The General Harington Cup was a single friendly

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match between the Turkish

multi-sport club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

Fenerbahçe SK and a team put together by General Charles Harington composed of soldiers and professional players. It took place at the conclusion of the British invasion of Turkey, with the local team beating the British team 2–1.

History

At the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

's lands had been invaded by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, French,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

troops. On 13 November 1918, British troops entered

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and the invasion was official. During the course of invasion, British troops arranged football matches with local teams. Fenerbahçe participated in many such games, winning 41, losing 5, and reaching a tie in 4 games. Fenerbahçe was secretly moving guns to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

from its club building near ''Kurbağalıdere'' ("Froggy Creek") by small boats. The club's players were also going to fronts, fighting against the invading troops, and returning to

to play games and move more guns and ammo. The British forces discovered the activities, so they raided the club building. Club members got early information about the raid and moved the guns and ammo, hiding them in club members' houses or warehouses. The invasion forces were not able to find anything but they stayed in the club building for days to prevent further action. The head commander of British troops was General Charles Harington, and he was upset about the clandestine activities. He was looking for victory on both the pitch and the battlefield. The Turkish resistance was pushing back the invasion, with victories on multiple fronts. The invasion started to fade, the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (, ) is a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923 and signed in the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially resolved the conflict that had initially ...

was on the horizon, and the British were getting ready to leave

The final game

General Harington wanted to leave the Turks with a memory of a heavy defeat whilst the British left, so he called in the best players of the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

and

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

along with four professional players called in from the homeland. The team was collected under the name

and the British General issued an announcement in the newspapers: "''Gardler Muhteliti Türk kulüplerine meydan okuyor. Galibine, Başkumandanın adını taşıyan büyük bir kupa verilecek bu maça Türk kulüpleri diledikleri gibi takviye de alabilirler.''" ("Guards Joint is challenging the Turkish clubs. The Turkish clubs can gather any reinforcements to their clubs for this game whose winner will be awarded a trophy which will be named after the Head Commander.") Fenerbahçe replied briefly, with another announcement which was printed in the newspapers the following days: "''Fenerbahçe Kulübü yalnız kendi kadrosuyla bu maçı şartsız olarak kabul eder.''" ("Fenerbahçe Club accepts this proposal with only its own squad, unconditionally.")

Match performance

The game took place in the

Taksim Stadium Taksim Stadium () was the first football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Originally the 19th century Taksim Artillery Barracks ('' Taksim Topçu Kışlası'') it was transformed into a stadium in 1921 and was located next to today's Taksim Square. ...

on 29 June 1923. The Governor of

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, Lord Herbert Plumer watched the game from the VIP area with General Harington. The game was close, with the Guards Joint taking the lead in the first half. Fenerbahçe SK took control of the game in the second half, beginning with Zeki Rıza's game-tying goal in the 61st minute. Zeki Rıza scored the go-ahead goal in the 74th minute. Fenerbahçe SK won 2–1 and was awarded the trophy.

Details

The trophy

The huge trophy is considered an important trophy that Fenerbahçe won against the occupying forces. It is made of silver and is one meter tall (approximately 3 feet, 4 inches).

External links

Harington Cup at fenerbahce.orgHarington Cup in youtube

References

{{Fenerbahçe S.K. Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) matches Sport in Istanbul Sport in Kadıköy Defunct football cup competitions in Turkey History of football in Turkey 1922–23 in Turkish football