Ultras
- For the historical French reactionary faction, see Ultra-royalist.
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The Ultras movement, or simply Ultras, is the name given to organized supporters' groups for sports teams, mostly European supporters of football (soccer) teams. This fan sub-group appeared in Italy during the late 1960s when football teams reduced ticket prices on certain areas of the stadiums. Not to be confused with the British football firm and Casual cultures, although some of their supporting style is imitated. Although violent acts might occur, hooligan acts are more the exception than the norm.
Common grounds
Ultra groups are surprisingly homogeneous. They are usually organized by a core group (who usually have "executive control" over the group), surrounded by smaller groups, formed by location, friends group or political stance. The material is also almost the same: standards (a piece of painted light fabric with two poles on each side), flags, both regular sized and large (with sides over 4 meters) and banners, usually large, durable plastic fabric painted and decorated with the name and symbology of the group it belongs. Most groups also sell their own goods like scarves, hats and jackets, and their sale can go across borders for collectors or fans.
Ultra culture
The Ultra culture is a mix of several supporting styles, from the scarf-waving and chants of early English stadia, Brazilian Torcida and the original Italian style. An Ultra group can be composed from few dozens to hundreds, mixing several parts of the community, claim entire sectors of the stadium for themselves and get involved in the team rather more often than regular fans.
Four points are the core of a ultra mentality:
- Never stop singing during the whole match, no matter the result;
- Never sit down during matches (as opposed to armchair fans);
- Follow as many games possible, regardless of costs or distances;
- Loyalty to the Curva (the stand the group is located).
There are several recurring imported or pop culture icons used on banners. Alex DeLarge from Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange is one of the favourites, the logo of the Georgia Bulldogs American football team is also used by several groups across Europe, same with corporate brand logos and catchphrases, either real or mock-up.
Probably the most important part is the called vocal support. Each group has several football chants, mostly to their team, others for players and staff and finally, some reserved for their rivals. With the melody taken mostly from popular music such as Guantanamera, some chants are copied from other groups and the names changed.
Before big matches most groups prepare a big choreography (or Tifo) to be displayed as the teams enter the field. Ranging in size as the financial capabilities of the groups allow, the giant choreographies can take from the complete top where the group is located to the complete stadium. Materials used range from small sheets of plastic or paper distributed be seat, either forming a pattern or just to colour the stadium (in a similar fashion of the Moscow 1980 Olympics opening ceremony), balloons, paper rolls, huge painted blankets, flares or smoke signal pots (but their use is now more limited since uncontrolled could cover the entire ground in smoke, which is highly undesirable by TV stations) and even more recently, giant dolls (used by Sampdoria's Ultras in 2002). These choreographies are one of the finest displays of love to a club, since they can take up to months to plan, the days before the match to prepare and cost a small fortune to make, despite the ultimate risk of failure.
There is also big animosity towards the so-called modern football. All-seater stadiums, games at Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at late hours, unlike the traditional 3 o'clock Sunday match, more expensive tickets, fan-favourite players being sold like merchandise, replaced by players who have don't "love the shirt" and the excessive comercialization of football are a common plea among Ultras. Contro il Calcio Moderno (Against modern football) is a common phrase seen in Italian grounds, and spread across Europe.
Fanzines play also a big part in the movement, and have a huge market inside communities. Usually A5, as professional printing costs decrease they have started to be of more professional quality than the crudely typewriter-duplicated or xeroxed fanzines. Each group usually edits a fanzine with information on upcoming games, stories and news, and there are several generalistic publications, the most popular being the SuperTifo.
Ultras - club relationship
They usually have a representative who speaks with the club's bosses on a regular basis, mostly regarding ticket and seat allocation, and use of storage facilities. Some clubs provide the groups cheaper tickets, a warehouse to store material, access to the stadium before the match to prepare choreographies.
Some of these relations are criticized by fans of the club, who can see the Ultras as nothing more than troublemakers who do the club more harm than good, or when a club has more than one group, some might not agree with favouritism given by the board to a group against another.
There exists within the ultras fanblock a loose hierarchy. In most cases, a capo, or group leader, often using a megaphone, coordinates the various activities of the entire group, including chants, songs, and banner drops.
Hooliganism
Although Ultras groups can become violent, unlike hooligans most games go with no incidents or minor scuffles with the local police force. Unlike hooligans, Ultras follow to support their team rather than go head to head against locals. Another difference between Ultras and hooligans is that the hooligans like to be inconspicuous when they travel as to avoid detection by police, whereas Ultras are the opposite as they like to be more conspicuous when they travel and like to arrive en masse, which allows the police to keep a close eye on their movements.
