Trabzonspor has been experiencing the same problems many teams competing in the Turkish League face due to poor management for years. Financial difficulties, poor transfers, the resulting factions due to the club’s structured management, the throne games and the bickering between different groups, the arguments, and the stress of never achieving the championship since the 1983-84 season, despite coming so close.
For as long as I can remember, Trabzonspor has strived to build a strong team every year. While they occasionally came close, and in some years, in my opinion, even deserved it, they only achieved this goal 38 years later.
There’s no need for a deep analysis. The secret to success lies in planning, planning, and good governance. Ahmet Ağaoğlu, elected president of Trabzonspor Sports Club at the extraordinary general assembly held on 8 April 2018, and then appointed president for three years at the ordinary general assembly held on 2 December 2018, solved the problems one by one during his first term and laid the foundation for a successful team with good transfers. Here is the champion squad of Trabzonspor, which achieved great success:Trabzonspor – Ayrıntılı kadro 21/22 | Transfermarkt
Trabzonspor’s only shortcoming was finding a manager capable of managing a team comprised of excellent players who have been improving year after year.
“We won’t be playing for the championship, we will be champions.”
Ahmet Ağaoğlu and his board of directors worked with five managers during his tenure. Ağaoğlu completed his first season in 2017-2018 with current manager Rıza Çalımbay, and began the 2018-2019 season with Ünal Karaman. Having worked with the experienced manager in 51 league games, Ağaoğlu’s management parted ways with him at the end of the 17th week of the 2019-2020 season, appointing one of his assistants, Hüseyin Çimşir. Having reached a point with Hüseyin Çimşir after 16 games, Ağaoğlu played the final game of the season and the cup final under Çimşir’s assistant, Eddie Newton. The Claret-Blues parted ways with Newton, with whom they began the 2020-2021 season, after just seven weeks in the league. Following İhsan Derelioğlu, who took over on a one-game temporary basis, they appointed Abdullah Avcı as manager. Meanwhile, Trabzonspor won the Ziraat Turkish Cup under Eddie Newton and the TFF Super Cup under Abdullah Avcı. The successful manager, appointed on 10 November 2021, ended a 38-season drought in 535 days. The Black Sea giants have recorded 40 wins, 23 draws, and only 5 losses in 66 games under Avcı’s management. Coach Abdullah is enjoying the best season of his career at Trabzonspor with a 2.16 points average. After the championship was confirmed last week in the Antalya game, a confident Abdullah Avcı stated, “I said we weren’t going to play for the championship; we were going to be champions.” https://www.sozcu.com.tr/spor/futbol/abdullah-avci-sampiyonluga-oynamayacagiz-sampiyon-olacagiz-demistim-7109032/?utm_source=anasayfa_spor&utm_medium=free&utm_campaign=anasayfa_spor_zone_3
The Path to Success Through Numbers
During Ağaoğlu’s tenure as president, Trabzonspor played 150 league games. During that period, they won 80, drew 46, and lost only 23. The Black Sea team won its first trophy under Chairman Ağaoğlu in 2019-2020. With a total of 286 points and a ratings average of 1.91, Trabzonspor experienced one of the best periods in its history. I also share with you the press conference held after the game against Antalyaspor, which clinched the championship, in which the chairman emphasized the importance of planning and lavished praise on Abdullah Avcı:
By making precise transfers with sound planning, the Ağaoğlu administration pulled Trabzonspor back from the brink of collapse financially, while also averting bankruptcy through the implementation of sound financial restructuring strategies.
The Right Economic Moves and Models
For one thing, they halved the squad cost. They sold players like Yusuf Yazıcı (€17.5 million) and Sörloth (€11 million), who had been shining on the team, to European teams for significant sums, generating significant transfer revenue. Furthermore, the extra points earned during successful seasons allowed them to capture a larger share of the Super League. This year’s championship bonus, along with the additional revenue they would receive if they qualified for the Champions League, adds to Trabzonspor’s revenue from a normal season.
Of course, the success, along with the stadium’s full capacity and the surge in jersey sales, played a significant role in the recovery of revenue.
I also follow Ahmet Ağaoğlu; he developed financing models unique to Turkey. For example, he had the players he transferred purchase his jerseys at signing ceremonies and distribute them. It may seem counterintuitive, but with all the players purchasing thousands of pieces of merch, they encouraged everyone to buy jerseys and generated a significant revenue stream.
Furthermore, the construction of a championship monument next to their stadium in Akyazı, the 1 million TL donation of each player’s name to be inscribed on it, and the efforts of thousands of Trabzonspor supporters to have it done, is a commendable model.
Other Factors that Brought the Championship
Beyond good governance, Trabzon’s unique characteristics led to this championship. These are as follows:
1) Trabzonspor’s strong sports culture and its dedication to continuously developing athletes. Trabzonspor has the strongest infrastructure in Turkey. They have cultivated significant talents like Fatih Tekke and Gökdeniz Karadeniz over the years. This is true not only in soccer, but in all areas of sport. For example, the female boxers Busenaz Sürmeneli and Buse Naz Çakıroğlu, who brought Turkey a gold and a silver medal at the Olympics for the first time in our country’s history, are from Trabzon.
2) The city’s life and life are soccer-based. The fans in the stadium create an incredible atmosphere.
3) The players are made comfortable. They think of nothing but soccer and are incredibly welcomed by the people of Trabzon. We can give as an example the deterioration of form that soccer players like Jose Sosa experienced after their move to Istanbul due to the change in their environment.
