returning. My husband and I had our two young girls with us. We walked around the building-site of car park, trying to find a bus. The traffic was funneled in to a dozen lines, all trying to cut each other up to leave. One bus reversed and missed a father pushing his disabled son in a wheelchair by millimetres. If it wasn’t for the quick-thinking father and myself shoving the wheelchair out the way of the bus and banging hard on the side to alert the driver, we could have been witnesses to something too horrific to contemplate.
My husband spotted a half-empty bus to SAW airport (nowhere near our hotel) and we convinced the drivervto let us on. The girls could at least sleep on the bus. It was almost another two hours before we were leaving the stadium car park.
We got a taxi from SAW airport back towards the Fenerbahce area, getting to our hotel at 4.30am. We were among the lucky ones.
UEFA has some serious explaining to do about this shambolic mess.
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Had a similar experience Gary. We came from SAW airport. Zero organisation. We were also herded onto a bus.. as the anticipated duration was 90 minutes we got off and waited until another arrived so we could sit down. Of course.. no toilets!
The journey actually took 2 1/2 hours!.. no air con although we didn’t have our water taken off us when we boarded so could at least drink!
We got to the fan park at the stadium at 4pm 6 hours before kick off!
It was easy to get beer at this time as it wasn’t too full.. but food was 1 1/2 hour queue. They forgot to tell us you had to queue to get a token first though!, no signage to indicate this.
Toilets were totally inadequate.. little motorhome type things that had to keep leaving site to empty their tanks as they were not connected to the sewers!.. therefore everyone using the dances as toilets!
Food ran out 3 hours before kick off and beer and other drink before that!
Total disorganisation at every turn.. and totally disinterested local stewards.
Getting into the stadium was also a total farce. Signage was on fences but at chest height so you only got to know you were in the wrong place when you got there.. then had to fight to turn back. Stewards and Police just watching on smoking, talking in groups. Total disinterest.
Post match we stayed in the (average) stadium for an hour after the final whistle.
The water that was €2-50 for a cup no bigger than a tea cup was now €5 according to the staff selling it!!.. total disgrace.
The facilities for food and drink totally inadequate.
The (unlit) coach park was simply a dangerous disorganised scrum of coaches. I’m amazed no one was killed or seriously injured in it.
The buses to IST airport were nowhere to be seen. Eventually a bloke with a shirt and tie carrying a radio came to where we we all waiting (maybe 200 of us) and led us to the other end of the coach park.. a few hundred metres from where the signs and barriers were. If he hadn’t we would have had no idea where they were.
These buses were mostly full but there were loads just parked up locked with no drivers.. eventually they came back and unlocked them and we got on.. packed in with people sitting on floor.
I saw people in wheelchairs having the embarrassment and humiliating experience of being carried by family and friends or other fans as they could not push their chairs as it was like a stone beach!
They were carried on the buses.. no idea if the ramps worked or not.
The scrum out of the car park took us until 0330!
We eventually got to the airport at 0530, 5 1/2 hours after the match finished!
Istanbul airport was very good though.. that’s my only positive about the place.
We all know UEFA are a complete shower and could not organise anything properly.. but they had 3 years to get this right.
On another night this could have been much worse and it’s only the fans whose behaviour was exemplary that stopped this from having serious safety consequences.
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Gary, we arrived at Yenikapi to meet our friends, at around 4ish, didn’t even get close to the fan zone warned off by passing blues, met our friends close by and at 5pm the four of us, (3 men, 1 woman, all over 50) got a taxi to the stadium for a €100 fee between us, and we also arranged with our driver, Derman for his brother to pick us up after the game and drop us all back into town, for the same fee €100, getting there the traffic was horrendous, we finally arrived at the stadium at just before 8pm and entered straight away, needing toilet, drinks and food, one of us joined the concession stand queue, myself and another mate who was wearing an orthopedic boot using crutches, and has a heart condition, went to first aid for some water for him, one of the medics went to get some, but on his return he told us, he was told we had to buy it! We were finally served at 10 mins before kick off over an hour an a half, waiting to get our order of 3 Pepsi’s, 3 small water cartons, one bag of crisps and a cold hot dog €77. The early on during the first half about 10 rows below me a blue collapsed, fans around him frantically waved at the UEFA stewards below, who looked totally disinterested and eventually turned their backs to the crowd, another fan had to get the first aid themself. And finally to the post match experience, I linked to the taxi driver via WhatsApp live position feature and he was parked about a mile and a half north of the stadium after walking mainly in darkness and on uneven surfaces, through all the Inter fans, with no trouble whatsoever, and having to cross 6 lanes of traffic and the central reservation twice to get to our rendezvous point, which took well over an hour to get there, by this time 230am our driver had gone. I contacted our original driver, and to his credit and my eternal gratitude, Derman came out in his private car to pick us up, he arrived at 4am, so while we waited for him sat on a wall on the hard shoulder, watching the slow motion reenactment of Death Race 2000 we realised that 90% of the traffic was empty taxis, all of whom stopped to see if we wanted an overpriced (average quote was €300-400) ride back into Istanbul.
