| 1980s...
Usually, there is a huge amount of stories, either said or written, in which individuals express their opinion, their view…but rarely there is a case in which right thing is used in a practical manner….in an attempt to convey the story about the kop, its great moments….
Many untold stories are hidden, and this is just a small endeavor to try and save them, keep them from fading, disappearing…
Write your story…
For those who will tomorrow climb up the sipka (metal bar), put black-white scarf, raise their hands, sing with hundreds of their brothers…AJMO CRNO BELI (GO BLACK WHITE).
Partizan-QPR (4:0) (1984)
My story begins in the year 1984…the historic clash with QPR…and fantastic 4-0….first time in the kop, first delight…
After 2-6 in the first leg played in London, the common feeling was that English team is here in Belgrade to have a nice holiday…except for the army of black-white supporters, fanatics for our cause, crazy for football…that morning hassle started, from those who think they know the best, and my youth of 13 years was ready to explode, to burst into discussion, confrontation, clash (familiar teenage characteristic). The desire to go, to watch the Club that my father loved and followed from the early 1970s…well that desire was much stronger than stupid mathematics, stupid school…and I decided to go home with only one thought on my mind: I AM GOING!!!
Sometimes, the ideas are just born, with no particular reason or cause. The kid from Novi Sad, together with three of his friends, ‘borrowed’ some money from the family ‘budget’ (that was a happy time in which such situations were possible) and straight to catch the train destined for Belgrade. There, our adventure faces a grim milieu…the doubt and disbelief, for majority could not understand the hopeless attempt by few of us…the most definite failure by our Club, the crystal-clear situation of an empty stadium…and the misery that we felt taking over us…
Arriving in Belgrade, and climbing up the hill near Slavija square and further to auto-komanda…we knew that everything is not so bleak, something wished for by our enemies….because the enormous mass, a black-white mass was walking in the direction of Our stadium…
That feeling, belongingness to something so immense, so remarkable…to Partizan…that was a turning point for me: CRNO-BELI-ZA SVE SE NAVIJA PARTIZAN SE VOLI…
No way to get the tickets, still the ‘back door’ is the way in…hour and a half before the kick-off…jam-packed stadium, roar that shuddered the ground…the feeling always to stay a part of me…forever…
Today, after more than 20 years…apart from a tape that I look at from time to time…nothing else I can remember…but everything that happened in the kop that evening is still crystal clear in my mind…
Partizan – Celtic (1989)
What can I say about the game played on 12th September 1989…City stadium in Mostar…first round of the Cup Winners Cup
…’crazy sector’ – West C…
To Mostar, the road took us from Novi Beograd (New Belgrade)…early hours, night before killing time in the basta (garden) of JNA…with crazy Crvenko giving away chocolates, madness mirrored in flags, drums, horns…Drunkenness, ‘rolling over’ to the train, insanity through desert and jungle…playing football, opening ‘pitch’ inside the train, entering Mostar…song spreading throughout the train-station, rain pouring, Scots are in disbelief…sun is shining…chaos…what trip…what game…and of course, TOP in Zare’s hand…tickets at 150 000 dinara…
Of course, every trip has its story, and this is just one of them… (author known to ns tim)…
Road to South…
After the fine Partizan received in the tie against Roma (fire at the stadium), our next game was to be played in Mostar…facing us, Celtic…
Train, organized specially for this occasion…leaving Belgrade at 5-6am. Some arriving from the city (well ‘inspired’), some just from bed….and all MAD!! With us, in the train…amazing amount of alcohol…everything ready for the trip!
With us , and as our ‘guards’, the crew from 29th Police Station…which is ‘giving up’ after few hours, ‘attacked’ by alcohol coming from the train bar…bar dominated by senior Grobari. Train stopped about 7 million times, longest obstruction was faced in Vinkovci…hassle, police brutality. What for?
Train in motion...than break…stones ‘entering’ the train…Vinkovci…stones ‘leaving’…and than, no station…non-existent…
We realized that time of our trip was carefully planned, as for us to spend the least possible time in Mostar…so the time is used for all the possible ‘sports’. In each station, familiar scenery…police in huge numbers…and new groups of Grobari, joining the crazy train…Each station, new show-song, confrontation, chaos…For some time, it wasn’t understandable to us that at each place we stopped, people already knew it was fans’ train…OK, the side of the train was completely ‘decorated’ with our flags….but how do they know when seeing the train from the front? In Mostar, we got to know that somebody hanged at the front of the train black flag with white letters- TRAIN!!!
