A BAD BEGINNING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 282, 2 December 1935, Page 3

A BAD BEGINNING

SPORT IN TURKEY TRIUMPHANT TO-DAY Sport a great transforming agent in the social life of nations since the war, has gained astonishing results in Turkey, says a writer in the Christian Science Aionitor. Th© native who first played Association football here, little more than half a century ago. were immediately thrown into prison by Abdul Hamid, the fearsome Red Sultan, but to-day the practical devotees of the game are beyond counting and eager “fans” flock in thousands to watch matches all the year through. The heat of summer does not deter players or spectators in the slightest, and the national standard of skill has so risen that crack sides such as Fener Bagtclre, would give the best elevens from other countries quite a good deal to think about . Almost every village boasts its club. But the pioneer of Soccer in Turkey has as we have hinted a decidedly discouraging experience. They were a group of young natives, inspired by the activities of the British colony. They decided to organise a game of football for themselves and, by way of a start, they foregathered at /heir captain’s house to translate the rules of the English - Football Association into Turkish. After prolonged deliberations, ffiey achieved this considerable task, and they then set about purchasing a ball, jerseys, and the rest of the customary impediments. The practice matches in which they indulged gave rise frequently to the discussion of knotty points in tile rules, and to straighten out their technical difficulties, the enthusiasts met regularly at each other’s homes. fe>o far, so good. Nipped- in the Bud. Now there conics into the story a sl.cuth-lik-e character who, knowing of tho generous reward offered to .spies wlio couid expose plots against Abdul Hamid, hastened to tell the authorities about a strange scree,t society, with rituals that, to the Turkish eye, seemed decidedly odd. The informant reported that the conspirators had equipped themselves with strange uniforms and weird implements and. were burning midnight oil in the contemplation oi diagrams and documents from abroad. He concluded his gripping narrative with the announcement that he had seen the anarchists engaged in subversive exercises with a “top.” To you that may seem a childishly innocent ‘pastime. But to the Sultan it seemed most sinister, for the word “top” in Turkish means both “ball 1 and “cannon.” The latter interpretation was seized upon by the potentate, and the unfortunate young Boccer enthusiasts were thrown into gaol without mure ado. One received three years’ imprisonment and. the others had seme anxious moments before the influence of friends at Court secured their release. Thus ended, on a note of lamentation, the first attempt to form a Turkish Soccer team. Tho zeal lor catching spies also put one of Turkey’s very keen cricketeis in an alarming predicament. He was a young naval officer who in 1901 t n ok part in a match with Europeans. Imagine his consternation when, as he was playing his innings, a squadron of cavalry clattered to the ground and demanded his surrender! He was clearly a man of some courage, for we read that he declined to give himself up until his knock was ended. Tne escort, consumed with curiosity, stood by until a straight ball spreadeagled their countryman’s stumps. Then tne gallent cricketer was removed to a fate upon which history is silent. Would Not Turn Out. English cricketers may be said to have sown the first seeds of sport in Turkey some sixty years ago, when the old Candill Club, founded by the Hansons, a well-known banking family, started playing cricket on a ground live miles or so up the Bosphorus. The Turks, as a nation, did net fall for the game, and it is on record that once, when a match was arranged between the British Embassy and The World, the latter team, in spite of its comprehensive and. high-sounding title, was found to be eight players shy! Not long after the Candill Club commenced its operations—in 1880 to be precise—the British also introduced Rugby football. It was played exclusively by gentlemen resident in Constantinople and Smyrna, and how little the natives appreciated it is illustrated by one extraordinary incident during a match between teams representing the clubs of these two ancient cities. The authorities, deeply suspicious of the whole performance, insisted that the game must take place under police supervision, and on the appointed day a squad of gendarmerie marched to the ground to maintain law 7 and order and to suppress any conspiracies that might be brewing in the small assembly of spectators. All went smoothly until one particularly hearty and prolonged scrummage. That was more than the officer commanding the troops could stand, for, so he order his men to fix bayonets and separate the combatants. Only after long explanations and urgent’ persuasions did he consent to call off his men and let the mad Englishmen’s battle proceed. A Normal Thing. That of course, was a long time ago. Since then Turkey, though not addicted to Rugger in any marked degree, has become “spOrt conscious,” along with the rest of continental Europe, and games-playing is now definitely acknowledged not only as a great social asset, but as a highly important factor in education, with rare value as a means of international rapprochement. The Balkan peninsula, for all the differing viewpoints of national Governments there, has become, to a great and increasing extent, a sports field, on which, through the medium of the Balkan “Olympic Games” and international athletic contests of other kinds, the young men of Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Rumania, and Bulgaria oppose one another in keen but friendly competitions, which is more than they did, one might add, in prewar days, when the chief outlet for their energies was political disputation. Field heckey and lawn tennis are both popular in Turkey, and these two games afford striking evidence of the change that has come over the life of women in Turkey. Instead of being caged away from the world behind closely trellised windows, girls turn out, garbed in the latest sporting fashions, and pursue their games with ire-