Crvena Zvezda 3-1 FK Partizan
Marakana
12/09/15
Att: 40,261
With football, as with everything, I have a list. Anyone who groundhops keeps lists, if they say they don’t they’re simply a liar. A. Complete. And. Utter. Liar. I have lists of places I want to go, grounds I want to tick and things I want to do. Always have done, and hopefully always will do. It’s something to look forward to and work out which direction to head in. Ever since I started Groundhopping, I’d say I was 11/12, there was always one game and one place that never dwindled outside the top 3 of my lists. It was eternal…So to speak.
People that know me know that I don’t really care about what happens on the pitch. It sounds weird to some, and when I say it to those that do. ‘If you don’t understand, you simply don’t understand.’ I love Ultras. I love Pyrotechnics. I love Tifo. And I Love games where you have a constant fear that you’re going to end up with your head kicked in. When I was 6/7/8 this may not have been the case, but as I’ve become more obsessed with fan culture from when I first started Secondary School I’ve topped up my knowledge. And through that this game has always been THE game.
Understandably, my Mum (and to an extent my Dad) would never, ever have agreed to this trip before I turned 18. I would’ve done it last year, but the games fell horrifically, I couldn’t afford it and to be honest I didn’t want to do it on my own. Phil had always expressed interest, but as with many things football wise, has yet to get to it (you should see his football ‘to-do’ list).
With this, you can imagine the complete and utter joy I had when, by chance, the weekend I happened to be in Belgrade, as part of a weeklong jaunt across the Balkans, Crvena Zvezda v FK Partizan was on this weeks fixture list - The 149th Eternal Derby.
Waiting for the Saturday was like a build up to Christmas day, again clichéd. Even buying the ticket (£6.50) sent a little shiver down my spine, let alone going into the Delije (Red Star’s Ultras) shop inside the main stand to pick up a T-shirt/Stickers. Even then, I hadn’t quite sunk in what was happening.
Derby Day itself was bizarre. Joe and I left the group to go for lunch in a small restaurant I’m now quite fond of in the backstreets. It was a surprise to see so many police about, even I’d been warned about it, but also to see 3 huge Russians in Moscow Ultras T-shirts stood outside. Around town I mostly saw Delije shirts, but again it hadn’t yet sunk in.
Meeting ‘the troops’ back at the hostel we determined that we were to walk the 2km to the ground. A decision I’m so happy we made, as it meant the atmosphere grew and grew and grew. At first it was just we, then a few more, then a few more police. Before long with were walking along surrounded by red star fans. Robocop’s everywhere. It was all very menacing, but there was the definite derby day vibe that I love so much. In the distance firecrackers went off and dogs barked.
It was a bit nervy getting to the ground and walking around the North Stand (which housed Delije), and seeing more police stood there than I usually see in a whole season. I took a few snaps (accidentally deleted), but from the looks I was getting I knew that it wasn’t my smartest decision by a long shot. Still, into the ground via the most half-arsed search I’ve ever witnessed. Considering this is one of the most notorious games in Europe, I expected a lot more than a quick tap of my coat pocket. It’s not even like we were where ‘tourists’ normally go. We were in the one place people were told NOT to go after the events of last season…. (At this point I feel like I can admit I knew what I was doing when I said that place in the ground. If I couldn’t stand with Delije I’m going next best!).
Because of this, where we were in the ground was completely electric, even 40 minutes before kick off as stolen shirts from the opposite teams were set on fire. The North Stand, housing Delije and South Stand, Grobari (Gravediggers – Partizan) were already at each other. I’ve since learnt some of the chants and I don’t really want to repeat the stuff on here. All I’ll say is they don’t really like each other, if you didn’t already know! (So much so the lady in the hostel called us by the affectionate name given to Red Star fans when we walked in singing Zvezda Whoa later in the evening. Think she regretted wearing her Partizan shirt/telling us who she supports).
As things grew more hostile, the group of Partizan fans that have to be split from their own fans because of infighting entered the ground. Now normally, they are housed in a separate cage in the South Stand. This year, however, they were the opposite end of our stand separated by two lines of riot police. Needless to say it was little to no surprise when the first lot of seats came hurtling in our direction.