4pm, arrival at Mostar, hour before the game kick-off. Like mad animals…led by Zabac, rest in peace…with a police cap and a baton…
First encounter with Celtic fans was quite peaceful (obviously, there were all pensioners). Suddenly, from nowhere, rain started pouring, an unbelievable rain! While the ‘clever’ ones moved under the tents, the mad ones started our Here We Go and Tribal Dance…simultaneously! Wet? My underpants were completely wet…
We entered the ugliest stadium in the world…and won 2:1…swift return to the train, while snatching some kits and a flag*…and off home…
(*First Irish flag to ‘arrive’ in Belgrade. Still ‘active’ – B. Jerkovic. Combined with numerous Pogues LPs, decisively influenced the spread in popularity of the Irish music)
We entered our train compartment, which we previously secured with a chain, leaving it in Indjija…There we realize that train ‘lost’ all its windows and lights…and was painted and sprayed with all the possible colours…In an attempt to avoid the police force in Belgrade, almost everybody left the train in Tosin Bunar (Belgrade suburb)…the ghostly train continued to the center of the city…
D. Zagreb – Partizan (19th March 1989)
Another match to be remembered. Much was said about this game, but only the ones present know the real story behind this trip. Today, after 16 years, I still remember the insanity in the train, song at the stadium, breaching the gates and obstacles at the stadium, attack…hehe, all they do is copy our actions…there are plenty of people who used to travel throughout our old ‘homeland’…do you remember these moments?
Next year, only 20 of us went to zagreb…my last ‘reunion’ with the maksimir forest, the last picture of old Merdzan before the war started…crazy trip…
City beneath Marjan
Two last visits that I can recall…with various significance to Grobari…each in its own unique way. 26th September 1990…the last time Partizan was supported at poljud…we were 2:0 up…but the entire event was everything but football…the game abandoned, with Srbe na…(Serbs on…), crowd invading the pitch…they can just suck our dicks…
Same disarray was seen a year before. Still, the whole trip for us Grobari was much more ‘complete’ that year (we lost that game…not really important)
The shitty train, compartments class g-6…abundance of alcohol, beer and opiates…arriving in Knin …that’s the story, police…well, croat policeman trying to remove you from the train…SERB policeman getting you back on the train…whole day full of psychosis, with main event at the stadium… more than 50000 thousands of spectators…screaming and whistling for the minute of silence…in respect of deceased miners from Aleksinac. We went mad, throwing everything possible in direction of hajduk supporters. The situation exploded in a split of a second, with police struggling to control Grobari. Shouting Srbija for the whole 90 minutes, with flags and other club symbols…supporting PARTIZAN. Chaos lasted the entire game, with Grobari remaining at the stadium till nearly next morning. Return as usual, with complete destruction of the train…’completed’ by 218 Grobar, as local media presented (wonder who counted the exact number of people???)
Madness – What’s that?
Crazy South
Anybody who ever sang a song at the south side of the Partizan stadium, or followed Partizan to any of his away games, knows why Grobari are known as the most loyal, most extreme fans. The quality that separated Grobari from other supporters groups is that ‘craziness within’ that was possessed by each and every Grobar.
That specific way of support, opposite to all the typical and traditional of that time, culminated in the early 1980s with the generation of Pampi and Zare. It brought to the fore the rule “It’s important to be the craziest!” At the stand, the madness was explored through anarchical yet very loud way of support…and final result mirrored in the ‘viciousness’, followed by a famous English song “Here We Go” (South incorrectly interpreted this as “Every Go”). Still, this was something completely new, an avant garde of that time. Together with the already famous fanaticism and unlimited devotion to the black-white colours, this contributed to the fact that their greatest moments happened when Partizan faced hardest moments at the pitch.
Outside the stadium, ‘madness’ resulted in great range of supporters-hooligans’ accomplishments, something that other domestic supporters groups could only dream about. Captivation of the supporters from Split in the ‘Palas’ hotel (1981), destroyed Vinkovci (together with the residents of the same, 1982/83), “supporters night of terror” in Sid (1985), demolished stadium in maksimir (1990), fight at the marakana pitch with old customers, gypsies (we know what they get as OUR customers)…are some of the situations that proved the correctness of the slogan “Mi smo Grobari, Najjaci smo, najjaci!” (We are Grobari, we are the strongest!).
