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Published: November 17th 2013
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FK Zemun
A different type of ground hopper There was a sleepy Sunday morning feel as we approached the ground at FK Zeleznicar – the railwayman. The ground had obviously been developed from old railway yards, although part of the original complex now seemed to have been taken over by a coach park. The transport theme continued under the “stand”, where a rusting car laid in a state of decay. The ground consisted of one side of terracing with the dugouts being opposite. A cinder training pitch lay beyond. The weeds in the dugouts and the state of the goals on the training pitch suggested a lack of practice at set pieces in the recent past. A stray dog woke from his Sunday slumber in the corner of the training pitch, attracted by the smell of a nearby resident cooking a spot of Sunday dinner.
The players and officials appeared from the clubhouse to warm up. As with last year’s visit to BASK, the referee was a young lady. She seemed self-conscious of a long lense being pointed at her. The players reappeared for the start of the game, although it transpired that the dug out of FK Kocevac would be less utilised than one would
FK Zeleznicar
The Nut Man - happy in his work expect. They took to the field with 10 men, although various uncharitable comments about the weight of the left back suggested that he could indeed fill in for 2 players. Perhaps a car would speed up and the missing personnel would appear to fill the void? It never happened and the 10 ploughed until near half-time, when yet another dubious penalty award allowed Zeleznicar to break the deadlock. The Kovacevac keeper had until that point been on the cards for man of the match. The logical path from this point would be that the tiring legs would fold and a cricket score would materialise. The Zeleznicar ultras – average age 60 – looked well pleased. The obligatory nut seller looked happy too. It would perhaps boost business. The 10 had not read the script and snatched an equaliser.
Whilst the rest of the ground was somewhat basic, a scoreboard was part of the facilities. Alas, no fancy electronic operation here. Climb the ladder, select the correct score card and change. Repeat. As the goals rattled in the 2
nd half, the most disappointed person was the scoreboard operator. He gave up after a while and stayed up his
FK Zemun
Dragons Graffiti ladder. The game finished 4 -1. The left back looked relieved.
We headed off back along the river, accompanied by a stray hopper from Derbyshire. His mate had found the pleasures of Belgrade too much temptation until 4 am, so he was on his own in his quest to get 3 games in today. “You need the 83 bus for FK Zemun”, we offered. He left us and wandered in vaguely the right direction of a stop, but that was the last sighting. We arrived at the Gradski Stadium ourselves and thought a pre-match refreshemnt would be in order. Zemun on a Sunday lunchtime outside the centre is not over endowed with such venues, so having tried the firmly locked door from the street of the restaurant we had to part with out without 150 RSDinars to obtain our match tickets and get inside. Fine match tickets they are too, if you collect such things!
The restaurant / bar has had a serious upgrade since our last visit. The floor was previously death by electricity, with stray wires laid all over. Big Al has obviously been on one of his away contracts to sort
it out. We had originally selected the wrong door. The Zemun security man laughed and pointed us in the right direction. We settled into one of the tables on the terrace. Very civilised was the view of the Man in the Middle, as he took advantage of his pint. The girl on the next table made a mockery of the stereotype groundhopper - no sign of an anorak or a moustache. She posed for photos for her Facebook page or whatever. The pose was too good to miss. The two female plod behind us could see what I was thinking next and warned against adding them to my photographic portrait collection. The crowd built steadily - a combination of locals, Derby groundhoppers who had selected this clash with Hajduk above all others and a Dragon contingent at the far end. The sun continued shining.
Hajduk spoiled the party before most had settled in the seats with a breakaway almost straight from the kick off. There was no sign of any visible Hajduk support to celebrate the fact. FK Zemun hit back to take a seemingly unassailable 3 – 1 lead, before a late goal narrowed the gap
and caused a nervous end for the home fans. Zemun with their ground, facilities and fairly healthy fan numbers of continue to look like they should play at a higher level. At least they can while away their currents status from the comfort of their refurbished bar.
The Belgrade bus routes at first glance are a complex nightmare, but a surprising number just happen very conveniently link football grounds. A walk of 2 blocks led us to an 18 bus, that just happened to go straight to the Shopping Centre Stadion and it’s high rise tenant, Stadium Event Place. We fuelled up on our continued healthy diet of sausage and Jelen Pivo within easy reach of the ticket office. Top flight football ticket – 250 RSDinars. Mr Riot Police halted us before we reached the relevant turnstile. Wait – hooligans from Novi Pazar! The Novi Pazar ultras were making their way inside, seemingly with minimal fuss but enough to disrupt the lives of others trying to get into the match.
I had high hopes of this new ground - allegedly the first high rise since AS Monaco was opened. In truth, I expected more.
The sightlines were obscured by pillars and the near touchline remained hidden from view. A few extra metres would have solved the problem, but clearly the needs of the shops below were paramount in the eyes of the designers. Whatever the shortcomings, it far exceeds the needs of Vozdovac in their current incarnation. OFK had clearly seen the need to add to the numbers and join forces, as a Blue Union flag was displayed amongst the "Paranormal" crew in the home section.
Novi Pazar, from the south of Serbia, have more of a bonding with Fenerbache than with the rest of the country. Their ultra boys were close on hand to our left and led by a character with a strong resemblance to a former Italian dictator of old. Along with the guy with the megaphone, he orchestrated their continuous drone of songs throughout the 1
st half. There was much homage to Fenerbache and Istanbul in the vocals. The lucky few appeared to have invested their wages in a Fenerbache shirt. The Duce decided more effort was needed to the 2nd half, as opted to take a more active part in the proceedings. Shirts off, he led
the gang in a dance which was unlikely to get him on SCD but to which Vozdovac had no answer. It worked and Novi Pazar pressure finally paid off. The Duce danced on! He finally ushered his troops out of the stadium 5 minutes before the end and when the final whistle went, not one Novi Pazar fan was left to pay homage to the players.
Appendix 1 FK Vozdovac 0 FK Novi Pazar 1 Stadium: Event Place, Vozdovac
Sunday 3 November 2013 1800 Hrs Attendance: 1,300
Referee: Slobodan Simic
S
corers: Arsenijevic (Novi Pazar) in 60
Appendix 2 FK Zemun 3 FK Hajduk Beograd 2 Stadium: Gradski Stadion, Zemun
Sunday 3 November 2013 1300 Hrs Attendance: Est 350
Appendix 3 FK Zeleznicar 4 FK Kovacevac 1 Stadium: Bara Venecija, Beograd
Sunday 3 November 2013 1000 Hrs Attendance: 56
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