This lead to an eruption of noise as both went back and forth at each other until the Partizan players entered the pitch to a chorus of boo’s. Flares were lit and a rather broad smile was seen of my face. Even if I was jumping every 30 seconds as ANOTHER firecracker was let off. Red Star players, however, never entered the pitch to warm up. I can only assume that they were on another pitch outside warming up.
As the players came onto the pitch there was a ‘calm before the storm’ atmosphere. Neither side were singing, with Grobari showing a simple tifo with banner message. Delije did nothing, until the game kicked off. Then a suffer depicting a lion killing a zebra was held aloft, with red and white paper held by the rest of the north stand. At the front red and white smoke bombs were let off to good visual effect.
As the game wore on flares were let of and the chanting remained at a fairly intense level. The only down side was the racist chanting directed to one of the Partizan players from several people in our block. On the 27th minute, the Marakana erupted in a cauldron of noise as Hugo Vieira chipped the ball into the net. In the spirit of the derby, he went and celebrated in front of the Partizan fans and seats rained down over him.
With the last kick of the ball in the first half, Partizan drew level. In the 30 seconds of bedlam that followed half of the back of the Away end had emptied, and the ground aloft in smoke as several (more than that) flares were let off. As a neutral it was a bloody impressive, and did wonders to an atmosphere already at boiling point.
The Second half was all Red-Star, as flares, Strobes and Smoke Bombs continued to be let off at an increasingly frequent rate. Then in the 50th Minute Vieira got his second. Latching on a defensive error, the ball bounced in front of him about 30 yards out. He took a touch before looping the ball in under the crossbar. It was an unprecedented goal, as I found myself going over several seats in the celebrations that were going on around me.
Red-Star all but secured the game in the 55th Minute when Katai slotted the ball into the bottom corner past the keeper. This time both ends erupted into cauldrons of fire, as the bloke next to me bundled us over seats in the delirious celebrations. Partizan had their only major pyroshow, a small one compared to what was happening in the North. It was as if half of the people in there had a flare.
The game was seen out with the Red-Star fans very much in party mode, bouncing around and taunting their rivals. Flares continued to be let off, and the surfer raised at the start rose once again with a message banner in front. It was a suitable taunting to end my first Eternal Derby.
After this, I’m not sure where to go with Groundhopping. There are some other derbies in Europe that interest me, but I doubt they’ll get close with this. I guess Boca Juniors v River Plate should be next on the hit list? Anyway, I’m glad I waited so long to do this game, as it was more than worth the wait. Now, when is the return game?!
People that know me know that I don’t really care about what happens on the pitch. It sounds weird to some, and when I say it to those that do. ‘If you don’t understand, you simply don’t understand.’ I love Ultras. I love Pyrotechnics. I love Tifo. And I Love games where you have a constant fear that you’re going to end up with your head kicked in. When I was 6/7/8 this may not have been the case, but as I’ve become more obsessed with fan culture from when I first started Secondary School I’ve topped up my knowledge. And through that this game has always been THE game.
Understandably, my Mum (and to an extent my Dad) would never, ever have agreed to this trip before I turned 18. I would’ve done it last year, but the games fell horrifically, I couldn’t afford it and to be honest I didn’t want to do it on my own. Phil had always expressed interest, but as with many things football wise, has yet to get to it (you should see his football ‘to-do’ list).
With this, you can imagine the complete and utter joy I had when, by chance, the weekend I happened to be in Belgrade, as part of a weeklong jaunt across the Balkans, Crvena Zvezda v FK Partizan was on this weeks fixture list - The 149th Eternal Derby.
Waiting for the Saturday was like a build up to Christmas day, again clichéd. Even buying the ticket (£6.50) sent a little shiver down my spine, let alone going into the Delije (Red Star’s Ultras) shop inside the main stand to pick up a T-shirt/Stickers. Even then, I hadn’t quite sunk in what was happening.
Derby Day itself was bizarre. Joe and I left the group to go for lunch in a small restaurant I’m now quite fond of in the backstreets. It was a surprise to see so many police about, even I’d been warned about it, but also to see 3 huge Russians in Moscow Ultras T-shirts stood outside. Around town I mostly saw Delije shirts, but again it hadn’t yet sunk in.
