FK Dorcol v Zarkovo, Serbia Srpska Liga - Belgrade section.
Radnicki Novi Beograd v Sopot, Serbia Srpska Liga - Belgrade
section.
Serbia v Italy, Rugby League World Cup Qualifier.
Cukaricki v Metalac GM, Serbia - Super Liga.
Partisan v Radnicki Nis, Serbia - Super Liga.
The purpose of coming to Belgrade was to watch the rugby. Knowing I had the presence of the huma
A luxurious and quiet hotel meant a decent nights sleep so I
was up and ready by 0800. First stop was
the Serbian national railway museum.
Except I was told on arrival that it was only open to pre-booked school
parties. Frustratingly, there were no
school parties to tag along with, and for some reason it is now frowned upon
for middle aged men to ask to borrow complete strangers children for a couple
of hours, so I admitted defeat. Here is
the palatial building the museum is housed in, note the patriotically liveried
tram.
I have been to Belgrade many times in the past and I have to
admit, I wasn't a big fan of it. It
always seemed a shithole, but not in a good way, with an air of hostility about
it. A bit like a Wetherspoons. However, whilst there were still some signs
of the Belgrade I remembered....
.....much of the rest of it seems to have been done up.
With the denial of a bit of culture from the railway museum,
I decided to head for the city fortress instead.
Pleasingly, it was host to the Partizan basketball stadium,
with the inner walls and the monument to Despot Stefan in the background.
Even better, it was host to the Serbian tank museum.
Heading out the far side of the fortress, with the Danube
stretching out below, was one of the most spectacular first glimpses of a
ground I have had.
Even better, the weekly train of oil tanks that passes the
ground, then made an appearance.
With the ground’s floodlight pylons on the left, it was
exiting the fortress through the gatehouse.
Then one of the most obscure entrance to a ground
imaginable, a scramble up the city walls.
And so I was at what is now definitely one of my top five
grounds.
FK Dorcol 3 v Zarkovo 3, Serbia Srpska Liga - Belgrade
section.
FK Dorcól were founded in the 1950s as part of a larger
sports club, which also includes a rugby league section. They have always played in the Belgrade
regional leagues, except for five years ago when they won the league, and
played in the Serbian second division for one season before being relegated.
Zarkovo were founded earlier, in 1927, and are from the
south west suburbs of Belgrade.
Watching From crumbling city walls is a new one for me. These were tight against the touchline.
Part of them had been rebuilt, but the bricks were
exceedingly slippy, with a not very inviting 25 foot drop to the pitch.
To get to the main stand, involved a walk along the walls,
around the second pitch.
The actual main entrance was in complete difference to the
splendour of the one I had chosen.
The second pitch is the one used for rugby league, and is
also tight against the wall, with a few steps of terracing down the opposite
touchline.
After parting with 100 dinar, about 70p, I was in amongst
some classic cars.
The focus of the ground was this main stand.
Although quite basic, the simple addition of these trellises
transformed the stand.
However, the real gem from this side was the view of the
walls and the fortress, looking down on the ground.
The ground was hemmed in by the railway, passing within a
few feet of the corner flag, and completely unfenced.
This did make gathering stray balls easy, as the line passed
right behind the stand.
A parent turned up with a child, and a proper 1970s infant
football kit; an upturned beer crate and a small drum. I thought about enquiring if they fancied a
trip to the national railway museum.
Despite the crowd numbering about 30, there was still a gang
of ultras, going under the name of the Gaućosi, who but on a pyrotechnic
display at the start of the second half.
As ever, you build a nice stand with comfy seats, but still
people will choose to sit on hard wooden benches, with the pitch half obscured
by a fence.
There seemed to be a colony of feral cats somewhere near, as
they were all over the place, and a couple of times play had to be stopped as
they were chased off the pitch.
Apparently the game finished three all, which was a surprise
to me as I only missed the first ten minutes, but only remember one goal. Still, there was a @keepers_towel
My next move was on one of the old-skool trams....
....across the Danube....
...to Novi Beograd.
Or New Belgrade to the uninitiated, past the Palace of Serbia, which
were the parliament buildings of the former Yugoslavia.
Also the home of FK IMT, who also play in the Srpska Liga
My destination was the slightly less picturesque Radnički
Beograd sports club.
Radnicki Novi Beograd 0 v Sopot 1, Serbia Srpska Liga -
Belgrade section.
Radnički were formed in the 1920s by workers from the
Belgrade construction college. They
played in the city itself, and had there heyday in the 1950s when they rose to
the Yugoslav top division and reached the cup final. However, by the 1960s they were in decline,
dropping down to the regional league.
Surprisingly, they rose again in the 1990s, reaching the top division,
based mostly on a strong youth set up.
