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Captains Log


22nd September: Let the football do the talking

Border crossings are typically incongruous affairs, soulless places manned by stern officials who are unyielding in their bureaucratic approach. Yet here we were partaking in a football kick-about with two policeman; one Turkish, another Syrian, heading the ball back and forth. The fact that the Turkish authorities had sent an email across to their Syrian counterparts warning them of our arrival, with specific reference to the camera equipment did not seem to matter. Football (which was in danger of being overshadowed at times during our stay in Turkey) seemed to be doing the talking and would reign through during our stay in Syria.

We were to be met at the border, by a coach with three delegates waiting to transport us to Aleppo, the three players in the tour party without visas granted the necessary paperwork free of charge, and the tone for this leg of the tour had been established. Several hours drive to Aleppo and then ushered up some stairs and into a resplendent room that represented the 'VIP' section of one of the most prestigious restaurants in town. We would wait patiently for the call to Prayer and then tuck into a feast- this would become a daily occurrence over the next ten days. Our stay would seem to be funded by a blank chequebook; lavish meals, air conditioned transportation, tourist visits and sponsored football kits. The list is endless, ostentatious attention that was slightly awkward to accept, especially when others were noticably in need on the streets nearby. When I questioned their motive behind such genorisity, our host merely responded 'You are students- all students in Syria are treated well.' It would gradually transpire that as students, and guests of the Syrian Student Union the national authorities seemed to place immense importance on our stay. This was a far cry from the NUS (National Union of Students) of the UK with its perennially depleted budgets and lack of extra-curricular activity. Quite why we have been treated with such hospitality is open to interpretation but having endured some difficult periods in Turkey it has been reassuring for the tour party to be on the 'right' side of the authorities.

With this peace of mind, we would embark on a footballing schedule that would test even the most resolute of Premiership footballers. Four games in five days that began with a 6am training session on the University pitch. The players were hungry and enthusiastic and seemed to be motivated by the prospect of playing against three highly professional outfits. We were told on the first evening that we were the first international university side to have ever come to Aleppo and the unprecendented nature of the trip seemed to strike a cord with both ourselves and locals alike. For the locals, it seemed as if there was a buzz in the air, that a British footballing side had come to this part of the world was noteworthy, and however much we tried to explain that we were amateur footballers at best and were the team from a university of only 4000 students it didnt seem to matter.

On the first night I watched the training session of our opponents, the University of Aleppo, who we would be playing on the Thursday night. They were extremely fit and professional. The trip was fascinatingly poised; could the self-defined Crazy Gang rise to the challenge and shake off the scares of Turkey?
 
Physically, as a team we were under seige; two and a half weeks of relentless travel , broken sleep patterns and football on unforgiving surfaces left the team suffering with injuries, illnesses and absentees. At one stage I begin to select the side for a match that was due to start two hours later against the Armenian Humentman Cub only to realize that it was somewhat futile as we only had eight players available. This included team coach Tom Bateman who had been drafted into goal. He would experience rib pains and central midfielder Taurean would be drafted into goal, as we would end up with nine players on the pitch. Alas, a victory and the Crazy Gang embrace on the pitch, barely able to walk but ecstatic nonetheless.  The team would play the best football I have experienced during my two years at SOAS. Deft passes, movement of the ball, crunching tackles, heroic headers and expertly taken goals. I'll leave the majority of the match descriptions to Tomi (see Tomi's Talk) but will merely add that these four days were unforgettable and seemed to represent a seminal moment for SOAS Football Team.

If part of the happiness of the tour comes from the competitive desire within the team of winning football matches then from my perspective, another point of mention comes from achieving some of the broader objectives of the tour. We have made many friends with our opponents during the course of our stay (even if there were some heated exchanges during our stay, that often seemed to derive from the physical nature of our tackles and the somewhat theatrical reactions from the Syrian players and referees alike!) and have ultimately been able to acknowledge the human commonalities that we all share. Many smiles have been on show, photos have been taken and email addresses exchanged. Elementary discussions have begun with regards to trying to organize a return visit for a Syrian representative side to Britian next year.

