Drogheda United's Historic Friendly Against Trabzonspor
Drogheda United are heading into uncharted territory – and they might just run into Mohamed Salah along the way.
The League of Ireland club have confirmed a glamour friendly against Turkish giants Trabzonspor at Papara Park on 1 October, the first time the Louth side will play on Turkish soil.
The fixture drops into the calendar during a three-week international break and will double as a late-season mini-camp for Drogheda, offering Kevin Doherty’s squad a rare taste of a major European stage.
Whether Salah actually lines up against them is another matter. The Egyptian star, who moved to Trabzonspor after his glittering spell at Liverpool, is due to be on international duty as Egypt face South Sudan in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying on 27 September. With Trabzonspor’s Super Lig campaign resuming the following week away to Samsunspor, the club’s marquee forward may be spared the friendly.
Even without him, the scale of the challenge is obvious. Trabzonspor have assembled a star-studded squad, with Salah joined in recent times by his former Liverpool team-mate Fabinho and ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, underlining the level Drogheda will encounter in Papara Park’s steep stands and intense atmosphere.
This is more than just a football match, though. The game forms part of events marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between Ireland and Turkey, which will be celebrated in 2026, and taps into a much older story that links Drogheda to the Ottoman Empire.
Drogheda are one of Trabzonspor’s three sister clubs, alongside Sanlıurfaspor and Siirt Provincial Special Administration Sport. That bond isn’t a recent marketing invention. Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer podcast in 2020, former Drogheda PRO Roisin Philips traced it back almost two centuries.
"It goes back far longer than 2011 when they announced that we'd become their sister club," she said. "In fact it goes back to the Great Famine in 1845. Drogheda had links with Turkey as a result of the Sultan at the time sending aid over to the Irish people. Boats came up the Boyne in Drogheda. He also sent £1,000 at the time.
"There's been a long history of co-operation between the two countries, from the Turkish side to Ireland."
That history will be brought to life around the fixture. Turkish television will air a documentary titled ‘An Gorta Mór – The Star & The Crescent’, exploring the story of Ottoman humanitarian assistance during the Irish Famine and the unlikely bridge it built between a port town on the Boyne and a football powerhouse on the Black Sea.
For Drogheda, the trip offers a rare blend: a testing football exercise against elite opposition and a chance to step directly into a story that has shaped the club’s identity. For Trabzonspor, it is a showcase of their modern stars against a club that carries a piece of their shared past.
If Salah does walk out at Papara Park, Drogheda’s defenders will have a tale to dine out on for years. If he doesn’t, the occasion will still carry enough weight, history and noise to make 1 October a date that lingers long in the club’s memory.
