Göztepe möter sina ärkerivaler

I och med att Göztepe tog steget upp i Bank Asya så betyder det att laget kommer att ställas mot sina bittra ärkerivaler Karsiyaka nästa säsong. Dessa två lagen satte för drygt trettio år sen världsrekord i antalet åskådare i en match som inte spelades i högsta ligan. Året var 1981 och över 80 000 åskådare hittade till Izmir Atatürk stadion.

Publiksiffran fick den engelska tidningen The Guardian att skriva en artikel om det…

”What’s the biggest attendance for a non-top-flight league match (not play-offs) in the world?” wonders Ben Hendy.

The lure of lower-league football is usually so great that even The Greatest Fans In The World Ever (TM), like those at Newcastle and Manchester City, have done one at the prospect. But there are a few occasions when it whetted appetites just like the real thing. ”You’d be hard-pressed to beat the 60,585 at Old Trafford for Manchester United v Sunderland on November 30 1974 during United’s post-war Second Division season,” says Brian Spurrell. Pressed we were indeed, harder than a constipated nugget’s nugget, until we noticed that Juventus’ recent Serie B trip to Napoli was watched by a mammoth 65,000.

David Hill and Gurcag Ozler provided further relief by pointing out that the Izmir derby between Karşıyaka and Göztepe attracted a ridiculous 80,000 people for a Turkish Division Two match on May 16 1981. It’s on Wikipedia, so it must be true. ”Also approved by the Guinness Book Of Records,” they point out. ”The score was a resounding 0-0.”

Claus Moser, however, may have gone one better. Apparently, on August 15 1973, 1860 Munich and FC Augsburg met at the Olympiastadion in the German second division in front of ”over 80,000, an all-time record at the stadium”. What’s more, ”after 1860 Munich scored an early goal, several thousand people still waiting outside flooded through the entrance gates. Some estimates claim as many as 90,000 people watched the game.”