This notion of football as a global medium was embodied by the match we played against a team of Iraqi Refugees as organized through the UNHCR. The game would be played in a carnival atmosphere as family and friends of the Iraqi team turned out in their droves to offer their support. A booming drum would provide the soundtrack to the game as the audience (in excess of a hundred) cheered every kick. After the match the two teams held a banner, painted by Iraqi children which read 'Every child has a wish' and each of the players took small cards that hung from a 'well-wishing tree' which expressed the wishes of the children. (A similar tree is expected to be planted on our return to Lonsdon). These universal wishes that included the likes of toys and bikes seemed to offer a poignant reminder of the current global sitaution. Their predicament had not gone unnoticed by the majority of our players nor had the fact that the British government had been complicit in events that led to the displacement of these people, however ultimately this situation did not seem particularly special, we were merely playing the game we love with fellow footballing enthusiasts. The significance of our visit only dawned upon me, when a Palestinian woman (who was head of the UNHCR for Palestinian refugees in Northern Syria) who was in the crowd spoke to me after the game, and mentioned how proud she was that a group of young British people had decided to come here and play this game. 'This is a big moment' she added, 'we need more young people like you guys who are willing to reach beyond'.



20th September- Testing Times in Turkey

Having been promised a match against the University of Van in the local 15 000 seated floodlit stadium, events were to take a turn for the worse on the afternoon of the match and would trigger a turbulent week of events that left the unity of the team in disarray. After an enchanting few days in the somewhat parochial town of Van (of which I described in my last blog), the stark reality of an impoverished community who ardently resent their Turkish rulers was to surface. Turkey a vast land mass that spans from West to East (in terms of political sway) was to reveal its latent underbelly and ambigious nature, as the 'Deep State' emerged and Politics (with a capital 'P') became too high on the agenda for many people, including the players and policeman alike!
 
On the afternoon of the match, Ali was informed that the Mayors allocation of the Stadium pitch had now been withdrawn. Having waited an hour and a quarter for the bus we were to arrive 15 minutes before kick off, to be met by half a dozen or so sheepish looking opponents in a gravel car park adjacent to the pitch.
It was soon to emerge that the opposition did not have any football boots to play the match. The mayor had failed to provide them with any equipment (as had previously been agreed), and the game was subsequently cancelled until the following day.
 
Despite the disappointment, we trained on the pitch in the twilight of a breathtaking background as the silhoutte of Van loomed over us and the intake of the mountainous air offered some welcome restbite. I had maintained from the outset that however challenging and unstable events may happen to be off the field- the familiarity of football was a constant feature and one which could be used to unite us whatever the circumstances. Nonetheless events of the next week were to test this mantra, as the importance of football came under scutiny.


This was to manifest the following day, as we began to prepare for our second attempt at playing against the University of Van. As part of the deal for receiving sponsorship from the SOAS Student Recruitment Services we had agreed to show a short video to our opponents before each game. Thus in the Student Union of University, situated on the fourth floor of a ramshackled building (rather characteristic to Van) with its faulty lift, shattered window pains, moist ceilings and wet floors- two of our players were to deliver the presentation. Before they even began it seemed like a futile exercise. Here we were promoting our university to 'potential' students, yet these students couldnt even afford a pair of football boots between themselves let alone a flight to London!
As the grainy footage of our promotional video was aired the facial expression of our opponents turned from intrigue, to indifference before finally erupting into anger. The scene was quickly to degenerate into a heated dispute, as the Kurdish students challenged our motive of being in the region- 'You come here to this region with a message of help and friendship, and yet all you want to do is play football. You do not understand the real problems- why have you not come to see it with your own eyes? You could have come to visit our families and met our bereaved relatives and those injured in the battle of the mountains. You could come and see children who are really in need.' Much was seemingly lost in translation but the fact that Ali, our tour leader was irate was painfully clear. We attempted to justify our intentions with the help of our slightly fatigued translator Erhan, who tried to stress that we are here to learn and that it would be better for them to try and inform us about their problems rather than merely criticize our supposed ignorance.
 
Having partially diffused the situation, we would find ourselves outside in a dusty car park, waiting for the bus to collect us (an all too regular feature during our stay in Van) with our opponents. As we sat in the baking mid afternoon heat, unable to eat or drink in public due to Ramadan the gravity of the situation began to dawn on me.

With the help of Ali translating I had an animated discussion with our opponents. 'What do you think of the PKK?' they enquired, five of them encircling round me their eyes fixated upon my reponse. "What do the people in your country think of us' they continued, 'We just like 90% of the people in this area support the PKK... The PKK are very good, go and tell people in England that they are very good people." One of them pointed up to the mountains in the distance before adding how his brother was currently fighting the Turkish soldiers, it may not be long, he noted, before he joins him. 
It was very clear; we were in a tense and contested area of the world, where very few tourists seemed to visit, yet those that did seemed to represent a source of hope. This brought many social and political pressures that were unbeknown to a group of young foreign travellers such as ourselves.
 
It is hard to forget coming out of a meeting with the mayor- standing on the steps of the town hall, looking out onto a static scene, the bystanders in the street fixated by our presence, all seemed to be mulling over the same question: 'who are these strange, awkardly tall group of foreigners and what have they been doing visiting the mayor?'

