WHY THE TURKISH SÜPER LIG IS SO MUCH MORE THAN A RETIREMENT HOME FOR AGEING STARS

Turkish football has a bad reputation outside for being little more than a retirement home for players past their prime.

Turkish football has a large number of older players. If you look through any squad in the top two categories, you will almost certainly discover a name you recognize. Alanyaspor have Papiss Cissé, Antalyaspor have Lukas Podolski, and Gençlerbirlii have Stéphane Sessègnon as their captain. This season, all but four of the 18 Süper Lig teams featured a former Premier League player over the age of 30.

To understand this, we must go back to 1984 and the advent of Jupp Derwall as Galatasaray's coach. The German revolutionized coaching methods and significantly enhanced Turkish football quality.

Other foreign coaches quickly followed, including Guus Hiddink, Gordon Milne, and Sepp Piontek. As a result, the caliber of football improved, and the country became a significantly more enticing location for footballers.

Before Derwall, the only foreigners were from Yugoslavia or other Eastern Bloc countries, but suddenly they came from all over the world. Didier Six and Harald Schumacher, who joined Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, respectively, were the first prominent names to arrive in 1987 and 1988. In the years after, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Raimond Aumann, Dalian Atkinson, and the 1995 Champions League-winning duo of John van den Brom and Peter van Vossen have all toured Turkey.

The Süper Lig is Europe's 11th greatest league, according to UEFA, and with such a high level of competitiveness, it is ready for far more than just hosting aging players. Along with foreign players, there are domestic players who have made an impression in Western Europe. While Turkey is not the greatest exporter of players, Alar Söyüncü, Cengiz Ünder, Mehmet Zeki elik, Merih Demiral, Okay Yokuşlu, and Yusuf Yazc have all migrated west with success in recent years.

Those who choose to remain in Turkey do not do so due to a lack of skill. Domestically based Hasan aş and lhan Mansz were crucial in Turkey finishing third in the 2002 World Cup, while Arda Turan was also influential at Euro 2008.

There are also foreign players who are revered in Turkey but are not as well-known elsewhere. Fernando Muslera of Uruguay is in his ninth season at Galatasaray, and Brazilian Alex effectively became Fenerbahçe's record goalscorer during his eight-year spell.

This brings us back to such illustrious entity. As previously noted, it is hard to ignore the issue of aging players in Turkey. In the last decade, the Süper Lig has seen the likes of Alexander Hleb, lvaro Negredo, Asamoah Gyan, Dirk Kuyt, Emmanuel Adebayor, Emmanuel Eboué, Florent Malouda, Guti, José Bosingwa, Pepe, Falcao, Robin van Persie, Roberto Soldado, Samir Nasri, and Samuel Eto'o.

To dismiss this as the entirety of Turkish football is, however, oversimplification. Along with the fervent supporters and hostile atmospheres comes a very competitive league that has been won by at most a five-point margin in each of the previous six seasons.

Along with these exciting title chases, there is a forum for undiscovered talent, domestic success stories, and career launches. Despite the fact that Ba, Clichy, krtel, and co have just been crowned champions, Turkish football is much more than a vacation for aging legends.