Army Hats & Pigeon Eyes

---

The bus back from Sarajevo had the benefit of leaving room the Main Bus Station. We were spared going back to Lukavica at an unearthly hour. The Lasta bus pulled out on time and we headed up into the hills. There was still a frost on the ground at the first service stop. There were signs warning of landmines just beyond our service area.



We arrived at the Lasta bus depot in Belgrade, which was handy for checking the new Ticketline office to see if there were any Partizan v Fenerbache basketball tickets left. There were blank looks all round…..so that was a No then! A similar experience was encountered in the hunt for a Red Star pin badge at their downtown shop. The receptionist treated us like long lost friends at the Slavija – at least he did when he had recognised us. The comfort room came with all the facilities this time – even lights in room this time.



It transpired that Red Star were not selling tickets for the away game with FK Rad at Obilic until Saturday, so we headed across to Partizan to ascertain the status of their home game after their bonfire exercise at the Derby. “No public” was the verdict, which didn’t exactly come as a great surprise given the normal reaction of the Serbian Football Association after previous incidents. The game count I have so far missed because of the reason whilst in Serbia was about to rise to 3. Partizan’s contribution of the total was 2. Jinxed! In order to explore every avenue, we headed into the main football club reception and confirmed we were press. Well we are ………….. sort of ………. I am writing this. We were directed up to the Press Office. "I need to see your press card". Aagh! I offered a passport. No ........... it must be a press card..... send an e-mail and come tomorrow. Partizan were being their usual helpful, but evasive selves. You got the impression that it would be a different problem on Saturday, but it would not be his problem. The Man in the Middle was not convinced the plan would come off, especially as we'd been through all this once before with the Partizan machine before a Champions League game with Shaktar a couple of years ago. We headed for a beer - at least the Partizan cafe can deliver on that one.



The ticket foray continued at the Pionir Hall. I tried my press card again. It had worked for the basketball derby a couple years back, when I got a freebie complementary ticket. The security guy on the door did not understand us. A giant of a riot policeman advised ....... "he does not understand you, but I do". I repeated the problem. Despite the intervention of our policeman and his boss, we came away empty handed and went to the Mad Montenegrin Bar.



The Mad Montenegrin was not present and neither was the owner. It is clearly a home for Montenegrin exiles and the girl manning the bar was also from the said country. I came to study, she explained. I dropped out and I now I work here. She looked out of the window at every opportunity. She explained that she was looking for her long lost love - a Libyan guy studying in Belgrade, who had gone off the radar. "I have 2 numbers, but he does not answer". She recounted how he made her feel special - he said "I have pigeon eyes". Yeah right .... easily impressed. The owner's wife popped in. She wasn't pissed for once, so we were spared the art sale, I am a painter story. The bar girl reckoned she had been drinking too much, but didn't say no when a beer was offered. The other customer also had an Amstel He had expensive tastes, having worked in Germany and currently in Nigeria. The dry taste of my mouth in the morning suggested he had been wise to avoid the cheap stuff we were drinking. We dined at the original Sausage Factory ....... perhaps for the last time, as it was very disappointing. The problems of being a sausage expert.



It was an early start in the morning for a 10.00 am kick off in Zemun. In the shadows of FK Zemun and the north Belgrade bus depot, the mighty Multinac were entertaining Slavia Beograd. We were already popular in the area - 2 local stray dogs had dined on our excess smoked sausage from the night before. After spotting Il Duce at Vozdovac, the club badge at Multinac displayed a character similar to a former Libyan dictator. It was clearly just bad fortune. The club restaurant was quite upmarket compared to the rest of the facilities. We had a cappuccino on the seating terrace. The extent of spectator facilities was restricted to about 50 yards of terrace that ran down one half of the pitch. It was more than enough to cope with the crowd of 47. Slavia cruised to a 2 -1 away win and we headed to the afternoon entertainment.



Radnicki Novi Beograd, once graced the Superliga. We were familiar with their sporting complex, as you pass close by on the way from the airport. They were the original Communist club of Belgrade, dating back to 1920. A big Red Star is emblazoned in the middle of their crest, a long time before Red Star caught on. The centre of Radnicki’s universe moved out to the tower blocks of Novi Beograd somewhere along the way and now stands in the shadow of the Zepter Tower. As with Multinac, the restaurant is in better condition than the ground. The opportunity to extract gate money to start ground redevelopment passed Radnicki by and the entrance fee was yet another very acceptable …… no RSDinars. A refreshing change from even the money grabbing lower leagues back home.



Our English voices had been picked up on and we were engaged in conversation by a fellow spectator. He was clearly keen to practice the lingo and found that more interesting than the match. Kovacevac cruised to a comfortable 3 – 0 away win. Radnicki were clearly not an upwardly mobile force. The crowd of 61 did not seem unduly bothered and neither did the 12 away fans. The only dog in crowd slept happily in the sun at the back of the terrace for the majority of the game.