Meeting ‘the troops’ back at the hostel we determined that we were to walk the 2km to the ground. A decision I’m so happy we made, as it meant the atmosphere grew and grew and grew. At first it was just we, then a few more, then a few more police. Before long with were walking along surrounded by red star fans. Robocop’s everywhere. It was all very menacing, but there was the definite derby day vibe that I love so much. In the distance firecrackers went off and dogs barked.
It was a bit nervy getting to the ground and walking around the North Stand (which housed Delije), and seeing more police stood there than I usually see in a whole season. I took a few snaps (accidentally deleted), but from the looks I was getting I knew that it wasn’t my smartest decision by a long shot. Still, into the ground via the most half-arsed search I’ve ever witnessed. Considering this is one of the most notorious games in Europe, I expected a lot more than a quick tap of my coat pocket. It’s not even like we were where ‘tourists’ normally go. We were in the one place people were told NOT to go after the events of last season…. (At this point I feel like I can admit I knew what I was doing when I said that place in the ground. If I couldn’t stand with Delije I’m going next best!).
Because of this, where we were in the ground was completely electric, even 40 minutes before kick off as stolen shirts from the opposite teams were set on fire. The North Stand, housing Delije and South Stand, Grobari (Gravediggers – Partizan) were already at each other. I’ve since learnt some of the chants and I don’t really want to repeat the stuff on here. All I’ll say is they don’t really like each other, if you didn’t already know! (So much so the lady in the hostel called us by the affectionate name given to Red Star fans when we walked in singing Zvezda Whoa later in the evening. Think she regretted wearing her Partizan shirt/telling us who she supports).
As things grew more hostile, the group of Partizan fans that have to be split from their own fans because of infighting entered the ground. Now normally, they are housed in a separate cage in the South Stand. This year, however, they were the opposite end of our stand separated by two lines of riot police. Needless to say it was little to no surprise when the first lot of seats came hurtling in our direction.
This lead to an eruption of noise as both went back and forth at each other until the Partizan players entered the pitch to a chorus of boo’s. Flares were lit and a rather broad smile was seen of my face. Even if I was jumping every 30 seconds as ANOTHER firecracker was let off. Red Star players, however, never entered the pitch to warm up. I can only assume that they were on another pitch outside warming up.
As the players came onto the pitch there was a ‘calm before the storm’ atmosphere. Neither side were singing, with Grobari showing a simple tifo with banner message. Delije did nothing, until the game kicked off. Then a suffer depicting a lion killing a zebra was held aloft, with red and white paper held by the rest of the north stand. At the front red and white smoke bombs were let off to good visual effect.
As the game wore on flares were let of and the chanting remained at a fairly intense level. The only down side was the racist chanting directed to one of the Partizan players from several people in our block. On the 27th minute, the Marakana erupted in a cauldron of noise as Hugo Vieira chipped the ball into the net. In the spirit of the derby, he went and celebrated in front of the Partizan fans and seats rained down over him.
With the last kick of the ball in the first half, Partizan drew level. In the 30 seconds of bedlam that followed half of the back of the Away end had emptied, and the ground aloft in smoke as several (more than that) flares were let off. As a neutral it was a bloody impressive, and did wonders to an atmosphere already at boiling point.
The Second half was all Red-Star, as flares, Strobes and Smoke Bombs continued to be let off at an increasingly frequent rate. Then in the 50th Minute Vieira got his second. Latching on a defensive error, the ball bounced in front of him about 30 yards out. He took a touch before looping the ball in under the crossbar. It was an unprecedented goal, as I found myself going over several seats in the celebrations that were going on around me.
Red-Star all but secured the game in the 55th Minute when Katai slotted the ball into the bottom corner past the keeper. This time both ends erupted into cauldrons of fire, as the bloke next to me bundled us over seats in the delirious celebrations. Partizan had their only major pyroshow, a small one compared to what was happening in the North. It was as if half of the people in there had a flare.
The game was seen out with the Red-Star fans very much in party mode, bouncing around and taunting their rivals. Flares continued to be let off, and the surfer raised at the start rose once again with a message banner in front. It was a suitable taunting to end my first Eternal Derby.
After this, I’m not sure where to go with Groundhopping. There are some other derbies in Europe that interest me, but I doubt they’ll get close with this. I guess Boca Juniors v River Plate should be next on the hit list? Anyway, I’m glad I waited so long to do this game, as it was more than worth the wait. Now, when is the return game?!