The wind howls down a bleak Belgrade avenue, rain thumping against the windscreen of the white Mercedes that carries Aleksandar Stanković gently towards the blurred traffic lights on Bačvanska Street. It is October…
Tag: ultras
It’s a warm afternoon in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. Emerging from the metro station, an enveloping heat surrounds me as I take in the scattering of tables selling an eclectic…
THE IMAGES FROM the pitch invasion and threatening chants at the end of the Lille and Montpellier game recently shocked many, but don’t come as a great surprise to most. In an increasingly…
The grandma was not prepared for it. She lifted one speckled, wizened hand to her face in surprise. From the other dropped a candy-striped shopping bag, an army of bread rolls spraying…
Flares illuminated the clouds of smoke that rolled down the streets. Lines of policemen in riot gear threatened civilians with clubs, water cannons and rubber bullets. Anti-autocratic fervour had gripped the city,…
Another round of international fixtures yielded another unsavoury incident in the stands in the Balkans recently as the Group H fixture between second-placed Greece and third-placed Bosnia and Herzegovina was marred by…
MATHS IS SEEN AS THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, something that everyone can recognise no matter where they are located on the globe. Yet to many, maths is that thing you had to endure during…
FOOTBALL IS A SPORT FOR THE PEOPLE, and supporters have organically provided its never-ending heartbeat for well over a century. Over the years, fan culture has, in its own right, become a…
On 15 July 2014, A.C. Siena failed to register for the 2014-15 Serie B season and were declared bankrupt after 110 years of history. It was a poignant end for a provincial club…
This feature is part of A World of Ultras Over the course of this series, we have delved deep into the realms of football fan culture to discover that there is a whole…
Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Landscrona are one of the most feared supporters’ groups in football, with deep-set violence and racism. But is that really true?
WELCOME TO CASABLANCA, Morocco’s biggest and most densely populated city. To the majority, it is best known as the setting for arguably Hollywood’s finest film; however, the city also plays host to…
GERMANY: A PIONEER OF THE BEAUTIFUL GAME and one of the most successful footballing nations on both the club and international stage. Following the national team’s triumph at the 2014 FIFA World Cup,…
This feature is part of A World of Ultras Since the birth of Western civilisation, Athens has been one of the most culturally significant cities on the planet. That sentiment rings particularly true…
WELCOME TO BUENOS AIRES, a furnace of football fanaticism and arguably the epicentre of ultra activity in the Southern Hemisphere. Argentina’s capital is notorious for being a city that breathes football, and…
This feature is part of A World of Ultras Delije: a term that strikes fear across Europe and evokes all the images linked to football ultras. This is the name of Red Star…
WITH A POPULATION that only just eclipses the five million mark, it is no surprise that Scotland isn’t a major player in international football. However, when it comes to action off it, the…
This feature is part of A World of Ultras VOCAL IN THE STANDS, brutish on the battlefield, rebellious against the institutes; Legia and its Teddy Boys ’95 clan boast all the ingredients…