This irrational, ‘mad’ moment so recognizable to Grobari, as the greatest and most devoted supporters…was often an obstacle to some more organized ways of support (like large choreography at the stadium). Yet, the vociferous scream, in innumerous situations melted everything and everybody facing Partizan, carrying the team to amazing triumphs: remember the return leg against QPR (May 1984), game against Dinamo (May 1983) when Partizan thanks to Grobari reached for the league title (2:2 at the end after 0:2 at the half time). Or else the 20 minute ‘eruption’ of South in the last 101. derby. The ambiance before, during and after all these games, in which Grobari were writing the history…with their voices, hands, often fists! The history epitomized in one sentence “Only Grobari can do that!”
Small article (Vecernje Novosti, 17th September 1985)
The information provided by Regional Police Headquarters – Vojvodina, about the incident in Sid, performed by Grobari.
“Information by Regional Police Headquarters states that the train traveling from Belgrade to Sarajevo, departing on 14th September at 10:30pm, was carrying more than 100 Partizan supporters who were heading for the match in Sarajevo. Majority of the people were between 14-25 years, under influence of alcohol. During the journey, they created chaos and disorder, and when approaching the station in Ruma the group tried to stop the train by pulling the hand-break. The information speaks that even later, the police force failed to establish order, because the Partizan supporters threw stones, gas-bombes and bottles in their direction, compelling police to ask for additional help from the Sid police station.”
Marjan, Marjan…you'll forever remember…
The first public madness that astonished Yugoslav medias, 29th September 1982….Partizan – Hajduk 1:0
Two hundred Partizan fans on Sunday, before the game, attacked bus carrying Hajduk players.
That year people from Belgrade left the city in huge numbers, celebrating the than-biggest feast of AVNOJ. Nothing implied that Grobari will on that day shake the sleepy Belgrade and its guests from Split.
In those days Grobari traditionally gathered near Terazija fountain, and led at that time by legendary football hooligans Pampi, Trlaja and Grob. The first groups started arriving at 9am, mostly from other cities of Serbia. Neither rakija, nor loud singing didn’t manage to warm up supporters in that cold November day. Past 10am, the news that Hajduk supporters are residing at Palas Hotel (together with Hajduk players) spread through Terazije. Singing nationalistic songs (banned in those days), roughly 300 supporters headed towards the hotel through Knez Mihajo Street. They removed Serbian flags from surrounding buildings, decorated for public holiday (the Yugoslav flags were already a dull symbol). The crowd that screamed and destroyed everything in front…shocking the passers-by who looked for shelter in neighbouring streets. The first in the crowd was Pampi, holding a stick in his hand. The crowd arrived near hotel, propelling the concert of abuses and offences to the guests from Split. The craziest group of about 20 ran inside the hotel, throwing chairs and tables, bottles hitting the targets. The scream and shout coming from everywhere, song from Grobari fans “Neka cuje Sv. Duje, da ga…”
After that first attack, Grobari retreated in the direction of Knez Mihajlo Street. In that moment, it seemed that the madness is over; yet the group of young Grobari, craving to prove themselves, thirsty for more destruction…decided to return to the hotel. Carrying a huge pile of bottles and stones, Grobari attacked in the moment when Hajduk players were entering the bus. Frightened, the players looked for safety on the bus floor, while the pieces of broken glass, as well as stones, were flying above their heads. Through the broken windows, supporters managed to insert the gas-bomb, while the most extreme group tried to confront players with metal bars and sticks. At that moment, police force arrived, prompting Grobari to retreat while using the rest of their ‘ammunition’.
The result of this action was clearly visible. The north side of the stadium, with supporters from Split, was full of white bandages and straps. The Hajduk players were completely lost, influenced by previous incidents, as well as with what they experienced at the stadium (abuses to Hajduk, Split, Croatia, Saint Duje…). The game was lost. Epilogue…two Grobari arrested (one convicted), and public for the first time faced with organized violence by Grobari.
Small Article (Vecernje Novosti, 1st December 1982)
“…Belgrade can’t remember something like that. First time, one sports team had to flee faced with angry horde, to save themselves by laying on the bus-floor while the stones were flying from everywhere. Roughly 200 ‘supporters’ of Partizan attacked the bus with Hajduk players, before the Sunday game. Three windows were broken, and the minor injuries sustained by Hajduk defender.
…In that crowd of hooligans were mostly boys, aged 15-18, led by self-proclaimed ‘leaders’, obviously self-organised. The same group that later on, at the south side of JNA stadium, voiced themselves, abusing and offending…to the degree that even official stadium speaker had to caution them.
…The city Police station stated that one of the participants in the ‘Palas Hotel’ chaos was identified, arrested and preceded by the court.
Edited by Stoka 42 - 2/5/2006, 23:56
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