The mayor, a proud upward gentleman, with a long protruding nose and bushy moustache that was typically Kurdish, sat comfortably behind a mohogany desk in a leather reclining chair. A silk Turkish flag accompanied by a formidable portrait of the Turkish national hero Kemal Attaturk hung from the wall behind him. This was their leader who was attributed with founding the modern Turkish Republic in the 1920s and whose legacy ensures that Van remains under Turkish jurisdiction. Here within this room lies a discrepancy; that between a legal constitution that enshrines Attaturkism in the form of the modern republic of Turkey and then the underlying sentiment of the majority of the people living in the region. This open dissent and resentment towards this patriotic model which could detected from the refusal of many locals to speak the Turkish language to the explicit political critique of the state model by public figures such as the mayors of Van and Diyarbakir from within the sumptuous surroundings of their democratically elected position in the mayoral office.
This parody of Turkish politics, namely between the official display of integration and acceptance towards the Turkish state that was undercut by the daily contentions of this model was difficult to fully comprehend as a foreigner, and would only begin to dawn on us as time passed by and we entered into the heartland of the Kurdish region in the city of Diyarbakir. By this stage, unbeknown to us, the latent Turkish military services had already become suspicious as to why a group of young British men were travelling through this region and meeting people of local importance. This threat of the Turkish police would emerge several days later and would cast a dark cloud over the tour. It would cause many of the players to question the whole nature of what we were doing here and more specifically to scrutinize why I had decided to bring the the team to such a region and allow us to get into such a situation. Yet ultimately it would unite the team and forge a team spirit that would lay the foundations for two memorable victories a week or so later, across the border in the old town of Aleppo.

17th September- Football Scores and Updates

Apologies all for the lack of updates. The itinerary has been particularly busy of late and access to the internet has been somewhat limited. I will try and post a blog describing events later today. However I thought it best to post the games and results as promised:

8th Sept  -  SOAS vs. Yuzuncuyıl University, Van = SOAS WIN 9-0 (Goal Scorers: Stewart, Olomowewe, Hamdi x 2, Sancak, Watfa, Skinner x 2, Reynolds)

10th Sept - SOAS vs Diskispor (Turkish 4th Division side) = DREW 2-2 (Scorers: Olomowewe, Reynolds)

11th Sept- SOAS vs Diyarbakirspor U18 (The youth team of a Turkish 1st division team) = SOAS WIN 3-1 (Scorers: Hamdi, Reynolds, Antoine-Chager)

14th Sept- SOAS vs Iraqi Refugees= SOAS WIN 3-1 (Scorers: Reynolds, Watfa, Olomowewe)

15th Sept- SOAS vs Al-Yarmouk (Armenian Humentman Club- Syrian first division club)= SOAS WIN 3-1 (Reynolds, Watfa, Kain)

So as you can see, having lost the first game 3-0, we have responded encouragingly and are currently unbeaten in five games. The range of opposition has been vast, with the semi-professional outfits of Diskispor and Al-Yarmouk proving particularly tough. Both teams had players who were being paid to turn out against us. Tuesday nights 3-1 win was a superb victory against a well drilled opposition. Despite the fact that the game was played without any substitutes (due to injuries and illnesses), the players showed the true fighting spirit of the 'Crazy Gang' and morale in the team is very high.

Admittedly the team has struggled, at times to adjust to less physical style of play and have been furstrated by the referee's eagerness to stop the play. However I cannot fault the teams passion, commitment and desire which has astonished many of the crowds who have come to watch the games. The local media coverage has been impressive, such that many of the players (especially Toib) and there can be no denying that the players have been inspired to raise their games,

Tonight we have the opportunity of a lifetime and it seems as if all the hard work and team commitment can be rewarded. We will be playing under the floodlights of the National Stadium (capacity 15,000) against the University of Aleppo (who have over 100,000 students). We have been told to expect in the region of 5000 spectators! The opposition will consist of professional team who play in the Syrian first division, and judging by their training (which i watched a couple of nights ago) they are going to be very tough opposition! We are all aware that this is special opportunity, in which we can fufill the boyhood dream of playing in front of a big crowd, on a carpet layered pitch under the floodlights!

Tonght, after the game we will travel to Damascus on a bus overnight before playing against the University of Damascus (who have over 300 000 students) in another stadium tomorrow night. C'MON THE MIGHTY SOAS & then let the Eid Festival begin!

