ISTANBUL - Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadi (76,092)

[brummad]

i think this will ruin the stadium, it has a beauty to it with its soaring side stands. i dont want any end expansion

[Christos7]

I agree. Not only that but 80,000 seems to perfect size to me. No need to spend money to enlarge it, it won't have enough use will it? And the Olympics itself assuming Istanbul gets it doesn't need more than 80,000.... All it needs is to be painted and bring some color into the picture. (outside)

[Genç]

Originally Posted by Christos7

All it needs is to be painted and bring some color into the picture. (outside)

Couldn't agree more

[Alonso]

I wish they had waited one year and held the CL final in Fenerbahces stadium. It is better for football and there would have been no transportation problems.

[Sparks]

This was a review posted by a Liverpool fan at the game.

If you believe any of the rubbish that frequently comes out of UEFA, then you'd be forgiven for thinking that the champions league final was played in Istanbul. Quite simply it wasn't - it was played miles away. Imagine UEFA choosing London as the host city, but then finding out that the final was actually being played in Gillingham.

It took 2 hours to get from the centre of Istanbul to the stadium - and the only way of getting there was by road. No trains or trams, just small road's already congested with commuters having to transport 60,000 supporters from the city centre to the stadium. It was certainly a good day to be a taxi driver.

The final 5 miles of the journey took up half of the time as thousands of vehicles crammed into two lanes in the fight to get to the stadium. This was very enjoyable though as the excitement started to build, the journey there only halted every so often by people needing to get the buses for a piss, or for taxis to stop in the middle of the road while the passengers ran round to the boot to get another crate of beer! But the most enjoyable part about the journey there was seeing the locals lining the streets, wearing red, applauding us and wishing us good luck. Home made banners had been made and men, women and children had bought replica shirts and scarfs to wear. I'd never seen such a sight. To see the locals so happy almost brought a tear to my eye, it made me very proud to be a red seeing these people, from a poor area, so excited. That lasted until we turned the corner and headed up the valley to the ground - surrounded only by dirt as the road cut through a hill. The area looked unfinished as Turkey's olympic bid had failed so only the stadium was built.

Even the car parks looked unfinished. The buses were dumped a few hundred metres from the ground and we had to make our way across wasteland as the huge stadium greeted us.

It looked smaller than it actually was as the lowest tier was below ground level, aside from some entertainment provided by UEFA there was nothing to see or do outside the ground so everyone headed straight in - via a stop at one of the hundreds of portaloo's provided!

Inside the concourse, the stadium felt typically new. Exposed grey concrete and the usual standardised stadium feel. In the seating areas however the ground looked superb - even if there was a running track and the pitch was miles away. It was already quite full and those with banners had got in early to take the best specs to show off their banners. The Milan fans (all 13,000 of them) were in place preparing their choreographed display of colour and flags.

The atmopshere continued to build as the stadium became fuller and the sky grew darker, then the excitement turned to nerves as the pre match entertainment seemed to last forever.

The floodlights in each of the corners illuminated the arena which was about the host one of the greatest games in the history of football. Barely a seat was empty and the stadium began to feel very impressive. The combination of reds, whites, yellows and blacks brought the stadium to life, a sharp contrast to how the stadium normally looks - it brings a whole new meaning to the word 'bland'. A mass of grey. The only really unique thing about the stadium is the roof of the west stand, crescent shaped like the Turkish flag.

Visiting this stadium on any other occasion would probably leave you feeling very underwhelmed, but both sets of supporters there on the 25th may 2005 deserve credit for creating a superb atmosphere, and the players deserve credit for giving us all something to shout about.

It is hard to see why this stadium was given 5 star's by UEFA. In terms of its design its pretty good (Though the seats leave a lot to be desired. They don't fold up if so you jump up and down you bang the back of your legs! Hence a lot of people with big bruises on Thursday morning!). As a football stadium its less than ideal as you're a long way away from the pitch, but this was designed for the Olympics and UEFAs backward politics played a huge part in choosing Turkey to host this years final. The location of the stadium and the transport infrastructure available is terrible, the worst of any new ground I've ever been to. I thought getting to Pride Park was difficult when it was first built but this place really did take the piss!