The plan for the Partizan game at 1700 hours was in disarray, so we had a provisional drinking plan. Our new friend - Milorad - put another sporting proposal to us. Red Star waterpolo in a Champions League qualifier. The initial response from the Man in the Middle muttered that he would rather stick pins in his eyes, but after a small amount of persuasion we were on the nearby suburban train heading to the T in the city centre. The barriers were open at the other end, so the train proved a more speedy and more cost effective route back into town. Tickets were the next issue. Milorad made some initial enquiries to no avail. He was directed to the bar round the corner. It didn't look good, but at least we would get a beer. The top Delije crew were in situ. I can't particularly understand Serbian ...........but what I heard was a cunning plan involving I need tickets to keep my English mates happy and hey presto, a wad of tickets came out of a pocket and we had the necessary 3. We sat down for the beer. We had another. I think we bought the ticket man one too, but at face value for the tickets at 100 RSDinars (80 pence) you can't really argue. Well you could have argued, but I am fairly confident we would have lost.



The game was a Champions League qualifier against an Italian team, Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Pro Recco, from somewhere near Genoa. I have subsequently checked and they have a formidable record in the Italian Serie A. The Delije ultra groups that follow Red Star do not only turn up for football - as long as there is a requirement for their services of fanatical support they are there (basketball excluded, where there seems to be a difference of opinion). I suspect free tickets change hands at the very least. The Man in the Middle reassessed the pins in his eyes scenario, when we got into the pool. The support was very much like the Derby last week, excluding the flares and burning seats. The view was obstructed by flags waving - flags it seemed with bullet holes. The ultra man with the megaphone barked out the songs, which the others repeated enthusiastically and our friend was stripped to the waist in no time roaring Red Star on to victory. We hoped for a win, thinking it could get volatile and a win it was. They seemed so disappointed though and it transpired that Pro Recco had won the 1st leg by the same margin. A penalty shoot out was required. Red Star became England for 10 minutes and the Champions League place evaporated. We congratulated Milorad on the support ........ we lost, was all he could respond with! We dined at the top of the Skardalja Street - his choice, not ours - it turned out to be fairly good value. The free drink turned out to be akin to petrol. Milorad insisted we went to the Irish pub, which was against our better judgement. Still, he paid and was keen for more in English practice the following day when he learned we were once more on the trail of Red Star.



The weather in the morning was terrible. We expected our new friend not to surface, but he was on the phone at 9.30 sharp. He was clearly keen to see Hajduk Beograd play. It was not to be. The Serbian FA had decreed that this was behind closed doors, so we headed for a coffee and on to the Pionir Hall to get tickets for Red Star basketball. The tickets in hand at 300 RSDinars (£2.50), it was off to Obilic Stadium for FK Rad v Red Star. If you have read any previous blogs, the United Force of FK Rad are to be feared - this could be quite explosive. The riot police were much in evidence, but there was no real trouble. Red Star seemed to be treating Rad as not worthy and hadn't turned up in really serious numbers and realistically a bottom of the table Rad have no fans. A group of Red Star saved the 300 RSDinars ticket price and appeared on top of a block of flats above the ground to put on a flare show and make their presence known. Milorad wore his Serbian Army hat and fortunately kept relatively quiet, when Red Star took an early lead. There were a couple of salutes, but nothing to draw too much attention. The United Force were down the other end of the stand - too close for comfort. Red Star huffed and puffed with really making much headway or threatening to extend the lead and settled for the win.



The final sports action was the Red Star basketball at the Pionir Hall. The game was very one way traffic and the soft drinks crew from Zagreb folded up in Q4. The game was a battle of investment in the American stars. Red Star had invested more wisely. We would be up at 4 am and another Serbian adventure would be over .................. until maybe next time!



Appendix 1

FK Multinac Zemun 1 Slavia Beograd 2

Stadium: Stadion Multinac
1 Beogradska Liga ( Group A)
Saturday 9 November 2013 1000 Hrs

Attendance: 47

Appendix 2

FK Radnicki Novi Beograd 0 FK Kovacevac 3

Stadium: Stadion Sport Komplex Radnicki Novi Beograd
Zonska Liga Beogradska Liga
Saturday 9 November 2013 1300 Hrs

Attendance: 61

Appendix 3

VK Crvena Zvezda Beograd 13 Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Pro Recco 10 (after penalties)

Stadium: Tasmaijdan Pool, Beograd

Water Polo Champions League Final Qualifier

Saturday 9 November 2013 1700 Hrs

Attendance: 1800

Appendix 4

FK Rad 0 Red Star Belgrade 1

Stadium: Stadion Obilic
Jelen Super Liga

Sunday 10 November 2013 1300 Hrs

Attendance: 2500

Referee: Milenko Vukadinovic (Belgrade)
Scorer: Nenad Milijas in 10'



RAD: Kljajic, Vitas, Antic, Cirkovic, Stanojevic, Adamovic, Djurdjevic, Lukovic, Pavlovic , Raspopovic, Milosevic.
Substitutions: Jovanovic, Rogac, Mihajlovic, Maras, Urosevic, Rodic, Prso.

CRVENA ZVEZDA: Bajkovic, Mijailovic, Arauho, Krneta, Vesovic, Gogic, Milijas, Ninkovic, Miric, Mrdja, Dauda.
Substitutions: Vesic, Petkovic, Martinovic, Mladenovic, Savicevic, Milunovic, Mihajlovic00



Appendix 5

KK Crvena Zvezda Telekom 73 Cevdevita Zagreb 59

Stadium: Pionir Hall
ABA Liga Basketball

Referees: Boltauzer Matej, Javor Damir, Dragojevic Igor

Sunday 10 November 2013 1700 Hrs

Attendance: 4500

---