Green Dragons
Encyclopedia
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
and considered the largest of such Slovenian groups. The most prominent roles amongst these belong to NK Olimpija and KK Union Olimpija
KK Union Olimpija
-Depth Chart:-In: Ben Woodside Deon Thompson Aleksandar Ćapin Jaka Blažič Danny Green Ratko Varda Robert Rothbart -Out: Giorgi Shermadini - return from a loan Kenny Gregory Samo Udrih Aloysius Anagonye Vladimir...
. They are also one of two major football fan groups in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, the other being their traditional enemy in cheerleading as well as fights and hooliganism, the Viole. They mostly wear green and white symbols and clothing, which are the club's colors. They are divided into three main sub-groups: Youth Crew, made up of the younger members, CRC, containing the veterans, and other semi-active members.
The name
The name Green Dragons is connected to the symbol of the Slovenian capital, LjubljanaLjubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, which is a green dragon on top of a white castle on a red shield. The image of the dragon is therefore familiar to all the residents of the city and it even appears in bronze form on one of the more famous bridges across the Ljubljanica
Ljubljanica
The Ljubljanica is a river in the southern part of Ljubljana Basin in Slovenia. The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, is situated on the river. The Ljubljanica rises to the south of the town Vrhnika and outflows in the Sava River about downstream from Ljubljana. Its largest affluent is Mali graben....
river, the Dragon Bridge
Dragon Bridge
Dragon Bridge is a road bridge located in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is situatedin the northeast of Vodnik Square across the Ljubljanica river. Built in the beginning of the 20th century, the bridge is today protected as a technical monument....
from 1901. However, the name Green Dragons was first used during a football game against FC Prishtina in the autumn of 1988, when a fan unfurled a banner with the words: "Green Dragons". The identity of the fan is unknown and he probably had no idea of the impact he would have on Slovenian football history.
History
Active public supporting of the club NK Olimpija began in 1986 and after the PristinaPristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
game in 1988 the supporters took on the name Green Dragons. When the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
was falling apart the future of the club and its fans was unsure. Later a Slovenian league was formed. When the club finally joined this league it was left with no real rival. The first important game was played against Medvode
Medvode
Medvode is a town and a municipality in Slovenia. The Sava and Sora rivers join in Medvode, from which the town's name is derived. Two large factories, Color and Donit, are based in Medvode. The Sava River at Medvode is also the location of the Medvode Hydroelectric Power Plant.-External links:*...
. The Green Dragons came there by means of the players' bus which was lent to them, while the players themselves drove in their own cars. The peak of the season was marked by the "legendary" game against Maribor
Maribor
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....
on the sixth of may in 1992. Nine hundred Green Dragons were present, considered a lot in those days. The opposing team of football enthusiasts had all of the banners they had brought to Ljubljana confiscated by members of the Green Dragons. The Green Dragons followed their favourite football club wherever it went. They also stated publicly that they are not going to physically attack anybody, but would still defend themselves if they were attacked and that they are going to respect others as much as others respect them. This golden season was followed by stagnation caused by the club management. This was followed by a year and a half strike by the Green Dragons until the director was changed. The next season was the leaping point of the Slovenian football star Sebastjan Cimirotič
Sebastjan Cimirotic
Sebastjan Cimirotič aka Cime is a Slovenian football player, who currently plays for FC Ljubljana. He played for Slovenia national football team and was a participant at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.-Club career:...
. The same autumn one of the largest incidents in Slovenian cheerleading history took place on the way to Maribor, at the train station in Štore
Štore
Štore is a town and a municipality in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the Voglajna river, just east of Celje. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region...
, near Celje
Celje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...
, considered mostly the fault of the Slovenian Police and weird coincidence. 74 Dragons were arrested. The last game of the season is remembered as the most crowded, featuring 1500 Green Dragons, resulting in lack of space for the viewers. Olimpija however lost the title to its rival, Maribor, by one point. The rise-up of the football club followed in the next two seasons. In the game against Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
a large number of fans was gathered again, a bit over one thousand, and completely overtook the eight hundred English ones. As interest in sports declined in Ljubljana, so did the football club that eventually fell apart. A minor football club named NK Bežigrad took the stick and was joined by the Green Dragons, trying to bring high-quality back into Slovenian sport.
External links
- http://www.green-dragons.com/ Green Dragons Official Site
- http://www.nkolimpija.com/ NK Olimpija Official Site
- http://www.union.olimpija.com/ KK Union Olimpija Official Site
See also
- Football teamFootball teamA football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.Such teams could be selected to play in an against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a...
- Football HooliganismFootball hooliganismFootball hooliganism, sometimes referred to by the British media as the English Disease, is unruly and destructive behaviour—such as brawls, vandalism and intimidation—by association football club fans...
- NK Olimpija Ljubljana
- KK Union OlimpijaKK Union Olimpija-Depth Chart:-In: Ben Woodside Deon Thompson Aleksandar Ćapin Jaka Blažič Danny Green Ratko Varda Robert Rothbart -Out: Giorgi Shermadini - return from a loan Kenny Gregory Samo Udrih Aloysius Anagonye Vladimir...
- HDD Olimpija LjubljanaHDD Olimpija LjubljanaHDD Tilia Olimpija Ljubljana is a Slovenian professional ice hockey team that plays in the Erste Bank Hockey League. They play their home games at Dvorana Tivoli in Ljubljana. Olimpija has won 13 Yugoslav Championships and 11 Slovenian championships. They won 10 consecutive times from 1995 to 2004...