By the mid 2000s, financial problems meant they dropped back down to the
regional leagues. Radnički means
'workers' and a lot of sports teams in the countries have it in their club
name. It translates as red neck which
derives from the sun burn the agricultural workers got. It is unknown if they drive pick ups, drink
moonshine and undertake hideous racist acts in the name of the confederate
flag.
Sopot is a town 40km south of Belgrade. The team were also
formed in the 1920s. They have always
played regional football.
The team play on the main pitch of the Radnički Beograd
sports ground. This is a large complex
with five other pitches.
The main facility is a steep concrete terrace set into the
hillside.
At the centre of this is a covered area that was devoid of
any seats and had been fenced off.
For
something to be cordoned off at an Eastern Europe non league ground, it must be
planet-threateningly dangerous.
The stand was horrifically steep, with many people choosing
to watch amongst the trees behind it.
On the opposite touch line was another concrete terrace,
though was out of bounds to the public.
There was a female linesman on the near side. I can't speak a word of Serbian, but I can
tell an underlying sense of misogyny.
The sports club also has a rugby league team. On entering the ground, I'd paid my 200 dinar
(£1.80) to two blokes on the gate (ok, a trestle table in the car park). On finding I was English, they asked if I
liked rugby league, as they were going to a game afterwards. I confirmed, yes I did, and that if it was
Serbia v Italy, then I was going too.
They offered me a lift, which did mean I would miss a detour
to half of one of my intended games. The
game ended 0 - 1 to the visitors, and we headed off to the rugby.
As we were heading to the game, the driver took a call from
the football club, saying could they possibly have their gate money back. I've never experienced a 70mph u-turn on a
Serbian motorway in a knackered Fiat estate conveying five large rugby players,
but somehow we managed it, bouncing across an un-barriered central
reservation with the driver choosing to
use the horn vice any troubling of the indicator stalks.
After our enforced return, we arrived at the Makis Stadium. This was actually a railed
off part of a public park, and there didn't seem to be any admission charge.
Serbia 16 v Italy 64, Rugby League World Cup Qualifier.
Serbian rugby league was first played in the 1950s. However, Croatia was playing rugby union, and
as ever, the union officials cosies up to the authorities, and got league
banned. As soon as Yugoslavia broke up,
Serbia went back to rugby league, and has a national competition, based mainly
in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The national
side are quite strong in the European competition, but have yet to qualify for
a World Cup. This year they have brought
in a few lower grade Australians with Serbian qualification.
Italian rugby league took off in the 1950s. It had no domestic league so the teams took
part in the French competition. However,
the sheer unpleasantness of the rugby union authorities is the same the world
over, and the Italian RU went about banning any players who had competed in
league. However, in the 1990s, a group
of Australians of Italian descent, set about reviving league in Italy, and it
does now have a national competition.
It's national side is relatively strong, as it can draw on a number of
ex pat Aussies and also some from the UK.
The teams took the field for the National anthems. I can't say listening to a load of
Australians embarrassingly trying to hum to the tune of their adopted nation,
really added to the occasion.
The main feature was a pitch length concrete terrace, with
plastic seats in the central section.
Above this rose a number of narrow seated tiers, like a game
of Jenga was being played with grandstands.
At the very top, and what appeared to be the press area,
were ornate, free standing chairs.
Around the other side of the large running track was a
knackered scoreboard and a scaffold pole and wooden planking stand, which was
miles from the pitch. It was as though a
delegation had gone to England to look at stadium design, and had decided that
the Withdean was the way forward.
As to the game, unfortunately the Italian Aussies were
better than the Serbian Aussies, scoring four first half tries with no reply.
The pitch had secondary school style cut off goalposts.
The crowd numbered a few hundred, but were incredibly noisy,
giving the home team a lot of backing.
Despite it maybe being considered a poorer country, by far the
scruffiest person there was speaking with a broad Yorkshire accent, drinking
from a carrier bag, was wearing a donkey jacket and shell suit, with a Hull KR
hat on. East Hulls finest.
Come the second half, the Italians again scored four tries,
but then the Serbians scored three themselves, including one with the last move
of the game. This made it 16-64 which
was significant as it is less than the 50-0 that Wales beat Serbia by, so Wales
go through if they tie with Italy.
Anyway, a last view of the rugby through the wishing well
behind one goal.
I bid farewell to my friend and headed to my next game, the
floodlights of which could be seen from the rugby ground. After walking up most hills in Belgrade, I couldn't find my
next ground. This was Serbian top
division action, yet despite my phone showing I was a few hundred yards from the
ground, and it kicking off in ten minutes, there wasn't a single sign of any
supporters. There are normally three
signs that you near a game. 1) a
procession of unhappy looking people in leisure wear. 2) appalling parked cars. 3) the sound of a distorted baseline of songs
that no longer have a PRS obligation.