8th September- Into the East

Another cup of tea is planted under my nose as I sit typing and it seems that the Kurdish hospitality is utterly pervasive. Wide eyes, fırm hand shakes, warmer smiles, affectionate cries of 'hello, hello' and a constant throng of children crowding round us as we pass through the streets. It seems hard to walk ten metres in this provincial lakeside town of Van without being greeted. As we walk on our way to the internet cafe (to post this message) we are summoned over by half a dozen men sitting round a roadside table partaking in İftar (the feast taken by Muslims each evening to break their fast). 'Sit down' they insist as they ascend to offer their seats to the team, 'please eat with us... We are Muslims and the meaning of İslam is to share'. If only Nick Griffin and his fellow Islamophobic cronies back home could witness these acts of genorosity. Some of the players momentarily hesitate, assessing where these acts of kindness could be coming from?  'Back in London' one of them remarks, 'this wouldnt happen... this is a different world and makes me appreciate humility'.
 
We are away now; away from the trappings of London that offers a wealth of opportunity but demands a fast paced life and a cautious competitive edge to go with it. This is a place of squatting toilets, bucket showers and eating with your hands. The transition is immense but humans are adaptable creatures and the players are coping admirably. We stand (in height) shoulders above almost every other person on the street, our different coloured skin complexion, flashy clothes and differing hair styles elicit a pronounced response of intrigue and amazement, that soon turns to elation as Ali ınforms them that we have come to 'play football and make friends'. A simple message but one that seems to go far.
 
Droney protracted music characterized by slow drumbeats and mournful cries permeate the airwaves to leave a strangely emotive atmosphere. İn many respects Van reminds me of a Tibetan town; a forlorn sense of a suppressed identity played out down dusty backstreets that lay in the shadows of mountainous plains. Stray cats scurry to the murmurings of daily life, darting past sedate men who sit squatting on stalls while rhythmically rotating prayer beads. Just like in Tibet where Buddhism predominates, most noticable in the ubiquity of grand temples, here in Van- the arid landscape and latent political repression is offset by an ardent belief in Allah. Their Kurdish culture and customs may be consigned to the private domain yet their faith (embodied in the form of the central mosque) seems to provide an emboldened focal point of hope and unity.

We are effectively ambassadors now, as Sami the most principled Muslim ın our team informed us soon after we had arrived on Saturday from the flight from Istanbul. 'Just as Muslims are heavily scrutinized in the West, you will be judged here as representatives of the West- your behaviour is all that many of the local people have to go on. Try not to play out the stereotype of the infidel'. During this current period of Ramadan this entails not eating in public during daylight and covering your knees and arms. This is a far cry from İstanbul with its chain of fashion stores, bustling bars and planetary vigour of any cosmopolitan city of the 21st century. The players are now being expected to take respect in the way that they behave.
 
Nevertheless the margins are fine, and there are moments when the cultural differences seem stark. This was apparent yesterday evening during a friendly football match that had been arranged between ourselves and some local businessman. It seemed as though the excitement of the occasion, playing an indoor match of football at eleven at night versus a side whose average age was 47 was too much for certain players who charged around the pitch, tackles flying in, as if it was a cup final, much to the horror of our opponents. But after a brief dressing down the players responded and closed out the match with more composure.
 
This afternoon we are off to play are second match of the tour against the University of Van. Frıday's three-nil defeat was a comprehensive lesson in the art of control, patience and discipline. Over the course of the ninety minutes I thought we were the better footballing side, however individual errors cost us dear. The last few days have involved dressing ourselves down, taking part of the serious edge away from the football and nurturing an enjoyable feeling within the group. 


4th September- The Night before the big game:

Such has been the nature of the tour, thus far, that it is only at three in the mornıng having just completed the thırd day of the tour, that I am fınally able to fınd the time (and space) to gather my thoughts. From the moment we entered the plane at six in the morning having had little or no sleep, the trip was alive. Hotly contested issues of race, religion and science were thrashed out with much ferocity, causing one passenger (a natural Scientist from Cambridge University) to comment that 'Wow, arent these boys awfully deep for a team of footballers'. However such was the ferocity of the argument that another Romanian ended up telling us to 'calm down' because according to him, 'there is too much tension ın your voices and you are scaring the other passengers'. From my perspective this willingness to engage, debate and challenge one another that was driven by a clear thirst for knowledge was extremely encouraging. It made me wonder; if the guys could be so animated 10,000 feet high in a compressed cabin then what would they be like amidst the fervour of İstanbul.
 
It was a joyous occasion to be met at the aırport by Alı Sungur ArıÇ, our Turkish friend whose vision, enthusiasm and optimism has been instrumental in arranging the trip. To see him with his arms open, wide smile and warm words to accompany was really uplifting for one and all. His immediate offerings of unconditional hospitality were very reassuring and seemed to set the tone for the trip thus far.

