They say it is better to travel ........... although it is undoubtedly better to travel in style. The economy measures were in full swing on this solo mission - £1 mega train deal to London and £2 back to Luton Airport on Easybus. The snag with this deal was staying up all night and walking for 45 minutes between St Pancras and Gloucester Place to pick up the bus. The train stopped at Luton – should I chance the barriers being open or get a cheap single from somewhere to Luton? Why bother I thought, I am in no rush and besides I’ve never seen the new St Pancras after all those 1955 hours after match trains that were once my life. The time passed remarkably quickly and Luton was a hive of activity at 2 in the morning. The plan went like a dream, although it is coming to something when an early morning coffee is almost the price of getting there! I arrived in Belgrade 13 minutes early, ignored the usual harassment from the taxi crew, extracted some dinars from the cash machine and opted for the A1 bus – it’s destination at Slavija Square being closer to where
I was heading. A quick shower and within an hour I was in the Red Star shop to snaffle a ticket for the derby on Wednesday.......... except that they were only on sale to members at the stadium! I thought I’d join as it would help me relax over the weekend knowing that the ticket was in the pocket. I was assured that it wasn’t necessary – come back Monday, there will be tickets. Oh and by the way, if you want a ticket for the away game at BSK Borca tomorrow afternoon we have plenty and it’s on 400 dinars. A member of the Crazy North who was doing a very capable job on the translation front advised against it........ not because of any potential danger, but because it would be “an ugly game on an ugly field”. I was half tempted, as I had a bad feeling about the Partizan home game scheduled for Saturday night. I had read a broken translation that the game and the FK Rad home game on Sunday were being played behind closed doors due to trouble last weekend. Partizan fans, frustrated at a 0-0 draw, invaded the playing area at the end to quote Blic .... “pull the ears of Markovic”. I think they gave him a quick slap would be another interpretation of events! FK Rad meanwhile had taken exception to the fans of FK Novi Pazar waving a Turkish flag and pulled a few ears of their own. A passing acquaintance described the events as unsurprising ............ “Red Star and Partizan have some bad people, but of the total they are small in number, FK Rad are all nutters!” The next words without any prompting described the United Force as Serbia’s own answer to Millwall ......... I made a mental note to be a bit respectful to any FK Rad fans I encountered. The lady in Partizan shop confirmed the behind closed doors facts ...... there is more politics than sport, she shrugged.The good folk of Belgrade were all out on a Saturday morning armed with a full range of cleaning utensils dusting and polishing. FK BASK looked close on the map. I could see it in the distance. I could see players out training. Alas the topography made it more than a stroll and was exacerbated by the construction of the motorway extension to serve the new bridge across the River Sava. My arrival with a camera provoked puzzled looks. The translator came forward from the group and it transpired that I was watching FK Vozdovac ....... training as tenants, whilst their own ground was being redeveloped. They seemed bemused that I was aware their own turf had been knocked down and replaced with a mini stadium on top of a shopping centre – shades of an AS Monaco in the Serbian regional Division 3!
I caught a tram back into town and a bus out to the tower blocks of Novi Beograd. FK Bezanija’s ground, the Stadion kraj Bezanijske Crvke, to
put it politely was not easy to spot. OK so floodlights don’t stand out too well amongst tower blocks, but there were no floodlights. The ground is carved out of the hillside on the edge of Novi Beograd, masked by a church and an aerobic club. I walked passed it unaware first time. The club bar in the aerobic club was quite amenable and I settled until kick off. The crowd was swelled by 150 or so from FK Napredak from the southern city of Krusevac – they duly arrived 10 minutes late, so perhaps they missed the entrance first time as well. The visitors made an intermittent noise in a bid to generate an atmosphere with no response whatsoever from the home support. The game was duly settled by a tap in for the away team.The sharp exit to FK Zemun was not hindered by the mamoth crowd of 800 nor by the supplementary support on top of the hill behind, who had opted to save their 200 dinars admission money. The Zemun express bus 45 conveniently roled up as I was crossing the road outside and within 15 minutes I was in the main stand
at the Gradski Stadion. FK Zemun appear to be on a downward sipral, having sunk to the depths of the regional Division 3 from the giddy heights of a losing Cup Final appearance as recently as 2007 - 2008. The game was goaless on my arrival and the Dragons behind the goal were busy trying to generate their own excitement. They were still busy forming a conga to celebrate a pretty impressive 25 yard curling freekick from Zemun to take the lead, when FK Kovacevac sneaked a scrappy equaliser. It appears to have been in vain as the records now show a 3-0 win for Zemun, but I am clueless why the original result was overturned. The Dragons' celebrations were cut short. The healthy crowd of 500 or so dispersed and I made my towards Zemunelo, the home of Partizan's training complex. FK Teleoptik, Partizan's reserve squad had been playing that afternoon in Division 2, but there seemed more activity in the adjacent bookies as fans followed the behind closed doors action across the city. It appeared from the Avram out graffiti on the entrance that some fans had already made their mind up on the new regime. I persuaded the security guard that a couple of photos of the training ground were in order.There was Division 2 basketball game at nearby Mega Vizura in another or so, but this time I was beginning to fade. The previous sleepless night was taking it's toll and there was an early kick off at FK Beograd to look forward to.