The Inferno At Yesterday’s Biggest Rivalry Game
By: chris | April 9th, 2009
….was not Liverpool v Chelsea. In fact, we might be able to say neither Champions League fixture was yesterday’s biggest match. Given the its widespread touch on the entirety of a major city, we could say yesterday’s biggest game was the Belgrade Derby – one of, along with the Old Firm, the Rome derby and the Istanbul derby, the most heated rivalries in European football.
And it went off just as you’d expect: Partizan won 2-0, essentially clinching the Serbian title with 9 games to go, and Red Star fans played the part of gracious loser by setting the stadium on fire.
And this is what it looked like:
Beta news agency said Red Star fans set stadium seats on fire after the game and clashed with riot police before kickoff, while Serbian television showed footage of a huge blaze in the northern tier of Partizan’s ground.
Fire brigades moved in and although no casulaties have been reported, the incident is likely to draw serious repercussions by the Serbian Football Federation and the authorities.
And all this resulted in a not-so-modest 51 arrests. Nearly everyone is reporting this as a Red Star issue, but given the nature and history of the derby, I think it’s fair to say both squads had some representation behind lock & key in Belgrade last evening.
The game wasn’t too shabby either, with great saves abound and Nikola Vujovic scoring a cracking volley on the second.
Highlights, set to what can only be the most appropriate soundtrack of all-time: Huey Lewis & The News’ “The Power Of Love”.
All about the love. No doubt.
I suppose this is a nice little warmup for the Rome and Istanbul derbies, both of which take place this weekend. I’m no clairvoyant, but something says this won’t be the last reporting of mass arrests we hear of come Monday.
 |
Soccer Forums | Team/International Results |  |
 |  |
Category: Europe
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
What an absolute disgrace. As a Liverpool supporter I thought my day was bad losing to Chelsea. Go figure…
Posted from
Australia
-
wow… i knew footy fans were crazy but i didn’t think they were arsens
you guys should do predictions on the Rome and Istanbul derbies this week. would be a good change
Posted from
United States -
What the heck…
it looked as if the stadium was hit by a napalm-attack. How the hell could that happen, is there no security at all? They must have smuggled lots of molotov cocktail into the staidum.Posted from
Germany -
In Serbia the “hooligans” still rule the game, especially the big firms from the Belgrade clubs. It’s like 90’s Italy Ultras over there, but 10x worse. They’re like small armies, really, and they’re brutal.
Posted from
United States -
Holy crap!
I love Eastern European football.
And by love I mean…probably something else entirely.
Posted from
United States -
During the Yogoslav crises in the beginning of the 90s, the firms more or less became armies. Red Star Belgrade and Partizan’s supporters formed the base for Arkan’s infamous Tigers (the paramilitary group-cum-ethnic cleaning squad). Actually, Arkan was the head of the Red Star supporters association.
Clearly a lovely bunch.Posted from
Canada -
The Istanbul derby? You’ve got to be kidding. If it was so heated Emre would have never played for Galatasaray and he certainly wouldn’t be playing for Fenerbache now.
Posted from
United States -
@LilacWine
Sometimes it’s better to not say anything at all, especially if you:
a) are uninformed
b) have nothing intelligent to say
c) all of the aboveBy doing so, you’ll avoid coming across as an ignorant retard.
Which you’ve just managed to do.
Posted from
United States -
And by using “retard” as a pejorative you’re meant to come off as brilliant?
Disgraceful.Also, I’ve done the research and am not uninformed. Now do yours.
Posted from
Canada -
I suggest reading “Football Hooligans, and War” by Ivan Colovic for more information.
Posted from
Canada -
Fans in Serbia are 2 passionate thomas,u dont understand that.
Posted from
Australia -
AxisOfAdvance
You sir, are all of the above, because he was 100% accurate in his statement. Genius.Posted from
United States -
@ LilacWine
I suggest finding a more objective source, or at least attempting to do some more research rather than regurgitating what you read in a book written by a Croat. Afterall, there ARE always two sides to every story…
Grobari and Delije would NEVER unite under ANY banner, not even the Serbian flag in times of war. They didn’t stand united during the mini-revolution of 05. Oct. 2000 and the subsequent overthrowing of Miloseivc and they never will.
There were Delije, who volunteered for Arkan’s units – those were individuals who happened to support a certain football club. Saying “the firms became armies” is nothing other than idiotic.
Arkan was not the head of the supporters association, but sought to reap the rewards of the seeds of extreme nationalism, which had been sown by Milosevic (the Delije seeing themselves as the quintessential Serbs), by recruiting from within the Tribina (Curva, stands, etc.)
P.S. Telling someone who spent most of his life on the south stand of the JNA stadium, as a Partizan Ultra (Grobar), to do his research is pretty ignorant…
Posted from
United States
Comments are closed
Home 
