The Armada

placidfalcon4 said:Seriously though, what’s even the point of this?🤷

It was already covered on the sports forums—you aren't the only victims of this stupidity. It's always the same nonsense... people labeling everyone else—this group is "outsiders," that group is "communists," San Diego is just some random suburb... honestly, someone needs to shut all these people up, and they need to actually unite with the rest of the working class instead. Whatever. This article is fine, I guess, but a lot of it feels like it's trying too hard to justify things. I've asked before when this crap will finally end, and the answer is always "it stops when the guy who started it stops." As if anyone actually knows that... 😁 Biggest disgrace in American fan culture. And I don't care if people see this as just fans taunting each other—it’s embarrassing for everyone.

Look, you explain the actual point of this article to me and maybe I'll try to get it. From where I'm sitting, it just looks like an excuse for bad behavior. You don't seriously think people actually believe those labels, do you? 🤷

👍

swiftmarlin72 said:Hero, give me a break.☕
Playlife actually nailed it...
I guess I should be offended, since one of my buddies told me I was being a total coward today.
Honestly...🙂

Actually, I wasn't the one who got offended—it was my old man when I told him how it was.
☕
Damn. Now I'm just some outsider and a complete jerk too... What a mess.
👎

How am I doing? Like a total idiot, a complete loser, and a damn fool.

swiftmarlin72 said:And how am I doing? Like an idiot, a loser, or just some low-life hack.

Hold on a second, since when are you even in my league? 😲

I mean, did your old man kick you out on the street and leave you with nothing? Pretty sure he didn't, so...☕

Man, why’d you even post that? It honestly feels like we're just trying to apologize to people. We're Armada, and I truly don't give a damn what anyone else thinks about us. All that stuff from those guys—those communists or whatever—it's just typical fan provocation. Honestly, it'd be pretty boring without them anyway.

Raymond Gonzalez said:It would be highly beneficial if everyone actually took the time to read the article at this link. For those who consider themselves even remotely intelligent, certain things might finally click.👍

Look, let’s be real—I remember quite clearly how back in the old Yugoslavia days, you guys were always handing points to Hajduk and Dinamo, while Zvezda didn't get much of a break. That's exactly why we—and I mean the actual NK Rijeka fans, not just the Armada crowd—absolutely loathed you back in the old union. 😉

On another note, what year did Andre Mijatović join Dinamo again? If my memory serves me right, you greeted him with flowers when he came to play against Rijeka at Kantrida; then, as he was being cheered through the stadium, the applause was deafening 😉 (I'm not entirely certain it was Mijatović, but honestly, does it even matter?) ...meanwhile, whenever mus or anyone else headed off to Hajduk, they were met with nothing but whistles—with the exception of the Gračan group, of course 😉 ...in short, frankly, you deserve every bit of it—go ahead and drop down to the sixth division for all I care.

The sheer level of pure hatred and intensity those guys in Rijeka have toward Hajduk honestly goes way beyond anything remotely sane... I actually sat down with some buddies from the Armada to ask them why they’re so wound up, and their answer was basically just: we hate Hajduk, and we hate them with everything we've got.🤷

I’ve always felt they were pretty hypocritical. For instance, Dinamo brings twice as much trouble our way compared to Hajduk, yet we’re always the ones met with hostility whenever we show up at their place.

But honestly, I don't even see them as anything more than just another team—they aren't really true rivals to Hajduk in my eyes.

I don't know... I’ve always had a massive chip on my shoulder when it comes to Dinamo. It’s just a much more bitter rivalry for me. To be honest, I find the Torcida vibe a little less "likable" than the Boys—mostly because I feel like they lack objectivity and have this constant streak of arrogance, which has always rubbed me the wrong way. I end up losing my cool too, and then I’m out there making a scene all over town. 🤣

As for how we welcome those two teams... Hmm, I’m not so sure. Honestly, I think we might even go overboard with the insults aimed at Dinamo during our matchups. Man, it’s wild when I remember that time Modrić got absolutely leveled right in the center of the pitch and everything just went haywire—people were throwing stuff everywhere, even chairs. 😁