We finally, arrived back in Istanbul around 445am, grabbed a pizza and a couple of celebratory beers in a restaurant and back to the hotel for 6, my transfer to the airport was at 730am. Istanbul is a magical city, and I will return, the locals were friendly and welcoming, the result a lifelong dream come true, and honestly all the trials and tribulations of the night are worth it but UEFA couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery.
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Was the medical emergency in block 326? We were in 327 and could see a lot of frantic waving and the disinterested officials at pitch side.
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Gary, I went with my son who is a wheelchair user. I can concur with the stories of the shuttle service to the ground, the endless queues and the general chaos mentioned in your piece and other comments. I would just like to comment on the plight of the wheelchair user and their helpers.
When we were dropped off by the shuttle bus the problem was immediately clear. The car park was rough shale and it was almost impossible to push a wheelchair or for the user to self push. This surface led all the way in to the fan zone where eventually it became smooth and manageable.
The real problems were on the way out a rough terrain, no supervision or direction and very few busses. The busses that were there, filled quickly with able bodied people before a wheelchair could move. We started to make our way to the carpark entrance thinking the busses may be there. This was treacherous sqeezing between vehicles and trying hard not to unseat the user. The safest way was to drag the wheelchair backwards which was not easy for anybody.
Our story ended quite well, on the point of giving up we passed a taxi with a couple in, City Fans, I asked if we could jump in and they let us. They were not going in our direction but we needed to get away from the stadium. Once we got to their destination we asked the driver to take us back to our hotel near Taksin Square. He must have been one of the good ones, he charged us £60 for a half hour journey.
We know other wheelchair users who waited for the busses for over 2 hours and didn’t get back to their hotel until 4.45
For the most part a great trip, a great result but woeful organisation.
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Yes it was
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What an incredible experience. It resembled a few matches in Brazil during the World Cup and Olympics, where the organization was chaotic. Also, it made me remind the criticism of the last UCL final in Paris, where many fans had issues after the match with episodes of insecurity (robbery, etc.). If I may, how much of this negative experience influenced your enjoyment of the game, and would you consider going to a new match organized by UEFA, knowing that it might happen again? Also, do you think the love for your club would be the only responsible factor that makes you decide to watch a UCL live match again? At the end of the day, it seems pretty clear that UEFA knows about the appeal of matches like these and might be disinterested in taking concrete actions to solve the matter. Thanks for sharing your experience. Best, Felipe Tobar.
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I think the problem is that only the fans there understand and typically other clubs get there each time. It all gets forgotten because UEFA sweep it under the carpet and then it dies down.
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Very similar for us too Gary. UEFA do not care. If they did, they would never have chosen this stadium due to the poor transport infrastructure but, failing that, would have known this was going to be a problem and insisted on overseeing organisational details.
We got a call telling us to get to Yenikapi quickly as the queues were getting longer. Got there for 4 (6 hours before the game). We queued in the sun for 50 minutes without any water on sale or access to toilets, then had water confiscated before getting on the bus. The bus took two hours due to traffic chaos expected in a city this size without a proper public transport system.
