Turkish football fan amasses nearly 3,000 jerseys in mini-museum

By Emre Ayvaz

SAKARYA, Turkiye (AA) - The proud owner of about 3,000 football jerseys, Turkish fan Abdulkadir Cengiz boasts one of the biggest collections in the world.

After getting his first jersey -- the lower-division colors of Sakaryaspor, a club based in northwestern Turkiye -- in 1985, Cengiz has been fighting tooth and nail to collect the prized garments, currently on display at his day job.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Cengiz said that as a life-long football fan, he started collecting jerseys as a child, with Sakaryaspor still his favorite team.

"We would get them (jerseys) by going to the matches, sometimes asking the players for them. Back then, jerseys were only made for the team and it was hard to get your hands on them."

Undeterred, Cengiz said he would still strive to add new shirts to his collection, which he hopes to expand to 5,000 specimens.

Hoping to find a larger place to display his jerseys, the 45-year-old said their current home -- a small room at the private firm where he works -- is too small.

"I'm not even counting the jerseys I have bought after 2005. I have nearly 3,000 jerseys along with those. My goal is to reach 5,000 jerseys and display them in a larger venue."

Cengiz would like to exhibit every one of his jerseys separately, organizing them into sections for European, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Turkish teams.

The museum-esque room where he stores them is now like a second home, said Cengiz, adding that with jerseys from all over the world, he wants to collect the colors of every country's national team.