The Forgotten Fans [Part 2]: Eastern Europe

I want to focus part 2 on the best fans in the world, the Eastern European ultras. When anything about Europe is brought up one tends to solely think about Western Europe and almost forgets that Europe doesn't just end after Germany or Austria but there's a huge chunk of the Continent that at times is looked over in many different areas whether it be finance, politics or football. Sadly many of the football teams and their fans in Eastern Europe are not very well known, but they have without a doubt the best fans not just in Europe, but in the world.

From Poland to Croatia & Serbia to Greece and everywhere in between are where you will find the best football supporters in the world. These fans take supporting a club to the extreme. These fans do not just take the singing and flag waving to the extreme, rather in Eastern Europe many teams fans are interweave in Politics and can huge political influence. For a good example of that look no further than Croatia & Serbia. These two countries were one just a decade or so ago, but the people weren't happy. The main event that really flared the civil war to begin was becasue of 2 supporters groups. It was during a match when Dinamo Zagreb, the top Croatian side, played Crvena Zvezda, the top Serbian side. These two teams also have the largest ultras groups: Dinamo's is the BBB ZG and Crevena Zvezda's is the Delije. These two supporters groups clashed before during and after the match in all out riots not just in the stadium, but all over the city. This carried on into the night with Serbs and Croats fighting each other all over the country. Within the next month a civil war broke out and many say that without a doubt this all began with the fight between the BBB ZG and the Delije.

These Eastern European fans aren't all about the singing and flag waving as I said before, but they are more into the fighting aspect. Eastern Europe is the breeding ground for hooligans. Poland, Serbia, Greece all have without a doubt the reputation for having the most feared hooligans in the world. This is mainly because the governments of these countries has not really tried to cut back on hooliganism at all, like countries such as England and Spain have successfully done. In Poland, Croatia, Greece Ultras and hooligans have their headquarters in buildings in the middle of a city just like any other legit company would. At the games they aren't banned from using flares and other explosives. To some people such as FIFA this is wrong and needs to be stopped. But to people like me and ultras all over the world this is a great thing. Modern football is starting to rid the world of ultras and hooligans, but the one place it has not touched is Eastern Europe where they still thrive. They make it known that they do not plan on going away any time soon either by using huge banners and displays in international games that display their stance against modern football.

Eastern Europe can easily be forgotten about in political and financial arenas, but it should never be forgotten about in the footbal arena. This area boasts the best fans in the world without a doubt. Fans that are politically active, and fans that support their club to an extent that is seen nowhere else in the world anymore. FIFA keeps pushing for these fans to be shut down, but at the moment they are not listening. And for a while at least they are the last real Ultras and Hooligans left in Europe.