Turkish Season in Review: New Anatolian Horizons
du Nord, June 11, 2009
Justin Paul fills us in on the top flight Turkish football season.The Turkish Süper Lig saw one of its most competitive seasons ever recently finished. Most notably, two provincial Anatolian sides, Sivasspor and Trabzonspor, were competitive up until the final week. It was however Beşiktaş, historically Turkey's 3rd club from the Istanbul big three, that took the crown. It was their first title since 2003, and did a lot to placate a restive fan base tired of seeing Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe swap the title back and forth. Ironically, up until their win over Galatasaray at home, they had not beaten any of the other Top 5 clubs in league play (having only drawn or lost to them).Beşiktaş are reputed to have slightly more working class fan base than Galatasaray or Fenerbahçe. However, there have not been the historic lines of division on class as we see in most other countries. Beşiktaş play in a posh district near the Bosphorus known for top hotels and as well as the nearby Bahçeşehir University, a rising star