We got to the front of the bar queue at 7.02 to be told it was now shut so decided to go in the ground. We got in relatively quickly and then made the mistake of thinking we’ll queue for water. There were fewer than 100 people in front of us and 6/7 people being the counter but it took one and a half hours. When we got to the front we see why it was the most incompetent and inept service imaginable. Prices were in euro but then bring turned into lira for the card machine, none of the staff spoke English (fair enough) but there was no way of pointing for what you wanted so they had two other people translating. We had the ludicrous sight of the mender of staff trying to deal with two people at the same time. One wanted 3 waters and the other 2. He came from the fridge with 2 waters and proceeded to spend 5 minutes swapping the waters between the two customers as both tried to explain what they were asking for. It was like a very shit Tommy Cooper sketch. I’d been standing for 6 hours to get on a full bus, get in the ground and get some water.
The inter fans were all in the ground before us and I felt city fans were subdued before the game, almost as if we’d had the life sucked out of us.
As you say, after the game was the utter reckless shambles we knew it would be. The unnecessarily narrow exit gate.
No signs. No stewards. No lights where the buses were and an uneven surface. No ordered location for buses with taxis and private vehicles in there delaying everything. I couldn’t help but feel that the free for all in the car park must be slower for everyone than if it had been properly organised, although to be fair I have been to Bolton. I sat in there for of the bus as it inched out of the car park after two hours.
I nearly went to bed as I was knackered at the end but we went out for a quick beer and stayed out until nearly 8am and that was a great move, making sure I ended on a high.
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Yeah we were in 326 just behind the incident, stewards were disinterested but using radios to pass the buck to someone else. I didn’t see anyone come into the crowd and the incident seemed to sort itself out, I hope the person was OK. I will.posy our story later
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Right here we go…our experience of travelling to final:
We arrived Istanbul overnight from Stansted v early Friday morning 5am. Had a great chat with a lad at Stansted airport bar who also happened to be a wheelchair user (More on this later).
Great day seeing sights of Istanbul on Friday and the evening in Nevizade with all blues and streets near. Got up Saturday morning thinking we needed to do all the travel to ground early. Travelled on underground from Taksim to Yenikapi, this was at 11.30am! Got to Yenikapi fan park after poorly signposted walk from station across a madly congested dual carriageway at 12.15. Were stopped from taking any water in fan park. Met family and mates in fan park, this had shockingly bad food and drink outlets which seemed to have plenty of staff but only one payment till and a barman reluctant to fill my lads cup of coke to fill the cup for some weird reason. After a while of chatting we all agreed not one of us wanted to stay around Yenikapi more than we needed to as was just a staging post….far better to be at the fan park at the ground, so agreed to get bus to stadium pretty early…which is a good job we did! So went to queue for buses at Yenikapi just before 1.30pm after bumping into people from British Consulate giving out small leaflets of advice that was welcome. I think because we were so early (8.5 hrs before kick off!!) we didn’t queue for long and we’re on a bus by 1.40pm but standing!! Luckily 76 year old dad got a seat. Despite being so early, the bus journey took 1 hr 42 mins to get to stadium…I remember saying to half the bus that they’d had 5 years to plan the event but still hadn’t paved the roads near the stadium. Got in the Stadium fan park therefore at about 3.30 and there weren’t many blues there at that point but still had to queue 30 mins for food which was irritating with v basic food choice…basically Hot Dog or burger. To be honest has great few hours drinking/chatting/singing with loads of blues in one of the beer tents but were prompted to leave when it ran out of beer. Remember being shocked at the camper van toilets…I actually walked past them all the first time thinking they were media vehicles like at the Tour de France! Saw two old fellas playing back gammon outside one. Also saw lots of people resorting to peeing on the fence outside due to large q’s. Got in stadium 7.45pm again pretty easy tbh, but wasn’t searched and took in coins by accident I’d forgotten about. Food/drink options in ground were appealing…reckon queued for 45 mins and even just for water. March great etc apart from the razor sharp seats and I’ve also got the cut marks on calves like so many other blues. After match walked back to bus park expecting fleet of buses where we’d got off earlier in the day but none to be seen! Was part of thousands of blues wandering aimlessly with no crowd control, no stewards to be seen which could at a few points got really dangerous. This is where I saw the