When trouble does break out it very much takes the form of a political riot similar to the ones in Italy in the 70's and the Carabinieri use the same tactics towards the Ultras as they did against political activists in the 70's. However, Ultras rarely intend to start fights, but if they are provoked are unlikely to back down.
Politics
Many Ultra groups are associated with political factions, rivalries appeared and alliances were forged just based on the political premises.. While SS Lazio's Irriducibili and Real Madrid's Ultras Sur are known for more than occasionally displaying celtic crosses and swastikas, on the other hand there are groups like Livorno's Brigate Autonome Livornesi who aren't afraid of showing the Red Star, the Hammer and sickle, the Anarchist symbol or flags of Che Guevara and other groups refuse to carry any political symbols on their material or allow their members to display them in the group's context.
Knowing the "recruitment potential" of the groups' sectors, many extremist groups try to distribute propaganda. While this is accepted between politicized groups, in neutral/apolitical groups this can cost the extremists dearly, as it can be seen as an invasion, and thus elicit a violent reaction from the neutral group.
Rivalries
Fierce rivalries between football clubs and it's Ultra groups can be found all over the world, though most of the big ones are located in Europe and South America.
A lot of big rivalries are from Italy, where rivalries between Ultra groups, and up to some degree between cities in general, have a long tradition. While some happen mostly for animosity towards the opposite side, mostly in derbies (Roma - Lazio, Inter - Milan, Sampdoria - Genoa, etc), others exist mostly due to politics, one of the best examples being the Atalanta - Lazio, as Atalanta groups are most left wing, and the already mentioned right-wing Irriducibili. However, it's also possible that rivalries fire up from isolated incidents. Some rivalries might also happen between groups of the same club, either by disputing the lead of the curva or when one of the groups is a splinter from the older groups.
It is common for a firm to uphold a special grudge against another firm, their "arch-enemy", which normally dates back ages, to a time where the teams of these two firms had a particularly longlasting period of rivalry. Examples of these include Chelsea vs. Millwall from England, or Brondby vs. Aarhus from Denmark. Feuds between these "arch-rivals" will often prove more intense than normal, as the firms will often take an almost religious zeal to these particular fights, seeing these as the true proofs of their superiority.
Rivalries often mean, at less, more offensive chants, phrases or banners towards the other groups themselves, while the fiercest rivalries often include physical confrontation and capture of "enemy" banners. Losing a banner to a rival group is considered a big humiliation.
Detractors
Like any other organization, Ultra groups have their share of detractors. From the most simple, related to how they follow the game, never sitting during matches while displaying dozens of standards affecting the view of those sitting behind these groups, to more serious criticisms like theft of highway service stations, physical assault or intimidation of "regular" fans and even murder of other groups' members.
In Spain, ultra is understood primarily as ultraderechista ("extreme rightist"), while there are leftist and separatist supporter groups. The use of neo-Nazi symbols like spelling Ultras Sur with runic SS and violence against supporters of other clubs, including the murder of a Real Sociedad fan, has made Spanish authorities very concerned about ultra activities.
