During a
congress trip to Split, I had a unique opportunity to study Croatian football
culture from both an academic and a footballing perspective. In this text, I
will deal with both.
A tourist
travelling to the city of Split from the airport learns quickly that there is
more to Split than miles of Mediterranean beach, scenic mountain views and
Roman ruins. Even more than these, Split is branded by its football club,
Hajduk.
Branding in
this context has to be understood in a very concrete fashion. Hajduk fans have
marked the entire city as their own territory with graffitis that can literally
be found in all parts of the city. I have never seen as much football-related
graffitis – let alone graffitis related to a single club – in a city.
Furthermore, some of the graffitis have been created with such artistic skills
that one would not believe exists among hard-core fans that usually express
their support in a more brutal manner. Thematic of the murals varied from
warrior-themed, Braveheart-style paintings to religious and abstract imagery.
Hajduk is
one of the clubs to which "more than a club" -label is not a cliché
but a reality. Founded in 1911, Hajduk is not only a club for the denizens of
Split but of all Dalmatia. Its supporters reflect the sociopolitic significance
that organized ultra-groups around the world often have. In an international
sport history congress organized by ISHPES, a Croatian sociologist and a
keynote speaker Benjamin Perasović stressed that the fan group of Hajduk,
Torcida Split, is a powerful societal actor in Croatia. The core group of
Torcida contains 400-500 members but it can mobilize nearly tenfold for
different purposes.
Torcida’s
latest show of force was witnessed about six weeks ago when it organized a
major demonstration aimed at the Croatian Football Federation. What was
unprecedented was that also the long-time nemesis of Torcida, Bad Blue Boys
rooting for Dynamo Zagreb, took part. Anger of tens of thousands of protesters
was directed towards both the football federation and the leading boards of the
two clubs. Tellingly enough, the presidents of both Hajduk and Dynamo were in
jail at the time. According to Perasović, football fans are the only dedicated
and organized societal force working against the thoroughly corrupted Croatian
Football Federation. Typically for ultra-fans, they are also against the
excessively commercialized nature of modern football in general.
This type
of social movement has to be set within a wider context of the political and
economic transformation of the former eastern bloc countries after the Cold War.
Perasović argued that the difficult transition to capitalism has produced also
in Croatia a group of newly rich oligarchs that the leading levels of football
federation and football clubs largely consist of. Gulf between the winners and
the losers of this transition is wide. Taking part in activities of the organized supporter groups is one way how people considering themselves betrayed can express their
frustration and make resistance against the new elites in the Croatian society. Perasović,
who succeeded in speaking both enthusiastically and in an academically sound
fashion, delivered one of the best presentations in the congress, in my
opinion. Perasović’s appearance, ways of speaking and good contacts to Torcida hinted
that the researcher might even be a member himself.
In English
Hajduk translates as “a rebel” or “an outlaw”. Nomen est omen: Hajduk’s
identity has always focused on rebellion against the authorities – be they
political leaders, football leaders or the police. Resistance ideology does not
fit quite seamlessly into the club’s history, however. In Tito’s Yugoslavia
Hajduk was portrayed as a paragon of Yugoslavian patriotism – to the detriment
of its Croatian identity. Tito even tried once to move the club from Split to
Belgrade where it would have become “a national football club” run by the army.
Hajduk
plays its home games in Poljud, a massive stadium built in 1979 that displays
many elements in classic Soviet architecture. The stadium features a capacity
of 35 000, bars and restaurants that are also open outside match days, fan
store and even a playroom for children. Visit to the stadium complemented and
concretized well the many football-related presentations during the congress.
In the guided tour of the stadium we saw a trophy hall and a press conference
room and had also a chance to peek inside the stadium. Player legends’
equipment, various old photographs and news pieces left a durable impression of
a club that is proud of its history and role in the Dalmatian society.
Hajduk’s
all-encompassing role in Split would have made a match experience in Poljud all
the more memorable. Unfortunately for us, Hajduk did not have a home game
during our visit. Split, however, has also another top-tier team – RNK Split,
originally a workers sports club, founded a year after Hajduk. In the final day
of the congress RNK played at home against Rijeka in the Croatian Prva Liga.
Our Finnish-Danish-Japanese -entourage decided to go to Stadio Park mladeži,
RNK’s home ground situated close to Poljud, and have a look.
In a
one-club city like Split, it must be nearly impossible to support another team.
A dour, nearly totally roofless Stadio Park mladeži usually entertains around 1000
football-enthusiasts in RNK’s home games. We queued for the tickets next to
fans sporting RNK’s colors and scarves but it is likely that the majority of
the match visitors were more or less fans of Hajduk. There is no real
competition between the two Split-based clubs. Interestingly enough, though,
when the match took place, RNK was second in the league – much higher than its
more illustrious big brother.
Also Rijeka
had performed well in the first matches of the league so prerequisites were set
for a good game. We were not disappointed. Conditions of the game did not do
justice to the quality of the players. High level of technical skill that the
Croatian players seem to possess naturally became evident already in the first
minutes. All players seemed to be able to control difficult balls at ease and
kick the ball cleanly and accurately – the latter skill being something that Finnish players, for example, usually lack. It was therefore a bit
surprising that both teams resorted to British-style long balls as much as they
did. Players’ conduct was also quite aggressive: strong, late tackling produced
multiple yellow cards and one red card.
RNK Split
did not, by and large, showcase the abilities that had propelled them to the
higher echelons of the Croatian league. RNK got a numerical advantage when
Rijeka-defender Marko Lešković was deservedly sent off following a professional
foul on a RNK-forward about to get one-on-one against the Rijeka keeper. This
did not change the nature of the game in any way. Ten-man Rijeka was much more
organized in defense and dangerous when (counter-)attacking. Ultras-group of
Rijeka could rejoice especially from a brilliant performance delivered by the
winger Marin Tomasov. The former Hajduk-player scored both goals of the game –
the first with a powerful left-footed shot from distance, the latter with a
neat finish after a run involving some silky ball-handling. The result would
have been much clearer without RNK-goalkeeper Ivan Zagorac’s top-class
saves.
It is
self-evident that RNK’s matches are in a different scale than Hajduk’s home
games. Croatian football’s byproducts are, however, present in them also.
Violent fights between the police and organized supporter groups have increased
in Croatia in the last decade. Legislation validated in 2003 gives the police
nearly unlimited rights to enforce the safety of football matches. In
RNK-Rijeka -match this was evidenced by the fact that the small-numbered fan
group of Rijeka was let in the stadium only after half an hour of the game had
passed. After the game, fully equipped
ranks of riot police patrolled the perimeters looking ready for action any
moment.
To
conclude, Hajduk is definitely an integral part of Dalmatian regional identity. In addition to all other signs of this, one could deduce it also from the goods available in the many souvenir
shops in the city centre. Counterfeit Croatian national football team’s jerseys
with names and numbers were widely available for about 100 kunas (circa 13 euros) but all Hajduk jerseys I came up
with were officially prized.