dedicated blue wheelchair user PUSHING HIS OWN WHEELCHAIR as it was the only way to get across the crap road surface which by now was breaking up considerably. After probably 15-20 mins of confusion and mild panic chasing and looking for Yenikapi buses with 76 year old dad in tow who has poor mobility (thinking he was gonna trip at any second) we found a bus that was letting on fans. Note there was no control or segregation of fans and vehicles, poor lighting, people walking/running inches between private mini buses and the various yellow buses. What found mad was that all the buses were jockeying for position in the bus park….all inching forward dangerously close to each other and sometimes slamming brakes on throwing fans forward. We weren’t in any immediate danger but sheep and cattle are no doubt treated better. No water/food provision AT ALL after the match but luckily we found a young bootlegger selling water for over odds prices. After ridiculously long journey alternating between not going anywhere to driving dangerously fast (with 2 very near misses with taxis) we got close to Yenikapi but the bus driver gave up trying the last km and just opened doors on a random street with no support as to what to do next. Eventually found Yenikapi station and after another 30-40 mins of mad confusion with a couple hundred other blues we got a train back to city centre. Still had to walk 20-30 mins back to hotel at 3.30am as no taxis nearby in a v dodgy area. Don’t forget 76 year old dad still in tow. So got back to hotel 4am in the end. Doesn’t take away from the fact we are European Cup Winners (old school I know) and great experience spending 2 days with thousands of other blues, but the logistics of moving supporters around the city was the worst I’ve ever experienced. UEFA are an absolute joke and the fact they’ve had 5 years knowing the final was due to be played in Istanbul and they still couldn’t get it right speaks volumes. They are a joke. PS.. posted thoughts re our experience on the John Stapleton twitter thread while still on the bus…got picked up on a Daily Mail article the next day (Mike K) which topped off an already bad experience. Can’t believe got quoted in the sh1tty, dirty daily mail rag!!!!!
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Little caveat to my experience above, it was meant to say food choice APPALLING not appealing! But auto correct got in the way…
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I was in Istanbul with my 9 year old son and we both had our tickets via City/Uefa and our loyalty points. – My son had two broken toes and had a surgical ‘boot’ on his foot.
On matchday we followed the instructions to get to the fan park and get a bus to the stadium. We deliberately set off at 145pm and got to the fan park at 215pm.
The bus queue was already very long. We joined the queue and asked about any toilets. We were told we had to leave the queue and go into the fan park and then rejoin the queue !
It was obviously very, very hot and sunny. We had hats on but of course we only had a small bag, again as instructed by Uefa.
A very kind City fan said take your boy to the toilet and rejoin him in the queue. We did this, but I had to virtually beg the Uefa steward to let us use the toilets. – This was a 20 minute walk.
We rejoined the queue and we got on the bus to the stadium. It was now 410pm.
The journey in a non-air conditioned bus took 2h 15 minutes. It was suffocatingly hot and uncomfortable.
Some kind City fans saw my lads ‘boot’ and let him sit down.
Along with most of the other fans I stood the entire journey with the sun blazing through the windows.
We got to the Fan Zone at 625pm. The car park was made of crushed stone, it resembled a Refugee Camp. With queues everywhere, and people sitting on the gravel floor trying to find some shade.
We got in to see the massive ( we were later told it took 2 hours ) queues for food, water or beer.
Luckily I saw a friend who bought a carton of water for my son. It was now 6 hours since he had eaten. – I begged a steward to help and she brought him a burger, which was a big help.
I started to queue for a beer and was told after 15 minutes that they had run out. – Incredible.
I had deliberately not had a beer in the day knowing we could get a beer or 3 ( as promised by Uefa ) at the fan zone. Another complete shambles.
We got into the stadium no problem. – But again every kiosk had massive ( and I mean massive queues.) – We gave up and got our seats around 745pm.
Thank god we won. Which was obviously amazing.
After the game, the bus carnage started again.
We left just after the team ran into the corner with the cup as with my son’s broken foot we thought that was a good idea.
By running to the line of buses we got on one and my son got a seat.
The car park was a total free for all. 5/6 rows of buses, taxi’s, minibus’s all fighting to get out of one exit.
We saw wheelchair supporters having to be lifted in their chairs as the wheels were sinking in the gravel.
It then took 1h 45m to get back to Istanbul and our driver dropped us all off at the wrong place and we had a 2.8 mile walk through the backstreets to our flat. – We got back to the flat at 3am.
We had been out for 13 hours 15 minutes.