4) The players get along well. There’s absolutely no rivalry between locals and foreigners like some teams, and a spirit of brotherhood permeates the entire team.
5) The self-confidence of being the only team outside of the Big Three to win multiple championships in the past, and therefore, the culture of winning, is abundant in Trabzon.
6) Trabzonspor receives significant support in Anatolia. In fact, we’ve even heard fans in some stadiums abandoning their own teams and chanting, “This year, the champion is from Anatolia,” or “This year, the champion is Trabzonspor.”
7) The players abandon unnecessary reactions like objecting to the referee and focusing on their game. We give credit here to the good character of the players, as well as to manager Abdullah Avcı. On this occasion, I’d like to share with you my work titled “Turning Points of the Championship” from the Hürriyet Spor Arena:
Past Championships and Cups
Trabzonspor, which won the championship in 1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81, and 1983-84, officially achieved its 7th championship. Of course, if you ask the people of Trabzon, they’ll tell you they were champions in 2010-11 as well. In fact, Trabzonspor’s official website even includes the 2010-11 championship year as a list of its championships:https://www.trabzonspor.org.tr/tr/arsiv/basarilarimiz
In addition to their seven Turkish championships, let’s also count the other trophies they’ve won:
– Nine Turkish Cup Championships.
– Two TFF Super Cup Championships.
– Seven Presidential Cup Championships.
– Five Prime Ministry Cup Championships.
Pointless Attempts to Cast a Shadow
Unfortunately, there are those who seek to cast a shadow over this deserved championship, won by Trabzonspor, the source of Anatolia’s pride, by beating their closest rival. First and foremost are Fenerbahçe fans continued bickering with Trabzonspor and statements made as if to cast a shadow over their championship.
For instance, Fenerbahçe president Ali Koç’s statement, “The ugly scenes we witnessed on Saturday night—impudence, arrogance, disregard for rules, lack of hesitation, and trampling on even national values in the name of a championship and celebration—have reached a point where Fenerbahçe fans must fight.”https://www.sozcu.com.tr/spor/futbol/fenerbahce-baskan-ali-koctan-trabzonspora-tepki-7113444/?utm_source=anasayfa&utm_medium=free&utm_campaign=sol_surmanset
Yet, a few weeks ago, the same Ali Koç had said, “Trabzonspor deserved this championship with its good soccer.” But then he shifted his rhetoric, implying that politicians were supporting Trabzonspor, saying, “Trabzonspor is being given preferential treatment.” https://www.ensonhaber.com/kralspor/futbol/ali-koc-trabzonspor-sampiyonlugu-devlet-basarisi-midir
Fenerbahçe fans and fans of other teams who dislike Trabzonspor immediately picked up on this rhetoric and circulated it extensively on social media. The logic behind this rhetoric, spread to discredit the Claret-Blues’ success, is flawed. If, as they claim, Trabzonspor’s success was due to the support of politicians, then Çaykur Rizespor would have been expected to compete for the championship, yet Rizespor’s team was relegated. Whether politicians go to Trabzonspor’s stadium to share their joy or show their emotions by crying is none of Trabzonspor’s business. You can’t tarnish the Claret-Blues’ deserved championship win by citing political exploitation as an example. Those who started these rumors should look back on their own history and remember how they were protected by the press and politicians for years. It’s shameful.
Intellectually impaired reactions
Also, knowing that there are people on Bağdat Avenue in Istanbul and Samsun who declared, “We will not allow the Trabzonspor flag to be hung, we will not allow celebrations,” shows the level of decency in the country. What a shame!
Similarly, the actions of Fenerbahçe’s idiot cheerleader Rambo Okan, who attempted to cut down the Trabzonspor flag, clearly demonstrate this indifference. Here’s footage of this moron cutting the Trabzonspor flag on a bridge:https://onedio.com/haber/rambo-okan-in-15-temmuz-sehitler-koprusu-ndeki-trabzonspor-bayragini-indirdigi-goruntuler-ilk-kez-paylasildi-1065627 And then there’s the video of him apologizing to Trabzonspor and saying, “Give back the trophy won through game-fixing by Aziz Yıldırım”:
And the enthusiastic scenes and celebrations.
Having said all that, let’s talk about the positive aspects of the championship. First, the candid championship interview between Dorukhan, Abdulkadir, and Bakasetas in the locker room:
https://twitter.com/Trabzonspor/status/1520500106486816768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1520500106486816768%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sozcu.com.tr%2Fspor%2Ffutbol%2Fdorukan-tokoz-uc-sene-once-yuruyecek-halimiz-yoktu-7109104%2F
Footage of Abdullah Avcı being doused by his players while giving an interview on BeIN Sports after the championship:
At the beginning of the Hatayspor game, he made the whole stadium applaud Trabzonspor’s championship with an exemplary behavior (congratulations Hatayspor):
Finally, here are images from the championship celebrations in Trabzon, the legendary club congratulated even by the president of French champion PSG, who have assembled one of the best squads in the world (see: https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/dunyadan-spor/paris-saint-germainden-trabzonspora-kutlama-/2581692):
I wish Trabzonspor to advance past the Champions League qualifying rounds (see: https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/sporarena/son-dakika-super-lig-sampiyonlugu-sonrasi-trabzonsporun-sampiyonlar-ligi-yolu-belli-oldu-42054579 ) and represent Turkey in the best possible way in the group stages. Good luck, Trabzonspor!
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish my mother, who is from Trabzon, a Happy Mother’s Day today. I also told her how proud I am of my Trabzon heritage. I hope Trabzon produces many more successful athletes.
Tag: memoir
