‘Planting that flag at Fenerbahce wasn’t premeditated. It just happened. I had tried to pass it on, but ended up with a place in Turkish footballing folklore’: Graeme Souness recounts infamous act as Galatasaray manager in 1996

Souness plants the Galatasaray flag
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Graeme Souness wrote himself into Galatasaray folklore with a controversial (or iconic, depending on your persuasion) flag planting on Fenerbahce turf after winning the 1996 Turkish Cup final.

The Scotsman arrived at Galatsaray as manager in June 1995, having spent 18 months out of management following his departure from Liverpool.

And while he only lasted a season in Turkey, returning to the Premier League with Southampton at the end of 1995/96, he will forever be remembered at Galatasaray for boiling the blood of every Fenerbahce supporter on that April evening.

Graeme Souness reveals reason behind planting Galatasaray flag on Fenerbahce’s pitch

Souness is now a pundit after leaving management (Image credit: Getty Images)”I received a wonderful welcome from everyone at Galatasaray, but something not all nice stood out,” Souness exclusively tells FourFourTwo. “I learned one of Fenerbahce’s vice-presidents had taken a pop at me, telling a newspaper, ‘What are Galatasaray doing signing a cripple as a coach?’ Or words to that effect, anyway. I felt he was insinuating I was on my last legs because of the open-heart surgery I’d undergone during my time at Liverpool a few years previously. I found it quite unkind and disrespectful, to say the least, but I’d been around the block enough times to know what goes around comes around.

“Lo and behold, nine months later I had a chance to get my own back when we faced Fenerbahce in the two-legged Turkish Cup final. It was the ideal way to give the fans something to shout about, because Fenerbahce had the upper hand over us and we’d gone out of Europe quite early. That was even though I’d been joined by future Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Friedel and proven pros such as my former Reds Dean Saunders, who prospered in Turkey, and Barry Venison and Mike Marsh, who didn’t really take to Istanbul.”

Galatasaray fans remember Graeme Souness planting flag Galatasaray ultimately ended up finished fourth in the Turkish Super Lig, 16 points behind rivals Fenerbahce, but the Turkish Cup gave Gala fans an opportunity to get one over on their closest rivals.

Having lost 3-1 at Fener’s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium earlier in the league campaign, a 1-0 lead from the first leg of the final meant that a tough task still awaited them in the second game. A draw would have been enough for them to lift the Cup, with Souness doing just that.

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“I was relishing the final,” Souness says. “I like to think of myself as a player who enjoyed big games the most, and it was the same as a manager – I loved the big occasions. I was never daunted, not even when we headed to their place for the second leg with our noses only slightly in front after winning 1-0 at the Ali Sami Yen.

“We were really up against it at their place, and were losing 1-0 when Dean scored to put us back in command deep into extra time. I remember being up and out of my seat as soon as he’d hit the ball, because I knew what a great striker he was from our Liverpool days.

“That was just the start of a crazy sequence of events. We were about to get our hands on the trophy when a giant Galatasaray flag was passed over a fence to one of our players – everyone had a go raising it aloft to celebrate with our fans.”

Earlier comments from the Fenerbahce vice-president after Souness’ arrival in Istanbul certainly inspired him to plant the flag in their turf, though he now admits he didn’t fully think through the severity of his actions.

“The flag ended up in my hands and after I’d given it a wave I looked around to pass it on, but all of the players had buggered off and were on the halfway line waiting for the presentation,” Souness adds. “Nothing was premeditated. It just happened. And I accidentally ended up with a place in Turkish footballing folklore.

“I jogged up the pitch to join them, but then caught sight of the guy who’d said those unpleasant things about me. I recognised him because he was often pictured in the papers mouthing off.

“I said to myself, ‘I’ll show you who’s a cripple’, and made my way over to the centre circle with the flag on a mission to plant it in the pitch. At first, I must have looked like a right berk. I tried and failed to stick it next to the kick-off spot. I had two attempts, because the ground was so hard, before I finally got third time lucky.”

Souness has since been invited back to Galatasaray (Image credit: Getty Images)In proving a point, Souness welcomed a torrent of abuse on himself from the home crowd that had stayed in the stands.

“I was feeling pleased with myself, but then I looked up and it suddenly dawned on me that it wasn’t my cleverest move,” he recalls. “The Fenerbahce supporters who had hung around were so furious, they were trying to climb the perimeter fence to get at me. Someone ripped the flagpole back out of the ground, so I thought it was time for me to make an exit before things got out of hand. They were baying for my blood.

“I wasn’t frightened, because I’ve not been daunted by anything in football, but I still thought it wise to make a run for it. I got beneath the police shields, which made lots of thudding noises as missiles rained down from the stands.

“I reached the tunnel area and was counting my blessings when I received a thump on the side of the head from a fan who’d sneaked in. We had a scuffle before I entered the sanctuary of our changing room, where I looked for an ice bucket to stop the swelling on my hand after I’d punched my assailant.”

While back in the confines of safety, Souness still feared the worse. Expecting the club’s hierarchy to look unfavourably on his controversial act, the opposite happened. Instead, Souness planting the flag drew comparisons with legendary Turkish martyr Ulubatlı Hasan, who was killed as he planted the Ottoman flag at the end of the Siege of Constantinople in 1453.

“Strangely, things then took a turn for the better, even though I was braced to be given my marching orders for bringing the club into disrepute and threatening civil war, when the directors joined our celebrations,” Souness adds. “Oh me of little faith – they were all absolutely ecstatic! There were tears of joy and I ended up being kissed and hugged by them all. They said it was one of the greatest days in their club’s history, so I was definitely in their good books.

“What I’d done was foolish, but it was a release of emotion after a tough season because we’d won a trophy and I’d got my own back on that chap who’d had a go at me. There was no way it was intended to be a slight on Fenerbahce. Their supporters who I meet nowadays recognise where I was coming from.”

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture’s websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.