The following day we had a boat trip planned and a meal planned with friends and family who were also at the game. – It was meant to be a celebration.
Sadly my son spent the entire day in bed with heatstroke. Luckily I had water and medicine with me.
Thankfully we flew home early on Monday morning.
Besides the game and the result, the whole day was a complete shambles.
This has nothing to do with Istanbul or the Turkish people who were great.
We spent £1700.00 for the trip of a lifetime and had a nightmare. I’ve followed City home, away and in Europe since 1971 ( I know we had a few years without Europe !) and I’ve never felt so angry and helpless about what to do.
Uefa needs to be held accountable for this, but I doubt anything will happen.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope it helps.
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Very insightful and matches what we heard but our experience was different.
It seems like the Inter fans had a metro station and City fans had the busses won one group had superior arrangements from the start.
We decided to go by metro and risk the wrath of the inter fans. Journey took about and hour and a half to get there – Sweaty and smelly but relatively hassle free.
The exit took us away from the inter fans but the same 25 minute walk around the stadium.
Fan park was running out of beer but we managed to procure some and had a couple of drinks before being encouraged to go to the stadium through a pretty precarious route.
£150 seats were crap but we were in the stadium so we were happy enough.
Stewarding was terrible / Their only mission was to keep the aisles clear irrespective of re situation.
After the game we went back to the metro and got a fast train back to the centre without stopping at the usual stops – 45 mins maybe less.
So we had a pretty painless experience but it has to be muted that we effectively did our own thing and didn’t follow any of the guidance.
Sounds overall like a UEFA cock up again!!
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Equally shambolic ending to the evening trying to get away from the stadium. Eventually got back into our hotel at 6am Sunday after a 2 hour debacle trying to get on any coach and eventually getting off the coach park, a 2 hour journey to SAW airport as the driver didn’t know the way and a 1,000 TL taxi journey back to our hotel in Kadikoy. Just as annoying was the failure of the Fan App Free Travel pass to work on the Metro, nobody connected with the system available or able to intervene or speak any English at the 5 stations we had to pass through from Taksim Sq to the inter end of the ground before the game. Complete lack of interest on match day for the well being and care of supporters.
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Very similar experience. Fortunately I got to Yenikapi just before 3pm and was on a bus within 5 minutes, but standing room only. Why were they taking water off people? It then took 2 hours to get to the stadium. I was actually quite impressed with the City fan zone, the atmosphere and entertainment. Wandered round all the tents and never had a problem getting quickly served with beer, albeit over-priced at €7 for a 50cl can. Food was another story – stupidly long queues, so didn’t bother. The UEFA stall was like a huge scrum, sky-high prices and quickly sold out of anything worth having. They’d originally said the bars would be open til 8pm, then said they’d close at 7. Needless to say this caused a rush to the bar to line up an extra couple of beers!
Went into the ground around 8:20. It was pointless trying to get food or drink. Queues were miles long and not moving. My seat was on row 11 behind the goal, but not as bad as I was expecting – had a great view of Rodri’s goal!
And so to the aftermath… Total chaos as others have described. Eventually squeezed on to a bus for Yenikapi, where we spent the next 3 hours – 2 of them just trying to leave the car park. Back in the city there were no trams or buses and taxis weren’t interested in a 5 minute trip to Sultanahmet. So a 25-minute walk back to the hotel. Got to bed at 4:20, just nodding off, then the call-to-prayer blasted out. Quite a night!!
Overall, spent 4 nights in Istanbul. Crazy, wonderful city with great friendly people and thousands of Blues. Had an amazing time. Just a shame UEFA tried their best to spoil it.
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Ahead of the weekend, I shared (with a good Turkish friend living close to the stadium) the plans UEFA had provided for our ‘safety and comfort’ in Istanbul and to ensure they could avoid any repeat of the chaos of Paris last year.
He insisted that he would organise transport to/from airports/hotels/stadium for us as we were arriving at different times and airports, one of us as late as 3 pm into SAW on matchday.
Thanks to him, we only had to endure an hour of queuing traffic prematch and the walk to the fanzone across the hastily tarmac covered rubbish tip to the fan park where we got 2 beers each before they ran out.