An hour later and we would find ourselves at a small conference in a leafy courtyard in Istanbul- called 'Peace for Chıldren' organized by a legal organization who campaign against the heavy handed imprisonment of children by the state in Turkey (particularly in the Kurdish region) which apparently occurs all too common. Even at this very early stage in the trip within the comfort of Istanbul, it became clear that this trip whether we like it or not was clearly much more than just a football tour. Acute political and social issues will undoubtedly arise.
 
After a tiring first day, I was conscıous that by Day Two the players were itchıng to play ball. Irrespective of the unfamilarity surrounding much of the tour, from the change in clımate, language and culture- football represents a reassuring constant. As I told the boys in the dressing room before we trained; even if the rest of the trip may happen to be in a state of flux, it is through football that we can find our freedom.

We were not to be disappointed, as we were met by the representative of the Bogazıcı university sports committee who took us on a tour of the pıcturesque campus whıch seemed to be more Baroque than your average campus back home. As it gleamed ın the afternoon sun it seemed to resemble an old French colonial government outpost. The football stadium was equally impressive, and seemed to inspıre many of the players as we pulled into the car park. Down beneath us the green turf gleaned amıdst an otherwise barren landscape. The groundsman could be seen, hard at work, mowing the lawn before marking out the lines for the first match of the season.
 
That evening we enjoyed a meal in Istanbul's number one restaurant that lies on the shores of the water in the shadows of the Bospherous that was glistening in the distance. The meal was courtesy of our sponsors Dımes and the six course meal seemed to represent something of a symbolic moment. For many the indelible smile were unavoidable as the rigours of the past few months seemed to have been validated. We had certainly arrived in Turkey and we were being treated like kings. 

Lastly to the football, of which our arrival seems to have caused a bit of a buzz around the Olympic style stadium (this includes a professional sized pitch, gym, seated stand and sumptuous changing rooms.) Today we arrived for a three hour training session ın preparation of the big match tomorrow. Our opponents who were training on the other side of the pitch seemed a little confused as we ran through our rather franetıc (although almost ritualistic) warm up routine which involves all 16 of us leaping up in the air to head an imagınary ball and screeching out our names in the process! The contrast was clear, here we were embodying the British bulldog stereotype, while they preferred to stroll ın the late afternoon sun, barely breaking sweat as they caressed the ball amongst themselves.

The team our in bouyant mood but as I informed the guys in training today- tomorrow we must be discplined and patient, something that does not always seem synoymous with the Englısh footballing culture. The sun is unforgiving and the ball must be our best friend. It is an important game and will set a precedent for the rest of the trip. There is healthy competition for places and as I write off this blog at four in the morning (the sound of the morning prayer just echoing in the background) my team selection for tomorrow is at the forefront of my mind..


25th August 2009

Salaam Alaikum, Merhaba and Hello on behalf of all the members of the SOAS Football Beyond Borders Tour party 2009.
 
I apologise that it has taken so long to get the website up and running.  I would like to start by thanking Mr. Kendon, whose colleague Martin Docherty at Websites at Work stepped in at short notice to ensure that a website would be created in time for the beginning of the tour. As with many of the different aspects of the tour preparation - whether it be the website, visas, tracksuits, gifts or transportation, the process has been long and in a sense haphazard; not surprising given that we have relied on favours from friends and inner resource wherever possible. This really has been a group effort, whether it be Jack's Reynolds dad referreeing on the pitch, Toib's brother on the decks or my flatmate Jason on the BBQ - all have played their part in helping us to get on the plane!
 
Thus as we enter the final week before departure, the preparation stage will not be underestimated for all those concerned. It has never been far from some sort of complication; whether it be due to the cancellation of the Iranian stage of the tour, our Turkish Tour Manager going AWOL for a while, the fact that over half the squad have been out of the country for the majority of the summer or the perpetual omnipresence of a lack of tour funds hanging over us - the prospects for the tour have often been up in the air. Even now as I write, serious questions marks hang over whether three of the tour members will be able to obtain Syrian Visa's, whether we will have enough funds to get the camera equipment and thereafter obtain the film carnet's in time and whether our tour tracksuits will arrive in time from Torquay (via Germany!) 
 
However, irrespective of the outcome, these past seven or eight months have been remarkable. From my perspective it can be defined by a great shift in the character of around half a dozen or so tour members who have proven to be driving force behind the project.

Having originally suggested the idea of a football tour to the Middle East to the team almost a year ago in a pub in Harlington, West London, it has been encouraging to observe the development of their respective commitment to the tour.

Jasper Kain