Varvari
Encyclopedia
Ultras
Ultras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of football teams...
group, established in 1987, who support FK Budućnost Podgorica
FK Buducnost Podgorica
FK Budućnost is a football club from Podgorica, Montenegro, currently competing in the First League of Montenegro. Its colours are blue and white. FK Buducnost is a part of the Budućnost sport society.-History:...
, a football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club from Podgorica
Podgorica
Podgorica , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
. They support all Budućnost Podgorica
Buducnost Podgorica
Budućnost Podgorica is a sports society from Podgorica, Montenegro. Among its most successful clubs are:*FK Budućnost Podgorica - association football club*KK Budućnost Podgorica - basketball club*RK Budućnost Podgorica - handball club...
sports clubs which include basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
and handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
teams.
Background
In English "Varvari" means "Barbarians".The group's traditional colours are blue and white which are also the colours of all the Budućnost sports clubs. For FK Budućnost Podgorica
FK Buducnost Podgorica
FK Budućnost is a football club from Podgorica, Montenegro, currently competing in the First League of Montenegro. Its colours are blue and white. FK Buducnost is a part of the Budućnost sport society.-History:...
home games, Varvari stand in northern stand (śever) of the Podgorica city stadium
Podgorica city stadium
Podgorica Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Podgorica, Montenegro.Notable matches played at the stadium include:*SFR Yugoslavia - Luxembourg 0:0 - att: 15,000...
. They also have a reserved stand at the Morača Sports Center
Moraca Sports Center
Morača Sports Center is a sport venue located in Podgorica, Montenegro.The venue is located in the new part of Podgorica, on the right bank of Morača River, after which it got its name...
, as supporters of volleyball,basketball and handball team of Budućnost. However, since the early 2000s they have boycotted basketball team matches, because of a dispute with the clubs management.
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
and early 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
, Varvari maintained close links and friendly relations with Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
firm Delije
Delije
Delije roughly translated to English as Heroes is an umbrella name referring to the supporters of various sports clubs that compete under Red Star Belgrade Sports Society banner....
. This was seen as a natural extension of the historical and cultural closeness of Montenegro and Serbia, as well as of the fact that these two republics continued as part of the same country after the final breakup of SFR Yugoslavia in 1992. However, this Delije-Varvari special relationship changed towards the late 1990s as the relations of Montenegrin and Serbian political leaders within FR Yugoslavia became more strained.
This is when a solely Montenegro-focused activity began to be displayed by Varvari, although they managed to mostly stay away from openly supporting the Montenegrin regime. The focal point for the group during the late 1990s was the basketball club, which started investing heavily into expensive acquisitions while the football club toiled at the lower half of the table. This soon changed, as during 2000 Varvari became embroiled in a row with basketball club's management (Danilo Mitrović and Branko Vujošević). Varvari have been boycotting the basketball club's matches ever since.
Even though most of the firm's members identify themselves as Montenegrins (as opposed to Serbs), and as such are supporters of Montenegrin independence
Montenegrin independence referendum, 2006
The Montenegrin independence referendum was a referendum on the independence of the Republic of Montenegro from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro that was held on 21 May 2006.The total turnout of the referendum was 86.5%...
, during the 2006 referendum campaign Varvari frequently emphasized the fact they are an apolitical group.
Varvari also furiously oppose any form of implementation of gay rights in Montenegro, as in November 2004 some hundred of them besieged the building of Montenegrin state television
RTCG
Radio Television of Montenegro is the public broadcasting organization of Montenegro...
during the guest appearance of a notable gay rights activist Atila Kovač from Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
Varvari occasionally engage in clashes with Montenegrin police. From time to time they're also known to take on the other football firms, notably those from Serbia, though these clashes rarely feature the extreme levels of nationalism, chauvinism, and xenophobia that are usually the staple of firm fights throughout the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
.
- Brother groups: Meraklije NišNišNiš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
- Friend groups: Red Firm Novi SadNovi SadNovi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....