Kettling like sheep and multiple security checks avoided the issues of non authorised entry aka Paris and now inside the ground earlier than planned, we experienced the same queues for concessions/ ripping off fans/ inadequate toilet provision, non existent stewarding, ripped calves and dehydration.
After the euphoria of the greatest triumph, seeing the trophy lift and players come to our end, we made tracks and were astonished by the hawkers selling beer/water/fireworks outside the stadium – hardly a secure area – no lessons learned from Paris there then UEFA.
Priority was clearly given to limos of VIPs otherwise we only saw police sitting in vans observing the chaos and stuffing their faces.
The sights we witnessed as many others have reported in the bus/taxi area meant we tried everything to get out as fast as we could, managing to get out without being squashed and glad we weren’t going back that night as I’m certain flights would have been missed.
Thanks to the WhatsApp location finder, we met our pal about 2KM back on the highway with the family now quite distressed at the traffic and having to navigate across many lanes of it squeezing between moving vans, buses and taxis who were clearly profiteering from the miserable and predictable outcome of playing a final where the infrastructure to support it is simply inadequate.
This was well known by UEFA, hence the buses.
A total shambles.
Dreadful fan zones (having much better experiences at Euros and World Cup).
London and Munich, then most likely the new Madrid upgrade will ensure that the next ones will be OK but UEFA should just return our monies, like they did for Liverpool.
The club can never ask us not to BOO, ever again.
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Thanks for highlighting this Gary. I hope us all adding our stories will add weight to this in the public domain.
Friday night
Our trip started badly when our maniac of a taxi driver dropped us at the wrong hotel and left us stranded in a remote location miles from the correct hotel. Can’t blame UEFA for this but it set the tone for the trip.
Saturday
UEFA pass did not work at Metro station. Ticket checker tried to help but after 10 mins we gave up and just bought tickets to Yenikapi.
We went to meet a friend at the Fanpark, realised the place was huge but also a waste of time. Tried to get a drink here but long queues so we made what proved to be a very good decision and headed for the shuttle buses and boarded one about 14:30. Wed been warned it would take about 1 hour but clocked it as 1 hour 50 mins. Similar to other reports the driver didn’t seemed to be unsure of the route and at one point turned up a dead end that looked like a unfinished road. He then had to reverse back on to the dual carriage way and other buses did not help him by letting him out.
We finally got to the stadium fanzone at 17:00. The queues looked horrendous but turned out the very long queue was for food and you could go straight up to the long bar to buy alcohol. It wasn’t well advertised but you could buy water here as well.
The bars closed at 19:00 obviously to get everyone to head in to the stadium. We didn’t attempt to join the very long queue for food in the fanzone and we thought we’d be ok getting some in the ground relatively early. One of our group had disappeared and it turned out she had queued for 2 hours for food and we thought shed decided to go ahead in to the stadium.
The queue at our entrance to the stadium wasn’t too bad but it had a feel of getting in to a League 2 ground rather than a stadium holding the CL Final. The police officer on our gate did nothing but look down at his mobile phone the whole time we queued. Wish I’d taken a photo. The security checks seemed like a tick box exercise.
We were inside 1 hour 45 mins before k.o. so went for food. We queued for 1.5 hours. Many behind us gave up but we’d had nothing so stuck it out. There was an obvious lack of food outlets and the one we went to only had three people serving. One taking payments, one handling drinks and the other making up hot dogs. They were not to blame but they were not the most efficient. It took repeated instructions between the guy taking payments and the other two to get the orders correct, I will never complain again about the service at City’s catering outlets. They are top class compared to what we experienced here.
While we queued for the essential “food” we missed all the pre-match scenes, the team warming up, atmosphere, entertainment. the whole lot. We could hear it and wanted to be in there with all the other City fans. We finally got to our seats 10 mins before kick off. We asked one steward for help as we couldn’t see the row numbers but he just shrugged and said “I don’t know”. Got to our seats to find someone in them. Turned out it was their mistake but that thing you don’t need just as the teams are coming out and people around us frustrated at us as we looked like late comers in the wrong place. Arghhhh !
The match – we won – sheer joy and all relief at the end. We could forget all the things that could have spoiled the day. None of it mattered any more.