List of groups
Sweden
- Ultras Inferus (Hammarby if)
- Söder Bröder (Hammarby if)
- Ultra Boys (Hammarby if)
- Ultras Nord (AIK)
France
- Orsi Ribelli (AC Ajaccio)
- Kop De La Butte (SCO Angers)
- Blue Angels (AJ Auxerre)
- Ultras Auxerre (AJ Auxerre)
- Bastia 1905 (SC Bastia)
- I Guerrieri Turchini (SC Bastia)
- Rebels (SC Bastia)
- Ultras Vesontio (Besançon RC)
- Ultramarines (Girondins de Bordeaux)
- Devils (Girondins de Bordeaux)
- Partisan 33 (Girondins de Bordeaux)
- Ultras Brestois (Stade Brestois)
- Celtic Ultras (Stade Brestois)
- Malherbe Normandy Kop (SM Caen)
- Ultras Kaos (AS Cannes)
- Red Guerrillera (AS Cannes)
- Red Kaos (Grenoble Foot 38)
- Ultras Gueugnon (FC Gueugnon)
- Kop Rouge (EA Guingamp)
- KRIDEF (EA Guingamp)
- Barbarians (Le Havre AC)
- Worshippers (Le Mans UC)
- Red Tigers (RC Lens)
- Kop Sang et Or (RC Lens)
- Supras Libourne (FC Libourne-Saint-Seurin)
- Dogues Virage Est (Lille OSC)
- Rijsel Spirit (Lille OSC)
- Merlus Ultras (FC Lorient)
- Bad Gones (Olympique Lyonnais)
- Lugdunum's (Olympique Lyonnais)
- Nucleo (Olympique Lyonnais)
- Generation Grenat (FC Metz)
- Horda Frenetik (FC Metz)
- Inferni (AS Monaco)
- Ultras Monaco (AS Monaco)
- Armata Ultra (Montpellier Hérault SC)
- Butte Paillade (Montpellier Hérault SC)
- Brigade Ultra (FC Mulhouse)
- Brigade Loire (FC Nantes)
- Brigade Sud (OGC Nice)
- Armada Rumpetata (OGC Nice)
- Collectif Embriagoun (OGC Nice)
- Gladiators (Nimes Olympique)
- Commando Ultras '84 (Olympique de Marseille)
- South Winners (Olympique de Marseille)
- Yankees (Olympique de Marseille)
- Fanatics (Olympique de Marseille)
- Marseille Trop Puissant (Olympique de Marseille)
- Dodger's (Olympique de Marseille)
- Ultras Genabum (US Orléans)
- Boulogne Boys (Paris Saint Germain)
- Supras Auteuil (Paris Saint Germain)
- Lutéce Falco (Paris Saint Germain)
- Tigris Mystic (Paris Saint Germain)
- Authentiks (Paris Saint Germain)
- Puissance Paris (Paris Saint Germain)
- Ultrem (Stade de Reims)
- Kop Rouge et Blanc (Stade de Reims)
- Roazhon Celtic Kop (Stade Rennais FC)
- Breizh Stourmer (Stade Rennais FC)
- Kollectif Indépendant Rouennais (FC Rouen)
- Diaboli'kop (FC Rouen)
- Joyriders (FC Sochaux)
- Banda Ultra (FC Sochaux)
- Magic Fans (AS Saint-Etienne)
- Green Angels (AS Saint-Etienne)
- Ultras Boys (RC Strasbourg)
- Irreductibles (Sporting Toulon Var)
- Fedelissimi (Sporting Toulon Var)
- Supras Tours (Tours FC)
- Ultras Roisters (Valenciennes FC)
- Brigade 26 (ASO Valence)
Italy
- Fossa dei Leoni (A.C. Milan)
- Brigate Rossonere (A.C. Milan)
- Commandos Tigre (A.C. Milan)
- Irriducibili (Lazio)
- Boys S.A.N (Internazionale)
- CUCS Roma (AS Roma)
- Irish Clan (AS Roma)
- Fedayn (AS Roma)
- Ultras Tito (Sampdoria)
- Collectivo Autonomo Viola (Fiorentina)
- North Side (Chievo Verona)
- Sconvolts (Cagliari Calcio)
- Hooligans Teddy Boys (Udinese Calcio)
- Friulani Al Seguito (Udinese Calcio)
- Nord Kaos (Udinese Calcio)
- Desperados (Empoli FC)
- Vigilantes (Vicenza Calcio)
Netherlands
- Ultras Vak 410 (AFC Ajax)
- Ultras Vak P (FC Twente)
- Groningen Fanatics (FC Groningen)
- Brigata Tifosi Extreme (Heracles Almelo)
- Nieuw Noord (SC Heerenveen)
- Westside Ultras (Roda JC)
- Legio Noviomagum (NEC Nijmegen)
- Tifosi del Castello (Sparta Rotterdam)
- Ultras Mestreech (MVV)
- Brigata Tifosi (De Graafschap)
- Vak 113 (Vitesse Arnhem
Serbia and Montenegro
- Grobari (FK Partizan)
- Delije (Red Star Belgrade)
- Varvari (FK Budućnost Podgorica)
- United Force (FK Rad)
- Red Firm (FK Vojvodina)
- Taurunum Boys (FK Zemun)
- Despoti (FK Smederevo)
Finland
- Ultraboyz (Inter Turku)
- S.A.P. (Fc Haka)
Spain
