It was the first friendly match between Greeks and Turks since World War I. In December 1930, Lailapas Football Club, from the Greek island of Chios, and the Turkish Karşıyaka from Izmir met not just to play a friendly match of football, but to strengthen the turbulent relations of the two countries. The game sadly was cancelled after only three minutes when a torrential downpour made it impossible to keep going.
More than 82 years passed without much thought to the game, until the idea to replay it was born in 2012. Current Lailapas coach Michalis Kottakis was told the story of the cancelled game by the Greek historian Yiannis Makridakis and found a picture of the 1930 game in the club archives, spiking his interest. He then contacted his counterpart at Karşıyaka, Fatih Diniz, and both agreed to replay the game.
Last week, after almost a century, the game resumed with new look teams but still for the same unifying reasons.
The two teams gathered in Fafalieio Stadium in the village of Vrontados, in Chios, wearing identical kits to those of the original game in 1930 and played the remaining 87 minutes of the friendly game which ended quite fittingly in a thrilling 5-5 draw.
Karşıyaka mayor Huseyin Mutlu Akpinar who attended the match and participated in the game playing for both teams said that “I’ve played many games but today’s was meaningful. The friendship of the two Aegean sides manifested once again.”
The match started with the national anthems of the two countries and was attended among others by the Turkish Ambassador to Greece Kerim Uras, the Greek Consul to Izmir Theodore Tsakiris, the president of the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) Giorgos Sarris along with local officials and many Greek and Turkish fans.
“The historic and symbolic meanings of the match are very high,” said Kerim Uras, while Yiannis Makridakis added that: “The event symbolises the unity of Turkish and Greek people.”
However, according to local media, a group of people holding Greek flags and shouting slogans, along with members of the local branch of Golden Dawn, interrupted the game but were forced out by the police.
After the end of the game medals were awarded to the players of both teams and a concert was held in the Municipal Stadium of Chios by the Greek singer Gerasimos Andreatos and Turkey’s Dilek Koç.
Lailapas was one of Greece’s oldest and formerly most competitive clubs from its foundation in 1925 to 1950 when it was forced to close. It was re-founded in 2009 and currently plays in Greece’s fourth division. Karşıyaka is a Turkish football club founded in 1912 in Karşıyaka, Izmir. It plays in the second tier of the Turkish First League.
Source: Greekreporter Greece