Eventually I encountered 2 and 3, but still no sign of 1.
Eventually I arrived at the ground.
Peering through a hedge I could see why I hadn't encountered
any matchgoers; there were almost none.
There was no obvious means of getting a ticket, the security
on the gate just waved me in, but then started the faff with searches. Eventually, I took my seat, just as the teams
emerged.
Cukaricki 2 v Metalac GM 1, Serbia - Super Liga.
Fudbalski klub Čukarički were formed in 1926, playing in
the Belgrade regional leagues until promotion to the second division in the
1970s, then the first division in the 1990s.
After a few relegations and promotions, by 2012 they were back in the
second division and about to go bankrupt.
However, they were bought by some shadowy construction magnate, who has
thrown a lot of money at them, so they are back in the first division and have
qualified for the Europa cup in the last three seasons.
Fudbalski klub Metalac were formed in 1961 in Gornji
Milanovac, in central Serbia. Originally
called FK Radnik, they changed their name soon after forming, to that of the
local company that sponsored them. They
played in regional leagues before promotion up to the top division in
2000. Since then, they have swapped
regularly between the first and second divisions.
The Stadion na Banovom brdu was built in 1969 and has been
heavily upgraded in the last few years.
On one side as the squat main stand, with a bank of seats
and lounges above.
Opposite, is a large bank of seating.
Behind one goal is a training pitch.
Whilst behind the other, an unexplained large concrete wall.
The crowd was extremely sparse, the only noise being from
this bloke who shouted throughout the game.
The away side took the lead.
Then the home side missed a number of good chances. They had an Ivorian and a Ghanaian playing up
front for them, who obviously haven't quite hit the big time, as they arrived
in a Fiat Strada.
They did eventually score a couple.
With the sun setting behind the main stand, the game
finished 2-1 to the home side.
Afterwards, it was down the San Francisco style city scape.
For a multi-leg tram move into the city and back out.
To the Partizan stadium.
It is right by the Red Star ground and the locals were taking it in
turns to deface each other off the road signs.
A good attempt at graffiti, but it still doesn't beat
"scooter tuning isn't a crime".
Rick Astley ear worm.
Although there were a few more people heading to the game,
it still had a pre-season friendly vibe to it.
The most numerous were the touts with great wads of tickets. I fought my way to the proper ticket office
and secured the most expensive one for 400 dinar, about £3.
Partizan 1 v Radnicki Nis 1, Serbia - Super Liga.
Partizan Belgrade in one paragraph? Well, set up in 1946 as the army team. Named after the communist soldiers who fought
against the Nazis. Didn't do too much
until the 1960s when the product of their youth academy started to come
through. They went on to win 26 league
titles, including 10 this century, 13 national cups and the Mitropa cup. In Yugoslav times, there was regular
insinuation of match fixing. Second
biggest team in Serbia, after Red Star
Radnicki are from Nis, in east Serbia. They were formed in the 1920s by a group of
labourers, and were seen as a workers team.
This was hardened during WW2 when the city was occupied by the Nazis,
who set up a major concentration camp there.
This interned a lot of the activists involved with the club, and also
the fans, so the city has a large anti-fascist bias. The club had reached the top division by the
early 1960s. It remained there for most
of the century, including some UEFA cup forays in the early 1980s. However, this century has not been so kind,
with relegation to the third division, though they are currently in their third
season back in the top division.
It is fair to say that this was another game that hadn't
captured the attention of the locals. The
stadium was opened in 1951, and was the national stadium, shared with Red
Star. It was built mainly by the
army. Originally a huge terraced bowl,
it is now all seater.
On the far side, a roof now covers the central section.
On the side I was on, the back of the stand had been taken
over by a tier of hospitality.
Both ends are open seating.
Behind one goal the ultras put on a bit of a show.
Then halfway through the first half, some turned up at the
opposite end with some banners and some clapping. No idea what it says.
Nis took the lead after a free kick was only parried by the
keeper right into the path of the Nis forward.
This sent the six away fans wild.
For some reason, there were five separate dug outs, and
still the ambulance staff had to sit in the open.
The officials on the touchline looked like a particularly
poor Village People act.
To greet the start of the second half, another pyrotechnic
show.
This inspired Partizan to score a goal.
Sorry, a goool.
Which was how it ended.
I walked the five or so miles back to the hotel, with an
immensely enhanced opinion of Belgrade and its people. Even more so, that the day, with trams,
football and food, had cost about £15.
Upwardly Re-evaluated Opinion Times
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