Drogheda United are set to face Trabzonspor in a friendly on Turkey’s Black Sea coast on Thursday, a match that has grown out of a two-decade connection between the Irish club and the Turkish side. The game is due to take place at the 40,000-seat Papara Park, the same venue where Mohamed Salah was given a hero’s welcome when he was unveiled to Trabzonspor fans in August.
The same weekend Salah was unveiled, Drogheda United travelled to Galway for a 0-0 draw in a League of Ireland tie in front of 5,000 fans. On Thursday, however, the clubs will meet as part of a relationship that stretches back to 2006.
Drogheda chief executive Rian Wogan explained how the link began. ‘In 2006, in a Trabzonspor forum online, a couple of fans realised that there was a small Irish club that had the star and crescent, which are obviously symbols from the Turkish flag,’ he said. ‘From there they then subsequently realised that our club colours are also claret and blue and messages started going back and forward.’
The broader ties between Ireland and Turkey go back further, to the 1800s. The Ottoman Empire provided humanitarian aid to Ireland during the Great Famine, with the Ottoman Sultan donating £1,000, and the two countries celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations this year.
The club connection deepened during a difficult period for Drogheda. In 2008, the club went into examinership, Ireland’s equivalent of administration, and were deducted 10 points in the league. Trabzonspor fans heard of their plight and sent letters to the club with cash inside. Two years later, the relationship was made official when they became sister clubs, with plans for a ceremonial friendly in Dublin in 2013.
That Dublin game never took place. Wogan recalled: ‘They travelled over here to play and there was a freak deluge of rain that fell within an hour of kick-off. We had our staff in the turnstiles waiting to scan tickets in, but the game was deemed unplayable and Trabzonspor went home without playing the fixture.’ Thursday’s match has therefore been a long time coming.
Interest around the fixture has been substantial. When Drogheda announced the friendly on social media on 2 September, Trabzonspor fans reacted in large numbers and the post on X was seen well over half a million times. About 30% of Drogheda’s social media following is from Turkey, more than the share from Ireland. Trabzonspor shirts and flags are commonly spotted at Drogheda matches, while Turkish fans sometimes visit the club during the week just to see the stadium.
One Trabzonspor fan, Cafer Bektas, lives a couple of miles outside Drogheda and attends every game. When he first moved to the area, wearing a Trabzonspor jersey caught the attention of locals and got him discounts in shops. Drogheda fans will be hoping for similar treatment when they make the 4,700km trip to Turkey, a journey between 30 and 35 Boynesiders fans are set to make. Some Trabzonspor fans have already offered their homes to visiting supporters.
Whether Drogheda will get to witness Salah face their club remains to be seen. He was left out of Egypt’s squad that faced South Sudan in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Tuesday because the match was played on artificial turf. Wogan thinks even his presence would add to the weight of the game. ‘He might not be in the squad, but even to have him in the stadium would be incredible,’ he said.
Wogan also praised the Turkish side’s recent recruitment. ‘Trabzonspor have done amazing business in the last couple of windows and have really pushed the boundaries,’ he said. ‘The prospect of facing them is incredible.’ Salah or no Salah, the two clubs will be marking a special and unlikely relationship.