As Manchester United face Galatasaray in the Champions League, Andy Mitten relives one of his most dramatic nights following the club
“The Turks are lovely people,” said the United manager. “We’re looking forward to going over there.”
An English journalist asked Galatasaray’s German manager Reiner Hollmann afterwards whether there would be a hot welcome for United in Istanbul for the return leg.Around 1,000 United fans travelled to the second leg, 239 of us independently of the official club trip for the second leg. It was better value for money, with more freedom. The chartered flight was due to depart at 6am. Some fans were still in the airport bar at 5.55am, but by 6.10am, the plane was moving.
Around 20 police arrived and suggested we go back to our hotel. We did as we were told and found ourselves escorted by a line of police. Behind them, a mob of maybe 150 followed, chanting songs as they went. The hotel was soon a mess, with glass everywhere. Fans were hyper, fearing the hotel was going to be overrun. Some United fans burst out of the hotel and piled straight into the locals. There was a lot of fighting, with some of the United hooligans buzzing like it was the 1970s or ’80s again. I saw one lad wade into the Turkish fans wielding a chair, another return to the hotel covered in blood, his girlfriend screaming that he was dead. Fans managed to get him out and into a police car.
The cells were bigger in the next station but we were packed in. Still no food or drink throughout the long afternoon. We became resigned to not seeing the match. At the stadium, those United supporters who arrived up to three hours before kick-off were not let in as the turnstiles had been closed. Fans who did get in had coins and camera batteries taken off them — meanwhile, the home fans managed to sneak a full-size coffin into their end.
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