Then we left to face the chaos of trying to get back to Yenikapi and on to our hotel. I’d naively imagined a convoy of shuttles heading back to the centre, full of City fans singing. Then a late celebratory drink with friends and other blues somewhere in the city. Wasn’t going to be too late as needed sleep before heading to the airport in the morning. But instead we just had chaos, trying to find our shuttle buses to Yenikapi. For league matches at the Etihad and many grounds they close the road while pedestrians leave. But here we find Police cars and VIP people moves, sirens blaring, forcing their way through the packed road of City fans. We were directed by the only person around with a UEFA steward bib on who sent us and hundreds of others to the Airport shuttles instead of the ones we asked for. We hunted round the massive car park for probably an hour trying to find a bus that wasn’t already crammed full. All the time thinking we’ve got to get on a bus, don’t want to be stranded here. But also looking at people crammed on those buses, already looking uncomfortable, loads stood up, squashed in the aisles and doorways. And no buses moving. Did we really want to get on one of these. I could also see on the road down below a long queue of traffic with nothing moving.
We heard a couple of other Blues saying they were going to try the Metro instead, so we followed. We got so far before we were stopped and told the Metro had stopped running. I don’t know who the guys were who told us, they were not other City fans. But the key thing that didn’t register with me at the time was that they said the metro had finished at midnight. I realised later that can’t have been right with the game finishing around that time. So we headed back to the shuttles.
We eventually found that empty buses were slowly being opened up and we stood by the doors of one where we’d seen the driver getting ready. We waited probably 20 mins and the driver just sat there waiting. The most helpful person I found all night was a man who appeared to be in charge of the drivers. I asked him to get this driver to open his doors and let people on. The man immediately went over and told the driver and he duly obliged. So we got on, we were lucky and got a seat while others sat and lay on the floor. We were there for I think an hour before we moved. We feared it would be a slow journey back but once on the main roads we moved quite quickly. We left the car park at 02:45 and got to Yenikapi at 3.40 am. We had given up on a drink and headed to the long line of taxis to get back to our hotel. Firs one wanted 50 euros so we walked on, the next said he wouldn’t take us to our destination, the next wanted 100 Euros. In normal circumstances I would guess the charge would have been 10- 15 euros. In the end I haggled with one driver and agreed to pay 50 Euros. Having heard what others have paid seems I got a good deal. Finally got to our hotel at 4.30 am. Three hours sleep and up for our flight the next day.
I feel so privileged to have seen City win the Champions League, to have been their with my youngest (adult) son and with friends. It feels unbelievable. I know others will think why am I/we complaining, just feel lucky we were there. But UEFA spoiled that experience for me with their pathetic organisation. They do it year on year and do not care about us ordinary fans. It is disgraceful and it must change. I am disappointed that no one at City has spoken up about it. I have written to the Supporters Liaison Officer to ask that City make a complaint to UEFA but that person has not replied.
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Forgot to add to my previous comment:
1) We saw two youths scaling the fences and getting in free. Didn’t look like City or Inter fans, more like locals but could not be sure. Not on the same scale as Paris last year but shows security was not good enough and what if a lot more had tried. The only people trying to stop them was (believe it or not) the guy making up the hot dogs at the food outlet started shouting at them and then one very young steward on his own chasing them.
2) If they are any use to you Gary I have one or two images and videos of the food queues and the bus park after the match and the queue of traffic on the road below.
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I’d be happy to do a follow up post on my website with your videos etc. If you can send them to me at Gary@gjfootballarchive.com then hopefully I can get them posted with your details etc.
