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Published: April 15th 2012
They like an early start in the Serbian Division 3. FK Beograd and Hajduk Beograd tend to start their home games at 10 on a Sunday. This is not unusual in Eastern Europe - Viktoria Zizkhov in Prague exploited the tendency of the local population to like a drink on a Sunday morning to boost their attendances. The bar stayed was firmly shut at FK Beograd when I arrived at 9.15 and it stayed that way for the duration of FK Vozdovac's visit. I greeted my translator from the previous day when I had been watching FK Vozdovac train, as I wandered across the pitch taking photos. There wasn't even a stray dog to bother me.
FK Beograd's stadium and I use the word very loosely, is hemmed in between the development of new flats that clearly have intentions of taking over the entire pitch in the future. There was no sign of a ticket man or any other means of parting with money into their coffers. A number of people lined the car park fence, others hovered on the road overlooking one of the corners of the ground, a few walked on to their balconies and then a tin
sheet was opened on to the grass banking along the side opposite the pitch. A keen eye on health and safety then? The fans poured in ........... well not exactly ....... but some did. The club official in charge of stewards then handed around a few yellow bibs to a collection of youths........... most of which opted not initially to wear them and used them to sit on the slightly damp grass. A group of 25 Vozdovac turned up fashionably late. They could be heard before they appeared into view - gleefully singing some song about them being hooligans. The limited police presence ushered them on to one corner of the grass bank behind a makeshift fence. They ceased making any further noise.
The police then contented themselves checking the ID papers of the alleged stewards, whilst some of the Vozdovac fans used this as cover to relocate themselves. In one of the most one sided encounters you could imagine, FK Beograd managed to conjure the only goal of the game from what must have been 20% possession to leave the visitors and their hoolgans - their words not mine - more than a bit puzzled.
The afternoon
Rade Bogdanovic
Ex Athletico Madrid, Werder Bremen ..... the photo of "signing" for Ajax lies on the tableexcursion to FK Rad being cancelled due to their previous weeks crowd exploits, I was thinking my luck was out with Serbian sport. My mood was lifted when I realised that I could a direct bus almost all the way to the Stadion Cureva Cuprija to watch BASK's encounter with FK Sindelic. The luck had clearly changed when all the ticket machines on the bus failed to work all the way to my deparure point. The bus was packed. The weather was warm and sunny and half of Belgrade was taking the first opportunity of the summer to head for a Sunday stroll on Ada Ciganlija. I picked a more direct route than the previous day round the edge of the Belgrade Hippodrome to ease the burden on my feet and sought refuge from the sun in the bar at the Sports Centre just beyond the stadium.
A game of 5 a side was underway in the sports hall next to the bar. An interested spectator kept a watchful eye on the participants, before enterring into some banter with them once they had showered and changed. The teams were comprised of Serbian journalists. The spectator was the owner of
FK Beograd
Club Emblem the complex and an ex pro. He explained that they could all talk the talk, but couldn't deliver the skills when required. It was easy to criticise a footballer from the press box, but without the pen in hand they weren't quite so good. The walls were adorned with various football pictures, which transpired to be the career highlights of the owner - Rade Bogdanovic. A Bosnian Serb, he was a young Zelinijcar first team player in Sarajevo when the war broke out and a nomadic career thus ensued that took in spells in South Korea and Japan before hitting the big time with Athletico Madrid and Werder Bremen. He retreated to his office and returned with a photo of Louis van Gaal and himself. Ajax wanted to bring him back to Europe during his spell in Korea, but he found himself in a triangle having already signed for JEF United in the J League. He ruefully mused how he thought it would all get sorted, but Ajax were forced to relinquish their "signing" and Bogdanovic had to notch a few more goals for JEF bfore Athletico offered the escape route. Whilst clearly satisfied with his sporting complex, the frustrated
coach was anxious to establish himself in management within the Serbian game only to be denied by the inability to gain a professional coaching licence. As the lady in Partizan's shop had indicated a couple of days earlier, it was clearly more politics than sport.
My attention turned to FK BASK and their upcoming game. Belgrade Athletic Sport Klub trace their roots to 1903 - one of the oldest, if not the oldest club in Serbia - making Red Star and Partizan mere novices. As with FK Vozdovac's new ground on top of a shopping centre, BASK's new swish stadium seemed inexplicable when compared to their lowly status. Where does the money come from? I enquired of my new friend, wondering if his career earnings had been ploughed in. It transpired to be that of BASK's president, who was current residing at the pleasure of the Serbian state in a cell somehwere having circumnavigted the usual protocols of planning permission and seurity for the loans to finish the stadium and adjoining hotel. A serbian bank had apparently taken particular exception to some allegedly fictious security on the odd loan.
The 100 dinar entrance fee was hardly going to
raise BASK from their current finanicial woes. Undeterred they became the second club of the day to sneak an improbable 1-0 home win from their position at the foot of the table.
I walked across the railway line behind the stadium to access the tram line back into the city in preparation for the evening entertainment. It was the eternal derby - basketball version - Red Star v Partizan (or KK Crvena Zvezda DIVA v Partizan.mts) at the Hala Pionir. As with the football derby though, I would need a ticket. I changed into more appropriate wear and left the long lense back at the hotel. It was dark as I approached the Pioneer Hall and the lack of normal people was a little eery. When I say normal, I mean spectators. There were plenty of bodies around, but most were the armour clad amardillos of the Serbian riot police. I walked round the outside of Hall - no sign of an open ticket office in sight. I asked about 5 stewards before I found an English speaker. There are no tickets I was told, the only people admitted would be season ticket holders of BC Red Star Belgrade.
Just in case any random trouble makers surfaced, another 200 - 300 riot police marched down the road from their coaches. They eyed everybody up suspiciously, presumably out of sheer boredom. I retreated to a nearby bench to work out the possible plan of action. The press office wasn't exactly buzzing and seemed to be the only entrance guarded by less 10 of our armour plated friends. I casually wandered in, offering my services as a correspondent should an international perspective be required on the game. The Travelblog press pass. My polite request was declined, due to a lack of a suitable press acreditation - the British passport not working in this instance. I settled for a further polite request for a ticket or any other way in ...... there must be a spare sponsor ticket I suggested given that Red Star have no more than 3500 season ticket holders and the capacity is nearly 8000. The if in doubt ask somebody else paid off and after a 20 minute wait my patience was rewarded with a free ticket. A big thank you to all in the press entrance who made the ticket possible.
If you like your basketball
with riot police, you will not be disappointed. As a veteran of a few NBA games, it is hard to imagine what an American would make of it all .......... can I check your popcorn for offensive weapons sir? The crowd was officaly given as 3000 (excluding riot police) - the atmosphere being pretty lively, but not outright intimidating. The hostility was reserved for the Partizan players and the match offcials should they award any decision against Red Star. Partizan somehow had about 250 or so fans inside the Hall - friends of the sponsors like myself no doubt. Red Star were a bit of a 1 man show with the dreadlocked Omar Thomas leading the point scoring. Partizan's American, Dominic James outscored Thomas and was assisted with a usefull haul from his teammates. Partizan cruised to an 84 -69 win and the majority wnet home unhappy. I didn't linger, just in case they decided to take out their disappointment on anything or anybody. There were more tickets to acquire in the morning.
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