I really think people are exaggerating when they say Dinamo has an easier time in our territory than Hajduk; there's no way that's true. But I will say, Hajduk has always felt like a bit of a consolation prize to us. 😍

Beating Hajduk? Sure, that’s great from a purely footballing standpoint—it’s a solid result. But taking down Dinamo? That’s on an entirely different level of epic, especially when you consider all the history between us. Not many people will agree with me on this, but honestly, whenever we face Hajduk, it feels like playing a mid-tier side like Slaven—though I'll give them credit, the atmosphere at the stadium is definitely more electric. But against Dinamo? That’s when the old defiance kicks in—and yeah, maybe even a little bit of genuine hatred.

Raymond Gonzalez said:It would be incredibly helpful if people actually took the time to read the article at this link. I truly believe that even for those who consider themselves somewhat perceptive, certain things might finally start to make sense after reading it.👍

Honestly, this whole article feels about as substantive as an Olympic registration form, and I find myself genuinely perplexed as to why they wasted an entire page on it. Perhaps the writer gets paid by the word, though I can't say for sure. It’s quite odd to see someone using a platform that isn't theirs to write about Hajduk just to spark discussion here. It honestly feels like pure nonsense. Look, you aren't any different from the rest of the country—nobody in their right mind would compare cheering alongside some random group to the pride of wearing a player's jersey before a match. Like today, when we stand against racism—and I’m being a bit hyperbolic here—but does anyone actually care whether you're physically standing there wearing the gear or just sitting back reading a column before kickoff?
And, if I recall correctly, my time spent at Kantrida watching Hajduk really struck me; there was this unexpected display of civility from the general crowd toward us. I should mention, mind you, that this was back in the 80s. When I think of Mostar, I feel a sense of bitterness, whereas in Rijeka, there is this public perception that we are nothing more than uncultured hooligans. It seems like no matter where you go, it's all just a spectacle—fans doing this, people messing around with the locals, making fun of everyone... it's all just a farce. That version of Rijeka always felt like such a closed-off, peculiar city to me. To be perfectly honest, I've always viewed Rijeka as being on par with Osijek, maybe even a step below Vinkovci, simply because it was always such a massive struggle for us to scrape even a single point away from them.

Jonathan Smith12 said:The article is on par with those Olympic enrollment posts. I honestly don't get why they wasted an entire page on this. Maybe he gets paid by the word. It's not standard practice to write about "other people's" pages, yet here we are discussing Hajduk. Pure stupidity. To the rest of the country: nothing changes for us. No sane person would compare cheering with some random crowd to actually wearing the players' jerseys before a match. Like today’s stance against racism—fine, make a caricature, but nobody asked if you'd rather wear the jersey or just read a text before the game.
And what I experienced at Kantrida with Hajduk... the way the locals acted toward us was surprisingly polite, almost civilized. And I’m talking about the 80s. In Mostar, you feel pure hatred; in Rijeka, they publicly show how much of a wild savage we are. Basically, wherever you go, you're just an attraction. Fans, mocking the public, making fun of you—they'll be right there with you.That city, Rijeka, used to be totally closed off, a strange place. And Rijeka always felt like Osijek to me, maybe even weaker than Vinkovci because we could never seem to grab points there.

Rijeka is a crazy place; I walked through quite a few people, a more open city and crowd than I've ever seen🤷. Drawing conclusions about an entire city based on impressions from a single match day makes little sense.

Now we’ve reached the point where you’re actually complaining that the younger generation of fans doesn't hate you—they just treat you like some minor nuisance on the way to a game in Des Moines. Unbelievable... honestly, how are they supposed to hate you when you’ve basically ceased to exist? Ever since the police started cracking down on away crowds about a decade ago, you guys have been ghosts. The "new ultras" are just some tiny little group standing behind the goal at the stadium, showing up to away games in pathetic numbers and never actually making an attempt at anything. Most of our younger crowd just follows the routine: bus to the stadium, bus back, police everywhere, and that's it. How can there be any hatred? It’s just a bit of singing at the stadium and then everyone goes home. Besides, there’s always been this weird tension between us and the Chicago crowd anyway. These kids feel closer to the teams from the South than they ever did to you.
Back in the chaos of the eighties and through the whole nineties, you guys were at the top of the food chain when it came to that hatred. I know plenty of young people who still hold more resentment toward the Cleveland crew than they do toward the Los Angeles Dodgers—and that’s still true today. Both the club and the fans.
You're just a typical home-team group. The big rivalry between Cleveland and the Cleveland Guardians only really matters when it's played here in Cleveland. Half the time it turns into a great matchup, whereas in Miami, it’s always a blowout against teams like Varteks or whoever.