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Hi Gary, I’m out all day & night today but will follow up on Saturday and send them over. Thanks Rob
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Well despite the amazing time myself and my two boys had in the stadium the rest was a huge and stressful let down. We flew 910 from Manchester so had breakfast at the airport and a drink and also a drink around half way on the plane so let’s say 11am uk time. We landed Saw around 1510 Turkish time and our transfer arrived from the airport to our hotel not far from yenikapi 1545. So far so good. Arrived at our hotel around 1700 hours. No sign of a reservation. Ended up with two rooms. Not ideal with myself and a 15 and 16 year old but we wouldn’t be in the hotel for long so it was what it was. Got our room key around 1730 and didn’t even have time to freshen up. So threw the bags in and started the walk to the festival area. Wasn’t far away 15-20 mins. A lot of fans were heading the opposite way saying 3 hour wait. Anyway we headed for the shuttles. Pleasant lads said it’s around 40 mins wait and gave us a warm bottle of water each which was nice considering it had been 4-5 hours since we had a drink. Queue took 30 mins if that but then we got on a bus and as we were about to leave they squeezed another 6-7 people on. At this point I couldn’t move in any direction. But off we went. Must have been around 1745. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable on transport. I was literally dripping head to toe in sweat. The journey seemed to take forever. I’m guessing it was around 90 mins. Traffic barely moving most of the way. It was a relief to get off and be able to breathe and just be where we needed to be. The fanzone. Well that was also a massive disappointment. We got in quick enough. Headed to a bar in the centre. No drinks left. So tried another bar which was undercover. It was just chaos. The bar was a good 20 people deep if not more. And there seemed to be no organisation or queue. We decided to just head for the stadium in hope that we could grab something there. Went through various queues and ticket checks. And finally entered the stadium at around 1930. The police and stewards took my flag. Which was a tribute to my father in law and cousin who both passed over the last few years. The police took it and walked off. As this stage I was stressed and irate. I understand why they were checking but not sure why the police kept walking away with it for a good 20 mins. I was finally given the ok to go ahead so headed for a drink. The queues were unbelievable. Never seen anything like it. I only spotted two kiosks for what 20k people. We quested for 10-15 mins and it just didn’t move. So we decided to head to our seats. Around 2000hrs. From this point until the game was over and the celebrations etc it was amazing. Couldn’t fault anything. We were in cat 3 seats around row 31 block 326. Great a atmosphere. My son nipped up at half time and when I saw him coming back with three drinks it was almost as good as winning the trophy ! He went to the front of the queue and it cost us 20 euros but was well worth it. As we left the ground all smiles and headed up the hill we couldn’t be happier. Until we hit what was meant to be the shuttle buses. We passed a stop for both airports and were looking for city centre. There didn’t seem to be any form of organisation or queuing. It just seemed to be a huge patch of wasteland on rubble. There were cars. Buses. Minibuses. Taxis. Everything really all facing here there and everywhere with no place to move. I said to the boys we’ve no chance of getting out of here for hours. So we just carried in walking. No idea where to or why. But we just went. A lot of duty fans were doing the same. Down dark roads mainly full of traffic at a standstill. Around 0100hrs we started trying to flag taxis down in the middle of busy roads. They would pull over and say 300 euros to yenikapi. Then 10 mins further in 200. I only had 70 euros on me cash and around 100 pounds. And a card with 100 quids worth of lira. We finally got a taxi around 0130 for 70 euros which turned out being a 25-30 min journey. I was just happy to be heading back with the two boys it had been a long day. We knew there was a McDonald’s just around the corner from our hotel open til 2am. Our taxi pulled up near it around 205 and we jumped out and ran to the door to have it closed in our faces. At this point we were all shattered. Starving. And thirsty. But we got back to the hotel around 230 and called it a day. I didn’t nagar to get to sleep til around 4 and woke around 545. So had around 4 hours sleep in total from Friday night to Sunday morning. Our transfer was picking us up at 7. We went down to the hotel reception around 645 and waited. Managed to grab a drink from a local shop. Transfer turned up on time. So set off to the airport and arrived 745 maybe. Flight was 1110. Saw airport the queue was right around the inside of the airport. But we queued up and it went quite quickly to be fair. Managed to grab a McDonald’s then headed for our gate. Plane was on time. So all I’m all an amazing experience with lots of stories to tell but not happy with the pre match experience at all could have been so much better. Would have been nice if we had more time but my som had GCSEs Friday and Monday. Absolutely shocking organisation all round re the buses. Fabulous game and atmosphere. Not the greatest trip back to the hotel either. The flights were both bang on both ways. As were the transfers. Hotel not the best. Would I do it again. I guess I would. I think people had it a lot worse than us
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What does not surprise me is that nothing learned from EUFA after last year’s debacle in Paris. And the access etc issues of the 2005 final at the Ataturk stadium were repeated this year. As a football fan so angry fans had to experience all the crap that EUFA hasn’t dealt with – from a LFC fan
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