Had it not been for the atmosphere that was created, this stadium would have left quite a poor impression - and had the second half of the game been the same as the first I wouldn't want to even hear the words Ataturk Stadium ever again. Thankfully though, I left with a good impression of the stadium, a great impression of Istanbul, and an even better impression of the locals who were great hosts. There are many better cities with better stadia, much more suitable than Istanbul, but on this occasion UEFA got away with what really, was a poor choice of venue.

[ASIMOV]

I must say that I totally agree about the stadium.

It's not in Istanbul.

Looks like a giant space ship which fell among a sea of shanties.

It's almost impossible to go there.

I went there only once (to the opening game of the stadium between Galatasaray and Olympiakos) and I will never go there for a second time.

They should've built it somewhere closer to the city center (like Maslak for instance), but not among the shanties of Ikitelli.

Terrible location, terrible planning, huge waste of money...

[ASIMOV]

Originally Posted by www.sercan.de

yes, the TFF want to expand the stadium
the stands behind the goals will get 2nd tier
according to a member if stadyum.org (he read it in a newspaper), the capacity will ve nearly 100,000!!!?????

Instead of dumping more money for this stadium, let's build another one in Maslak.

[ASIMOV]

The stadium itself is nice though



I wish we could "teleport" it from Ikitelli to Maslak.

[Kuvvaci]

ther subjects of this article have been critcized so much here too. However everything will be different in the near future. Because metro is reaching there and with some other cmplexes, this area will be different...

[Christos7]

Thanks for the story, Sparks. Exactly what I was wondering, good report. It was a poor venue picked by UEFA (and that is UEFA's fault, not Turkey) but they got bailed out by nice hosts, nice city and the best football game I have ever seen.

Oh and congrats to Liverpool once again, the best final ever.


PS I hear Stelios may be joining next year.

[Toadboy]

The stadium itself was great, the immidiate area around the stadium was diabolical, the distance from the city and the transport infrastructure was appalling, the facilities for fans arriving early was disgraceful.

UEFA cocked up big time here, Ataturk should not have hosted the final.

The local organisers also cocked up, why did Liverpool fans have the totally inadequate and useless Sabhia Gokcen "Airport" (airport ha) as the main point of entry and departure into Istanbul? Why was there no food or drink available for travelling fans at the stadium or "airport"?

Istanbul and the organisers were lucky that they had Liverpool and Milan fans in town.

Man United would have destroyed the place with that treatment.

For all that and the thieving taxi drivers though Liverpudlians loved Istanbul and the Turkish people, it's never going to be the most glamourous or sophisticated of cities but it's full of charm, hospitality and warmth.

Well done to the Turks, great stadium (once you're in), but fuck off UEFA and the organisers. Oh and BUILD SOME ROADS, METROS AND COMMERCIAL OUTLETS TO AND AROUND THE STADIUM!

[SDK4]

The stadium looks great, but it needs a second tier of seats at each end, and dump that stupid track around the field. This should be a soccer only stadium. Get the seats a little closer to the field.

[www.sercan.de]

Originally Posted by www.sercan.de

yes, the TFF want to expand the stadium
the stands behind the goals will get 2nd tier
according to a member if stadyum.org (he read it in a newspaper), the capacity will ve nearly 100,000!!!?????

SDK4
i think it will get a 2nd tier

[www.sercan.de]

image hosted on flickr

[hngcm]

Why is it called olympic if it hasn't hosted an olympics?

[www.sercan.de]

It was it is proposed fot the Olympics
they can't call it Atatürk Stadium
because there are 1000 Atatürk stadiums

[www.sercan.de]

Capacity has been reduced to 75,486 (Before it was 80,597). Thanks to the Architects

looking to the "best" endzone stands in the world
image hosted on flickr

bigger one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunumer...48307/sizes/o/

image hosted on flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunumer...52073/sizes/o/

image hosted on flickr

bigger one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunumer...47330/sizes/o/

[www.sercan.de]

image hosted on flickr

bigger one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/korayat...49457/sizes/o/

[TEBC]

i want to see an olympic games there!!!

[www.sercan.de]

With the current NOC i doubt it + the stadium (so also the planned Olympic park and villge) are too far away (25km)