Beşiktaş

Beşiktaş are the black-and-white third of Istanbul's big three, and the case for putting them at the top of your list is partly the football and mostly the setting. Founded in 1903, they are the oldest of the great Turkish sports clubs, and they take their name and their home from the Beşiktaş district on the European shore of the Bosphorus, right in the working, living centre of the city rather than out on a ring road. Their symbol is the eagle, the Kara Kartal, the Black Eagle, and it is everywhere: on the badge, in the chants, and as a statue in the square. They have won the Süper Lig sixteen times, most recently in 2020-21, after back-to-back titles in 2015-16 and 2016-17, and they carry themselves as the people's club of Istanbul, less moneyed and more bloody-minded than their rivals across the water.

The reason to make the trip, though, is where they play. The Tüpraş Stadium, opened in 2016 and still widely called by its old name Vodafone Park, sits on the site of the historic İnönü stadium, wedged between the Dolmabahçe Palace and the Bosphorus in one of the most spectacular locations of any ground in world football. From the upper tiers you look out over the strait to Asia; below you is a sultan's palace. It holds around 42,000, it is steep and modern and loud, and unlike the long haul out to the other Istanbul grounds, it is right in the middle of everything you would want to see in the city anyway.

Getting there

This is the easy part, and it is a real advantage over the other big Istanbul clubs. The stadium is in central Beşiktaş, a short, flat walk from the waterfront, so you can fold it into a normal day in the city. The classic approach is by ferry: boats cross the Bosphorus to the Beşiktaş pier from both the European and Asian sides, and arriving by water, with the ground and the palace ahead of you, is part of the experience. From the tram network, Kabataş is the nearest hub, a walk or a short hop from the ground, linked to the historic peninsula by the T1 tram and to the modern centre by the funicular up to Taksim. From Taksim and Beyoğlu, where many visitors stay, it is a downhill walk or a couple of stops. Give yourself time on a derby day, when the whole district fills up.

Making a day of it

The pre-match happens in Beşiktaş Çarşı, the market quarter right by the ground, and it is one of the better matchday warm-ups in the game because it is a proper working neighbourhood, not a strip of stadium bars. This is where the club's famous support takes its name, and on a matchday the little streets fill with black-and-white shirts. The thing to do is eat and drink your way through it: this is the home of the meyhane, the Turkish tavern where you graze on meze and drink rakı, the aniseed spirit, over a long table, and the district's fish restaurants and market stalls are the traditional feed.

The street food is the heart of it. Look for köfte, the grilled meatballs Beşiktaş is known for, midye dolma, mussels stuffed with spiced rice and squeezed with lemon from a street tray, balık ekmek, the grilled-fish sandwich from the waterfront, and the ever-present çay, tea in a tulip glass, or a winter salep, the hot orchid-root drink. It is cheap, it is everywhere, and it is genuinely part of the day rather than a footnote.

The landmark to find is the Beşiktaş Kartalı, the black eagle statue in the middle of the square, the club's totem and the natural meeting point before kickoff. Stand by it for ten minutes and you will see the whole matchday pass through.

Inside, and where the noise is

Beşiktaş are carried by Çarşı, the club's celebrated supporters' movement, named for the market district and known across Turkey for a rebellious, sharp-witted, fiercely loyal streak, forever inventing chants and banners that get quoted around the country. On a matchday they gather behind one goal in the covered home end, the Kapalı by tradition, and that is the engine of the noise, a steep wall of black and white that sings without pause. The stadium was built to trap and amplify sound, and on a full night it delivers; the bowl gets seriously loud.

Set your expectations the way you would anywhere: a routine league game against weak opposition can be flatter than the legend, especially in the calmer side stands. But a big night, and above all an Istanbul derby, is ferocious, and the setting does half the work before a ball is kicked. If you want to be in the singing, aim for the Kapalı end; if you want the view that makes this ground famous, take an upper-tier seat on the side that looks out over the Bosphorus, and get to your seat early to take it in.

The songs

The soundtrack is built on the Beşiktaş Marşı, the club march, and a deep catalogue of Çarşı chants that the Kapalı drives all game. The recurring themes are the eagle and the two colours: expect the ground to summon the Kara Kartal, the Black Eagle, over and over, and to roar "siyah beyaz," black and white, back and forth across the stands. You will not follow the Turkish, and it does not matter; the rhythm and the volume are the point, and few grounds keep it up as relentlessly as a full Kapalı.

Merch

The club store, the Kartal Yuvası, the "Eagle's Nest," is at the stadium and carries the full range, and there are club shops in the city too. A black-and-white striped shirt with the eagle is the souvenir; you will see it worn all over the district on a matchday.

Getting a ticket

First, the rule you cannot get around: every ticket for a Turkish league match is tied to a Passolig card, a personal, government-backed fan-ID card, and without one you cannot buy a valid ticket or pass the turnstiles. International visitors can apply in English at passo.com.tr with passport details, a phone number and a photo, and for foreign nationals the prepaid Passolig route is the one to use, so set it up several days ahead of the game rather than turning up and hoping. There is no way round the card.

With the card in hand, buy through the club's official channels and the Passolig platform. For an ordinary Süper Lig fixture a visitor can usually get a seat without much trouble; Beşiktaş fill the ground, so buy ahead and the popular sections go first. The games to treat as hard tickets are the Istanbul derbies against Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, which sell out fast, run under heavy security and tight restrictions, and are difficult to get near at face value; plan those a long way out or look at official hospitality. The card-and-ID system, which ties every ticket to a named person, makes informal resale both risky and largely pointless, so stick to the official routes.

One last thing

Come to Beşiktaş for the location above all, because no big club in the game has a better one: a modern, steep, loud stadium set between a Bosphorus that carries ferries past the touchline and an Ottoman palace next door. Sort your Passolig card before you travel, arrive by ferry if you can, eat your way through the Çarşı market, find the eagle statue in the square, and get inside early enough to take in the water before the Kapalı starts up. It is the Istanbul matchday that asks the least travel and gives back the most view, and when the Black Eagle is roaring, it more than earns its place on the list.

Turkish ticketing runs on the Passolig fan-ID card and the derby rules and security arrangements can change; sort the card before you travel and check anything time-sensitive the week you go, and buy every ticket through the club or the official platform.