So, what kind of group should they be? An away squad?

Look, not everyone travels like you guys from Miami, dropping thousands just to show up at an away game 🤣
plus you’ve got all those local chapters, so there’s basically a million of you out there 🙏
You can't expect any city in the US with fewer than 200,000 people to have these insane numbers on the road; it's just not realistic
Especially when people keep nitpicking about how many fans are heading out from Miami
I'll bet anything it's not even more than 500, though based on your posts, people act like it should be way higher—especially since you're surrounded by 400,000 people and a club with way more history
Stop fighting

The hatred really kicked off when you lot started cheering alongside those guys from the Bronx against the Cleveland Guardians during that cup final in Belgrade—selling flares to the very same people you claim to despise, along with those crowds from Sarajevo and whoever else was in the mix, leading right into those massive riots in '88 and the smaller ones in '90.
Back in the day, when we were heading down to Cleveland the old-school way, the animosity was always there. During the early nineties, through all those little away trips, we’d cross the water and let me tell you, it was never exactly a pleasant experience. You’d get off the ferry at 7 AM, those massive gates would swing open for the cars, and you're just stuck there waiting—the game isn't until 8 PM, or you've got a ride back to Chicago at noon—all while dealing with constant drizzle, fog, and general crap. Then you'd catch some random bus line heading toward the coast, and that was the routine until the early 2000s. The last group that used to make that trek constantly was the Park E.M. crowd, and there was always something going down in Cleveland. After that, the cops started cracking down, setting up checkpoints everywhere before reaching the city. The younger generation coming out lately travels in these organized packs without even knowing what they're getting into; honestly, to me, you look more like some average, modern Italian ultra group. And after all these years, you haven't actually achieved anything. So, how exactly are people supposed to respect you? It's not like you even show up in Miami anymore... though there are still plenty of older fans who hate you more than the Chicago crowd does—which is probably the biggest compliment you'll get, aside from the few who genuinely loathe you, while the kids just treat you like some mid-tier local rivals.
Things change, I guess... these days, there are people (the younger ones) who hate the establishment more because of how they act in places like New Orleans than they ever will hate you, which isn't exactly a compliment either.
Anyway, I've been to Cleveland a million times; the people (who aren't part of the ultras) are fine. I always had a good time there, especially the local eateries.

I’m one of those old-school types who started hitting games back when things were different under the old flag,
I always respected the ultras as a group, but what I hated most was that mess against the Reds in the finals.

Visiting Cleveland was always a blast—exciting, intense, a gritty city with good people, at least back in my day..😛

But these kids today? They don't get the ultras at all. Not even close. They have zero memory of the old days, the Reds, the Cup, or the absolute chaos we used to see at the stadium...🤷

I mean, look—it’s the nature of the fan scenes here in America... maybe those veteran members of the fan club could start bringing up that whole mess about the flares being sold to those outsiders more often—you know, the stuff about the shared cheering rituals too. Honestly, it sucks... it really does... because it feels like the younger crowd just doesn't see us or respect where we're coming from anymore.

@shadowbison17/">@@shadowbison17

Either you’re genuinely bothered by what Matthew Foster8 and the rest of the group had to say—to the point where you'd rather look foolish than admit it—or you simply lack the capacity to follow the conversation.

Both the ultras and the fan clubs are basically just old-school Yugoslav types, constantly bickering over nothing at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnux2...eature=related

I’d love to weigh in on a few things here, but since hollowtrucker77 has started posting this PDF like it's his full-time job, I think I'll just keep my thoughts to myself.☕

But honestly, most of the time it’s just a bunch of love, hugs, and kisses...😍