- Frente Atlético (Atlético Madrid)
- Ultras Sur (Real Madrid)
- Biris Norte (Sevilla Futbol Club)
- Boixos Nois (FC Barcelona)
Portugal
- Juventude Leonina (Sporting Clube de Portugal)
- Torcida Verde (Sporting Clube de Portugal)
- Directivo Ultras XXI (Sporting Clube de Portugal)
- Super Dragões (FC Porto)
- Colectivo 95 (FC Porto)
- No Name Boys (SL Benfica)
- Diabos Vermelhos (SL Benfica)
- Insane Guys (Vitória de Guimarães)
- White Angels (Vitória de Guimarães)
- Panteras Negras (Boavista FC)
- Bracara Legion (SC Braga)
- Red Boys (SC Braga)
- Mancha Negra (Académica)
- Fúria Azul (Belenenses)
- South Side Boys (SC Farense)
- Máfia Vermelha (Leixões SC)
- Tuff Boys (FC Marco)
Croatia
- Bad Blue Boys (Dinamo Zagreb)
- Torcida Split (Hajduk Split)
- Armada Rijeka (NK Rijeka)
Greece
- Gate 7 8/2/81 (Olympiakos Piraeus)
- Gate 13 (Panathinaikos Athens)
- Thyra 4(PAOK SALONICA)
Cyprus
- Gate 9 (OMONOIA Ultras - Green Army) (AC Omonia)
- Misfits (AC Omonia)
- Orange fans (APOEL Ultras - Portokali) (APOEL FC)
Romania
- Nuova Guardia (FC Dinamo Bucuresti)
- Brigate (FC Dinamo Bucuresti)
- Tifosi Ultra' (FC Dinamo Bucuresti)
- Guardia Mures (FC Dinamo Bucuresti)
- Panzer (FC Dinamo Bucuresti)
Germany
- Ultras Essen (Rot-Weiss Essen)
- Ultras Frankfurt (UF97) (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- Hertha Frösche (Hertha BSC)
- Ultras Duisburg (MSV Duisburg)
- Ultras Nürnberg (1. FC Nürnberg)
- Antisozialfront (Kickers Offenbach)
Argentina
- La Doce (Boca Juniors)
Austria
- Ultras Rapid Wien 1988 (SK Rapid Wien)
- Alte Garde SCR (SK Rapid Wien)
- Verrückte Köpfe 91 (FC Tirol Innsbruck)
- Brigada Graz (SK Sturm Graz)
- Ultras Union (SV Austria Salzburg)
- Bulldogs (FK Austria Wien)
- Vikings Linz (LASK)
- Inferno (LASK)
- Kneipenterroristen (SK Vorwärts Steyr)
- Stahlfront (FC Blau Weiss Linz)
- Pyromanen Linz (FC Blau Weiss Linz)
- Blauhelme (FC Blau Weiss Linz)
- Superiors (SV Pasching)
Australia
- Preston Army {Preston Makedonia Lions FC)
- The Cove (Bay 23 Boys) (Sydney FC)
- The Gate (Adelaide United)
- The Shed (Perth Glory)
- The Union (Melbourne Victory)
- Marinators (Central Coast Mariners)
Norway
- Stabæk Inferno(Stabæk)
- Gjettum Ultras(Stabæk)
- Viking Ultras (Viking F.K.)
- Ultras Nidaros(Rosenborg B.K.)
Brazil
- Gaviões da Fiel (Sport Club Corinthians Paulista)
- Camisa 12 (Sport Club Corinthians Paulista)
- Parvilhão 9 (Sport Club Corinthians Paulista)
- Mancha Verde (Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras)
- Independente (São Paulo Futebol Clube)
- Young Flu (Fluminense Football Club)
- Raça Rubro Negro (CdR Flamengo)
- Torçida Jovem (Santos FC)
- Leoes da Fabulosa (Portuguesa)
- Os Fanaticos (Clube Atletico Paranaense)
- Mafia Azul (Cruzeiro Esporte Clube Belo Horizonte)
- Super Raça (Gremio)
- BAMOR (EC Bahia)
USA/Canada
- Sam's Army (US National Teams)
- Inferno (FC Dallas)
- Section 8 Chicago (Chicago Fire)
- Timbers Army (Portland Timbers)
- Ultras Montreal (Montreal Impact)
- Dark Clouds (Minnesota Thunder)
United Kingdom
- Red Ultras (Aberdeen)
- Red Blue Army (Aldershot Town)
- Jungle Bhoys (Celtic)
- Blue Order (Rangers)
- Stanley Ultras (Accrington Stanley)
- Drum Beat Mafia (Livingston)
- LUFC Ultras 04 (Leeds United)
- Jorvik Reds (York City)
- Heed Ultras (Gateshead F.C)
Denmark
- Rebellerne Aarhus (Aarhus)
- Boys Republic (Aalborg)
- Fanatikos (Viborg)
- Inferno (Brondby)
- Odense Ultras (Odense)
- Urban Crew (FC København)
Russia
- Flint´s Crew ([Spartak Moscow])
See also
External links
- Political map over italian ultras
- SuperTifo article on the origins of the movement
- Photos of several groups
- Soccer Hooligans and Ultras - Hooligan groups and organizations