In August, Mohamed Salah walked out in front of a packed 40,000-seat Papara Park and was welcomed like a returning hero. The same weekend, Drogheda United were in Galway, playing out a 0-0 draw in front of about 5,000 people. On Thursday, those two worlds meet on the Black Sea coast of north east Turkey.
Trabzonspor and Drogheda are playing a friendly, and the fixture has been a very long time coming. The two clubs have been connected for two decades, and the reason has more to do with colours and a bit of kindness than with anything on the pitch.
A friendship that began on a fan forum
It started in 2006. Drogheda chief executive Rian Wogan says a couple of Trabzonspor supporters on an online forum noticed that a small Irish club had the star and crescent on its badge, the same symbols found on the Turkish flag. Then they realised both clubs play in claret and blue, and the messages began going back and forth.
The link between the two countries goes back much further. In the 1800s, during the Great Famine, the Ottoman Sultan donated 1,000 pounds to Ireland, and this year Ireland and Turkey mark 75 years of diplomatic relations.
Cash in the post, and a washed-out ceremony
The football friendship got serious in 2008. Drogheda went into examinership, which is Ireland's version of administration, and were docked 10 points. Trabzonspor fans heard about it and sent letters to the club with cash inside. Two years later the relationship was made official and the clubs became sister clubs.
A ceremonial friendly in Dublin was planned for 2013. Then, within an hour of kick-off, a freak downpour hit. Wogan says the staff were standing at the turnstiles ready to scan tickets when the game was ruled unplayable, and Trabzonspor flew home without kicking a ball.
Turkish fans, an Irish town and the Salah question
When Drogheda announced Thursday's game on social media on 2 September, Trabzonspor fans responded in huge numbers, and the post has been seen well over half a million times. About 30 percent of Drogheda's social media following is from Turkey, which is more than comes from Ireland. Trabzonspor shirts and flags turn up regularly at Drogheda matches, and Turkish fans sometimes visit the town in midweek just to see the stadium.
One of them, Cafer Bektas, lives a couple of miles outside Drogheda and goes to every home game. When he first moved to the area, his Trabzonspor shirt got him noticed and earned him discounts in local shops. Between 30 and 35 Drogheda fans are making the 4,700km trip to Turkey, and some Trabzonspor supporters have already offered their homes to the visitors.
Whether Salah will actually be involved is still unknown. He was left out of Egypt's squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Sudan on Tuesday because the match was being played on artificial turf. Wogan says even having him in the stadium would be incredible, and that facing a club that has pushed boundaries in the last couple of windows is a prospect that still feels unreal. Salah or no Salah, it is a night built on a friendship that began with a badge.
Match context: Trabzonspor v Drogheda United, club friendly, Thursday 1 October 2026, Black Sea coast, north east Turkey. Salah joined Trabzonspor in August. Drogheda are travelling roughly 4,700km, with between 30 and 35 supporters. Source: BBC Sport.
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