Torcida Sandžak

Torcida Sandžak is a football supporters group, founded in 1989, that follows FK Novi Pazar.

The Beginning

, and elsewhere in Europe, and the name "Sandžak" was taken to represent the city and the region, and to represent something unique only for that Torcida. From that day forward, Torcida Sandžak has been present at home and away matches of FK Novi Pazar and was considered as the protector of Novi Pazar during the wars. Torcida Sandžak's motto is "Na braniku grada - nekada i sada!", which means "Defending the city - then and now!"

Early 1990's

As the breakup of Yugoslavia started in 1991, the beginning of an end for the quality of the domestic football leagues started as well. A lot of derbies were lost, and a lot of rivals were never to meet again. It was a time for new groups to step up and for new rivalries to be made. Some smaller supporter groups were suddenly starting to make the headlines. One of those was Torcida Sandžak. The biggest recognition came in October of 1993, when FK Novi Pazar hosted a club from Pristina. During that year, Bosnia, which is considered a motherland to all Bosniaks, including the ones in Novi Pazar, was deep into the war. One of the war criminals in Bosnia was the president of FK Pristina, the club visiting FK Novi Pazar that day. That man was Željko Ražnatović, better known as Arkan. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtJZfhz2UBk Sandzak : Arkan in Novi Pazar] This alone awoke many feelings for this match. Together with Arkan came a large group of nationalists from all over the country, wanting to humiliate the Bosniak population in the city and to prove that Arkan and his army were unstoppable. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeU6-8NQYro Arkan's jeeps on Novi Pazar field] With the help of the local police, backed by Slobodan Milošević's regime, they entered the stadium and started attacking the neutral supporters before the match started. Every attack was allowed by the police, who did nothing to protect the people. The whole city was on its feet, and what they feared most had already started. As Torcida Sandžak started entering the stadium, things have gone from attacks to just verbal attacks. Throughout the match each side sang their nationalist songs, praising war criminals, and singing about mass genocide each side wanted to commit upon the other. In the meantime FK Novi Pazar had scored. The whole stadium erupted. It seemed as justice was coming and that Arkan's team would go home defeated, until the second half when they leveled. As they leveled Arkan came out of the VIP section of the stadium, wearing a jacket on a sunny day, covering up his bulletproof vest. As he tried to celebrate the goal with his bodyguards, objects started flying from the terraces. Tension was high. Shortly after the goal, an object hit FK Pristina's goalkeeper in the head. The match was stopped and the chaos had started. The police started using tear gas against Torcida Sandžak and the home crowd, which just drove them outside of the stadium where the real battlefield was forming. Ten of Arkan's bulletproof military Jeeps were destroyed by Torcida Sandžak as they tried to make their way out. Not one vehicle was able to leave the city, and once they did, after the police, which used machine guns and tear gas, cleared the way, they were not the same vehicles that had entered the city that day. Those same people that came to humiliate were the ones humiliated. They needed the help of the Yugoslav Army to leave the city, and never came back. The next day, images from inside and outside of the ground were all over the television and the newspapers.

"Arkan got away with it because of the help of the local police. This was his first and only loss" - newspapers "Parliament"

"A caravan to Pristina looked as if it had just gotten out of a war. Ten destroyed vehicles, and twice as many injured is the result of this football match" - newspapers "Sport"

After a few more incidents with Milošević's police, the name Torcida Sandžak was banned. Flags were banned and burned, and many supporters were arrested and then beaten by the police. Some were given sentences for hooligan related crimes, or for conspiring against the country, and some were just brutally beaten and let go. Many had brain damage from the brutal beatings. The result was as brutal as the beatings. Torcida Sandžak was disappearing.

Late 1990's

Although the name was banned, the supporters never stopped coming to the stadium. They had to use different songs and different banners, but that feeling was still present. After a few tries to recruit under a different name, in 1998 a group was formed under the name of "Ultra Azzurro". The people creating the group were the same people who, nine years earlier, created Torcida Sandžak. The people who made up the group were mostly the same people who made up Torcida Sandžak. Nothing had changed. As the last war in Yugoslavia was fought in 1999, and as Slobodan Milošević's regime fell, Torcida Sandžak decided it was time to bring back its name. Ten years after officially being formed, Torcida Sandžak brought its old name back. Most of the supporters welcomed the old name with open arms, while some newer members decided to stay with "Ultra Azzurro". The question on everyone's mind was a possible problem of having two separate groups, and if they can co-exist.

21st Century and the Present

failed to fine fans of Rad for hoisting a banner "Orthodox religion or death".»" [http://www.osce.org/documents/eea/2005/05/14661_en.pdf Sandzak : Still a vulnerable region (OSCE Report May 2005)]

In a matter of two years, the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro punished FK Novi Pazar and its supporters with some twenty-five home matches to be played away, as a punishment for incidents at home. That was the biggest punishment any club in the history of football in the country had received. Things will not be the same anymore. The years flew by, and nothing significant has happened in Novi Pazar as far as football is concerned. In the current 2007-2008 season, the supporters are doing everything possible to make a return, just as they did as Slobodan Milošević's regime fell almost a decade ago. There is a new group of supporters called the "Blue White Boys", which was formed as Ultra Azzurro and Ekstremi vanished. Together with them, Torcida Sandžak is on the east side of the stadium, trying to make a comeback.

References

Links

* [http://www.torcida-sandzak.org.yu Torcida Sandžak Official Website]
* [http://www.torcida-sandzak.dk/forums/ Torcida Sandžak forum]