Firma (supporter group)

Firma (

The Firma is consisted mainly of groups from the neighborhoods and suburbs of Novi Sad. In addition to the numerous groups, the Firma has also subgroups like: Bački Odred, G-3, Divizija, Freaks, Old Town Boys, Over Thirty, Pandora, Rajkersi, Red Firm, Sanatorijum, Sremski Front, UltraNS etc. Vojvodina has also a group of their oldest supporters, called the Stara Garda (English: Old Guard).

History

Early years and the background

As one of the oldest football clubs in Serbia, Vojvodina always had considerable number of supporters. On 15 December 1937, the first organized supporters club was established for a better coordination and harmonization among the Vojvodina fans. It was probably the first organized supporter group in the former

During the 1950s and 1960s, the club had a large number of supporters, not only people from Novi Sad, but also people from other parts of Yugoslavia who regularly traveled to stadium. At that time, Vojvodina belonged to the clubs with the most supporters in the country. The gathering were organized in the downtown of the Novi Sad from there the supporters walked to the stadium or drove to away games. The fans traveled by buses, trains and cars to away games to Belgrade, Niš, Skoplje, Tuzla, Sarajevo, Mostar, Zagreb, Subotica and other cities but have never been in Croatian town Split (Hajduk). In 1966, about 4,000 Vojvodina fans visited the decisive away game about the Yugoslav championship against Dinamo Zagreb. In the following season Vojvodina achieved the largest attendance during a home match when they played in European Cup quarter-final against eventual champions Celtic Glasgow. There were about 30,000 enthusiastic Vojvodina fans.^[5]

1970s and 1980s

In the 1970s, various transparents arrives the stands. One of the first was made in 1974, on which was written: "Supporters from Salajka" (Salajka is a neighborhood of Novi Sad). By the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, the stadium were well attended and part of the crowd supported Vojvodina also on the away games. But in 1986, Vojvodina relegated to the second division and the support deteriorated and some fans started to avoid the stadium. But, at those days, the real Vojvodina supporters still remained. At the time a lot of smaller groups still existed, such as: "Tulips", "Red Crew", "Salajka", "Liman Boys", "Old Town Boys" etc.^[6]

Establishment during the late 1980s

In 1989, for the first time starts the idea of uniting of all the smaller supporter groups which previously existed. This idea is realized on 12 March 1989, and the group was named Red Firm. The name was originally proposed by a Vojvodina supporter, known by his nickname Šima, all because of West Ham United's Inter City Firm, where Inter City was replaced by red as the official color of Vojvodina. During the championship match against Dinamo Zagreb appeared for the first time the transparent Red Firm in front of 15,000 fans.^[7] A few days later, several youngsters established the group Firma (English: The Firm), because they wanted a Serbian name for their group. Since that time, they started the support as one of the subgroups at the stand.^[8] End of the season, Vojvodina played for the Yugoslav championship and this attracted much more fans into the stadium. One of the largest number of spectators were achieved at the match against Sloboda Tuzla with about 27,000 spectators, where also the championship were celebrated. The final whistle sparked off a huge celebration inside the stadium as well as a massive celebratory pitch invasion.^[9] The support during this season was legendary with constant cheering, chanting, flags were used, and hats, scarves and shirts were made.^[10] During the European Champions Cup in 1989, Vojvodina played against Honved Budapest. Several thousand fans drove to Budapest to help their team. The return game was prepared excellently (smoke bombs, papers, roles were used), but poor result took Vojvodina out of competition.^[11]

1990s

Beginning of the 1990s the away games were attended in great numbers. The Vojvodina fans drove to Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Belgrade, Skopje, Split, Subotica, Podgorica (former Titograd), Zrenjanin and other cities. But the deterioration of the politic situation in

In 2010, Vojvodina achieved the final of the Serbian Cup and about 2500-3000 Firmaši drove to Belgrade, where the final was played, to support their team. In 2011, Vojvodina achieved again the final of the Serbian Cup and this time traveled about 7000 Firmaši and Vojvodina fans to Belgrade.^[16] The trip were organized by about 60 buses and was one of the greatest away visits of Vojvodina supporters.^[17][18]

In the following season, Vojvodina started with the UEFA Europa League qualifiers against Liechtenstein representatives FC Vaduz. The first leg was played in Vaduz and UEFA Commissioner made a condemning report after the match with allegations that Vojvodina supporters, most precisely the Firma, were wearing Nazi-style clothing, that someone chanted the name of Italian fascist dictator Mussolini to confuse a FC Vaduz player with Italian origin and the displaying of a transparent with the abbreviation RFNS. The delegates interpreted the abbreviation as racism, fascism and national socialism. The club officials strongly refuted the accusations and the Firma made an official statement in which they denied the allegations. In their statement, the Firma claimed that there was a misinterpretation of the symbols displayed at the stadium. The symbol which was associated with Nazi symbology was the crossed hammers and is a heritage from the time of the establishment of the Red Firm, who took over the symbol from West Ham United's logo (see establishment and characteristics of the Firma). They also added that the abbreviation RFNS stands for Red Firm Novi Sad and that the chants related to Mussolini came from the western stand of the stadium, while the organized group who arrived from Serbia was located in the north one. Despite the efforts to refute the accusations from the club officials and Firma itself, although it is an image of West Ham United's logo and despite clearly historical prove, UEFA fined the club in 25.000 euros penalty. The decision met on incomprehension among the club officials and the Firmaši. Especially if one takes under consideration that during the World War II many Vojvodina players, club officials and fans died in battles against Nazism or were murdered (see early years and the background of the Firma). This is also a reason, why the Firmaši strongly refuted the accusations.^{[19] [20]}

Characteristics

The Firma does not consist of a certain group of people with a specific identity. In their ranks are assembled people from different social backgrounds, from ordinary workers to lawyers, students, painters and some others. Next to the logo of the Firma, the group has also few symbols. One of the most important are the

The Firma puts especially weight on the importance that people support their local club. Many of the younger generations from Novi Sad and its surrounding settlements accepted Vojvodina as their club and became to loyal followers. Today, the Firma have several thousand members and they are one of top Serbian supporter groups. Well organized, the Firmaši always gather on the north stand of the Karađorđe Stadium. They are more known as ultras, not hooligans. However, they always protected the name and honour of FK Vojvodina, Novi Sad and Serbia, putting themselves against all who were not doing enough for the club.^[28] Besides football, they also support other sport sections of the Vojvodina Novi Sad Sport Association, like the basketball club KK Vojvodina, the handball club RK Vojvodina,^[29] the volleyball club OK Vojvodina and the water polo club VK Vojvodina. The goal of the Firma is to try to lead the club and the supporter group back to the paths of the old glory and to encourage their old supporters to come back to the terrace and to motivate younger generations as well.^[30]

References

External links

• Official website Archived 6 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine