Volcanoes and sabotage: Story of Wales’ wild last visit to Turkey

Few international sporting entities can match Bobby Gould's Welsh national football team of the late-1990s for controversy, dysfunction and sheer chaos.

From conducting training sessions in a prison to wrestling John Hartson in front of a bemused squad, Gould oversaw a four-year tenure of scarcely believable farce.

Even by their standards, though, Wales' last visit to Turkey in 1997 was wild.

Gould and his players arrived in Istanbul with their hopes of qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, as usual at the time, almost non-existent.

The Netherlands and Belgium were Group 7's heavyweights but few away fixtures during that decade instilled fear like one in Turkey.

Istanbul in particular was a hotbed for intimidating atmospheres; think of the infamous 'Welcome to hell' greeting from Galatasaray fans' for Manchester United in 1993.

Wales forward Dean Saunders had played for Gala during the 1995-96 season but, for his international team-mates, a first visit to the Turkish capital was an assault on the senses.

"Deano knew how hostile it was and had warned us, but it was ridiculous, crazy things happening," Nathan Blake, Saunders' strike partner that evening, told BBC Sport Wales.

"We were thinking 'We're not England' so it won't be as bad, but oh my days! It's probably the most intimidating atmosphere I've ever experienced.

"We had riot shields to come out for the warm-up, over our heads.

"That sort of aggression, I always want to meet with aggression. I'm a Ringland boy, Cardiff-born, family and friends of fighters who don't back down.

"It was a crazy game and, because it was so hostile, so much aggression, everyone was so pumped."

There was no doubting the players' appetite for the contest but there was confusion too. This was Gould after all.

Wales had become such a shambles under the former Wimbledon boss that even the Manic Street Preachers, during a live performance on BBC Radio 1, changed the lyrics of their song 'Everything Must Go' to 'Bobby Gould must go'.

Gould's unorthodox methods were on full display in Istanbul, starting with his deployment of Wales' brightest attacking talent, Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs.

"Giggsy played left wing-back that day," Robert Page, then a Wales centre-back and now the country's manager, recalls with a wide grin.

"I remember looking along the line. I had Andy Melville next to me on one side then I looked to my left, saw Giggsy and thought: 'What are you doing there?'

"Bob had success doing things his way. Football's changed and evolved. I probably couldn't do some of the things Bob did back then."

Ryan Giggs was one of the most exciting wingers in the world in 1997 - but Bobby Gould had other ideas for the future Wales boss

The Giggs experiment backfired immediately as Turkey scored two goals in the first eight minutes.

But Wales responded swiftly as Page's fine lofted pass set up Blake to finish from a tight angle before Robbie Savage equalised with a spectacular long-range volley.

"Oh yeah, we all know about Sav's goal," Page, his former room-mate, says. "He won't shut up about it!"

Saunders then gave Wales an unexpected lead, before Hakan Sukur's second brought a breathless first half to a close at 3-3.

Wales entered the changing room buoyed by their recovery but the mood soon changed when Gould announced he was substituting Neville Southall - one of the world's great goalkeepers - to give Paul Jones just his second cap.

"Nev went off and we knew something was up," says Blake.

"Deano and I just looked at each other and Deano's saying: 'What's he doing?'

"You've got the world's best goalkeeper taken off, playing as Neville always did for Wales, saving our skins.

"And no disrespect to Paul Jones but that's a heavy weight to carry. You don't send your rookie into a stern test like that, you send your top guns.

"How do you condone those decisions? The boys just couldn't get their heads around them. Maybe if you spoke to Bobby now, he might say 'Oh, this was the reason, that was the reason'."

The scoring continued in the second half as Melville put Wales 4-3 up but, from that point, the away side imploded.

"Ceri Hughes and Deano went off and it was Rob Edwards and Lee Jones who came on," Blake adds.

"Deano was saying 'Look, you can see they're nervous' and it's understandable for some because the atmosphere was ridiculous.

"They were so inexperienced. That's not a game you throw someone into at the deep end. There's the deep end and then there's this deep end. There's the bottom of a 15-foot pool and there's the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

"It was clear they were going to find it difficult to get up to speed with the game and to handle the atmosphere of the game.

"We were having a great tussle and then the substitutions kicked us out of rhythm and I think that was it. We actually felt that we'd given them the game rather than they'd won the game."

Current Wales boss Robert Page (right) played in both Wales-Turkey matches in the campaign, including a goalless draw in Cardiff in 1996

'Sabotaging his own team'

Wales wilted and conceded three unanswered goals as Sukur ended the game with four to give Turkey a 6-4 win.

"I won't discuss what was said in the dressing room but let's just say volcanoes erupted," says Blake.

"It was a kick in the stomach, losing that way, and I'm being polite.

"We felt like we were being sabotaged. That was the general feeling among the lads, that the manager was sabotaging his own team.

"You think surely no manager would purposely sabotage his team, especially when they're in the lead in this country. It's so hostile and we can get out of here with the result, but that was the overriding feeling.

"We were in a great position to win but the way we lost was embarrassing. We gave it away and when you put your body on the line, it's hard to control your feelings after that.

"I didn't say anything in the dressing room for a change. I kept quiet because it just went off, absolutely off. There was so much going on, I just sat in disbelief really."

Gould clung on until 1999 but there were consequences to this defeat. It proved to be the last of Southall's 92 caps.

Wales will be back in Turkey on Monday night for the first time since that crazy night in 1997, unrecognisable from the anarchy of the 90s.

After a 58-year wait to reach a major tournament, Wales are bidding to qualify for their fourth out of five.

Matches like this no longer hold any fear and, even for those who were in Istanbul 26 years ago, the scars have healed.

"It was a great experience," Page says.

"It's going to be a difficult place to go to but our reference is Split, Croatia [where Wales drew 1-1 in March], a hostile crowd.

"It's good to get those young lads exposed to those environments. They passed the test in Croatia and they'll be ready for it in Turkey."