Belgrade - The Red Star Club And The City - A Guide For Visitors

Last updated : 16 August 2007 By Zigic25




First things first, though. Football is an important part of the city's folklore. Although Belgrade has many clubs some of which are in the top division for years, Red Star and Partizan are the clubs whose rivalry shapes Serbian football completely. The clubs are competing with each other now more then ever, because the breakup of old Yugoslavia made the quest for trophies a two-horse race, similar to that of Scotland and the derby practically the only league game worth going to.

After winning the European Cup in 1991, us Red Star fans had to watch Partizan dominate the league in the years to follow with us winning only in 1992 and 1995. After the year 2000 trophies were more or less evenly distributed. In 2005 one of it's legendary players Dragan Stojkovic took over as Red Star chairman and in two seasons in charge had seen the club win league and cup doubles. But everyone knows the real test is in Europe where the club has been sadly underachieving in the past decade.

The fact that the high points were the dumping of Leicester City and an emphatic win over Roma in the UEFA Cup group stage along with honourable exits to Barcelona, Lazio and Milan speaks volumes. The club is forced to sell players practically every season and the only way to break this vicious circle is to qualify for the Champions League. On the road to this holy grail stands Rangers. The result of the first game gives legitimate hopes to both clubs of advancing and Red Star has significantly improved over the shambles against Levadia. Red Star, besides the players they brought in over the summer, will be putting high hopes on their fans, Delije, who can create an intimidating atmosphere (in a purely footballing sense), but contrary to malicious reports in the media, they are not likely to pick a fight and can be sporting as they come and Milan players that were seen off with a round of applause a year ago can testify to that. In any case, the 2nd leg promises to be exciting.

The Marakana stadium will certainly be sold-out. If any Rangers fans were at the game in 1990 I can say that the stadium hasn't changed a single bit since then except that it is now an all-seater due to which the capacity has been downsized to 55.000 from the previous 80.000.

Getting to the stadium won't be easy since Belgrade does not have a subway which makes traveling in public transportation a bit of a hassle even for natives. The best way is to get to the Slavija square in the city centre and take buses 47 or 48 or the tram 9L. Monthly passes are issued only to certain categories of citizens (pupils, students, pensioners) so you have to buy a single ticket for each ride. Tickets can be bought at any newsstand. For more information you can go to www.gsp.co.yu .

It is safe to sit in any bar, café or restaurant in the city even wearing full Rangers colours. The best bars in the city center are located in Strahinjica Bana Street which among other things has a Scottish pub named "Boar's Breath". Other parts with lots of bars are Terazije square, Republic square, Knez Mihajlova street and Obilicev Venac.

The highlight of the city's night life are the so-called "splavovi"("rafts"), cafes and bars on the banks of the two rivers, which can have live music with bands playing as well as Serbian pop and ethno and foreign RNB. The latter are situated mostly on the Danube near hotel "Jugoslavija" and you can meet a lot of good looking ladies over there (and in the rest of the city as well).

I'm looking forward to the game as are Red Star fans around the globe. However it ends, one thing is certain, ZVEZDA JE ŽIVOT, OSTALO SU SITNICE! (Red Star is life, the rest is unimportant!)

Zigic25