Nestled on the northeastern coast as the jewel of Turkey’s Black Sea, Trabzon has a history as ancient, though not as illustrious, as Istanbul half a world to the west. Like Istanbul, it was the capital of an empire – the Empire of Trebizond, a successor to the Byzantine Empire – which actually lasted some 250 years and was the final Greek state to fall to the Ottomans. Similarly, Trabzon has a proud footballing heritage though again not as illustrious as that of Istanbul.

Some thirty years ago, Trabzonspor shuffled the chairs at the top of the Turkish league deck by winning five of six titles between 1975 and 1981. The Big Three became the Big Four and has remained as such even though the last of Trabzon’s six total titles came in 1984. Success has been fleeting since then; rather, it has been nearly non-existent. Just four Turkish Cup triumphs (which is still four more than Fenerbahce have managed in the same period) represent the sum total of Trabzon’s success in the past couple decades. They’ve also finished second only four times – the last three to Fenerbahce. But as the only club outside of Istanbul to win the championship, expectations remain high every year. Will they be met this year?

With an efficient 1-0 win away to Genclerbirligi, Trabzon have stretched their lead to four points after 11 rounds. They’ve taken only one out of six possible so far from Istanbul clubs but they probably don’t care too much. I’ve begun to wonder if they can actually win the title without beating any of the Istanbul teams. The win in Ankara gives them eight wins and a draw against Anatolian clubs, which is far better than what the Istanbul teams have managed. They don’t have European football to think about (and haven’t had it for a while) and could potentially win the title by taking care of the minnows. While everyone has been bantering about the problems of the Big Three, Trabzonspor have quietly built their lead in a businesslike fashion.

But could they actually win the title? My crystal ball says no. Though their top eleven or twelve players are solid, they have a thin squad beyond them. If misfortune visits in the form of injuries or a stretch of bad form, it’s difficult to see them accumulating victories the way they have so far this season. Still, they have an excellent manager in Ersun Yanal. Brought in October of last year to replace Ziya Dogan, he led the team to a disappointing sixth place. A good manager, though, requires time to build his team and impose his will on the club culture. It seems that patience (yes, this counts as patience for the management of a big Turkish club) is beginning to bear fruit. Perhaps the championship is out of reach but, barring catastrophe, Avni Aker stadium will host European matches next year.

Yanal has been an integral part of the recent surge in Anatolian quality. He transformed Genclerbirligi into a top-half team that challenged for the title late into the year in 2003, had a magical run in the UEFA Cup in 2004 and finished runners-up in the Turkish Cup both years. After Turkey failed to qualify for Euro 2004 following a humiliating defeat to Latvia in a play-off, Yanal replaced Senol Gunes as national team manager. He was doing decently until he was sacrificed when Fatih Terim decided he wanted the job. It was a shameful move by the Turkish Football Federation and achieved nothing as Fatih Hoca lost another playoff, this time against Switzerland and in utter ignominy. In any case, Yanal found himself at Vestel Manisaspor (named after a maker of household appliances) and again made them contenders until late in the season. He left after an on-field incident and now has a chance at a big club.

The next two fixtures will test Trabzon and should give us a better idea of the legitimacy of their title challenge. Having beaten Ankaraspor in the first week of the season, they now face the other two strong Anatolian sides – Sivasspor at home and Kayserispor away. If they come out of those games with a maximum six points, the only barrier standing in the way of a comfortable winter break lead will be a trip to Kadikoy against Fenerbahce.

Fenerbahce, meanwhile, headlined the match of the week as they entertained then-second-place Ankaraspor and dispatched them comfortably. Many pundits agreed that Fenerbahce played their best game of the season and I agree. Against Ankaraspor they were confident and mostly dominant, despite Alex missing out again and Semih leaving early through injury. Ankaraspor acquitted themselves well, though, and looked a team for whom a top five finish is not out of the question. They had a clear penalty denied them early in the game which obviously would have changed the course of the match. Young gun Ozer Hurmaci, though, picked up an unjust yellow card – he was booked for diving when he was fouled – which will see him suspended for the match next week against Galatasaray.

Galatasaray recovered from the horrible defeat to Fenerbahce last week by easily beating Gaziantepspor at home. Harry Kewell continued tapping into the rich vein of form with another goal – again via a header – and Lincoln ended it late with a move of remarkable skill. Arda left the game early and was hospitalized with a heart issue but all reports indicate that it was a false alarm. The home tie against Ankaraspor next week should provide a stiffer test. They now sit in fifth place, six points behind leaders Trabzon and only two behind second-placed Besiktas, whose game against Bursaspor drew the most ink from the pundits.

Bursaspor decided to bar Besiktas brass and Besiktas supporters from attending the game. You see, according to Bursaspor, a few years back Besiktas purposefully lost a game to Caykur Rizespor (who have since returned to their rightful place in the lower leagues) and thus condemned Bursa to relegation. I was in Turkey at the time and remember Bursa supporters tearing their stadium apart and throwing seats on to the pitch. There was a lot of speculation about the Besiktas game though nothing was ever proven. There could have easily been some shady dealings going on but it’s just as likely a team with it all to play for beat a team with nothing to play for. So, as revenge, Bursaspor closed their doors to anyone with anything to do with Besiktas. Probably for the better as Besiktas supporters were spared from seeing their team underperform again with a dour goalless draw, one of three such dour draws on a dour Sunday. Still, they remain in second place – the only Istanbul club in the top four.