Beşiktaş bids farewell to iconic İnönü Stadium

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Beşiktaş will bid farewell to its historic İnönü Stadium with a game against Gençlerbirliği on May 11. The iconic stadium is known for its electric atmosphere, thanks to the club’s boisterous fans and the seats’ being close to the pitch.

Beşiktaş takes on Gençlerbirliği in a historic game on May 11, when it will bid farewell to its iconic İnönü Stadium.

The Black Eagles will play their final home game at the legendary stadium before it is demolished and a new one is built on the same land.

The tickets for the last game at İnönü sold out within hours, and some 200,000 fans applied for the tickets, Turkish media reported.

Gençlerbirliği issued a statement saying it had given up its allocated tickets so Beşiktaş fans could buy away tickets as well.

Beşiktaş has been seeking to launch a new stadium project, replacing its old facility with a modern and more lucrative one.

The stadium will be demolished and will be rebuilt 23 meters north of its current location. Its capacity will be 40,000 seats.

The construction of the new stadium is expected to finish in October 2014, so it is uncertain where Beşiktaş will play its games next season.

With the new stadium, Beşiktaş will be following the steps of its archrivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe. Galatasaray relocated to a new stadium, leaving its Ali Sami Yen Stadium, while Fenerbahçe rebuilt parts of its stadium to make it a modern one. Both clubs’ finances improved remarkably after the new stadium deals.

Beşiktaş follows Fenerbahçe at a three-point distance, and is still holding a dim chance of finishing the Spor Toto Super League in the second spot, making its way to the Champions League preliminaries.

Fenerbahçe will seal the runner-up spot with only one victory in two games.

The game starts at 8 p.m.