Alanyaspor U19

That scale suits an age-group side whose results move up and down a table rather than into trophy cabinets: through 2024-25 the team sat in the middle-to-lower reaches of the U19 Elit A group, well short of the Istanbul clubs — Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş — that have run the national U19 league since it began in 2012.

The closest the side has come to a genuine run was the 2020-21 play-offs, when it reached the semi-final of the U19 Süper Lig Gelişim Ligleri and went out to Kasımpaşa on penalties after a goalless draw.

What the academy has produced is players rather than titles. Yusuf Özdemir signed professional terms in 2021 and had worked his way into 22 senior appearances by 2024-25, while Ümit Akdağ , who arrived from Chelsea's youth ranks, made his first-team debut in 2023 before a move to Beşiktaş in 2026.

None of it changes what the U19s come back to: a 3,000-seat ground in Konaklı, orange and green in the stands, a short way from the sea.