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SRDJAN DUJE ALJINOVIC


Love towards Hajduk?
Supporting wise, my whole family is crazy about Hajduk. My mom and dad, their whole life had their season tickets with them for west part of the stadium, until my dad died in '76, the whole city knew them. Brother Jera, my other brother Panta and myself were crazy about Hajduk. We wouldn't eat for 3 days if Hajduk lost a game.

First game?
In '46 I went to my first game with my dad. With Red Star. We won 5:0 in Split. I was in the first grade at the time, and my dad told me "I want your report card to resemble the score of this game".

Torcida?
When Torcida was established, I was 11 years old, and those that started it all were 20-24 years old. Back then, they didn't let you in their circles, so you didn't know too many details about it. After some of them ended up in prison, no one could talk about it much, it was known that the biggest legend of them all was Zuvela and that he ended up the worse. Many years later it wasn't good to hang around them because they were followed.

Loyalty?
When we played with Zeljeznicar in `66, 3 rounds before the end of the season, when we played to stay in the league, Plac was packed. People would walk 60-70 km to watch that game. People from Dubrovnik would walk to Split because there was no one to give you a lift. From Rijeka, supporters arrived with the ship. It was enthusiastic and enormous love for Hajduk, on the training there would be 5 or 6 thousands alone, and the players were enthusiastic too. There were players that would play for Hajduk and then walk back home 30 km.

Songs?
The first thing that I remember was at the end of 40's there was chanting of "Haj-duk, Haj-duk" just like how Croats outside of Croatia yell out these days when the game is played in some other country. Then Torcida from Zagreb though of 'Tres, tres, trese se...'. that was fantastic when everyone sang. Later on we started singing "Marjane, Marjane", that was like an anthem, with that people sang "barjak druga Tita", while others "nas barjak hrvatski" or something similar, so you couldn't have known what was actually sang. Some of those were undercover cops and you were affrayed of them more than today, because you could have gotten 10 years of imprisonment. Someone would always make new rhymes. We started singing 'Bili su bili vrhovi planina' in 70's.

First away game?
In Titograd, in 1950's, because at the time in Split there were no buses, we went there with a truck. Sometimes it took us like 7 days for the trip. One time, when we played in Sibenik against Belgrade (because we were punished), one guy Bucevic and myself went there with a motor bike, that was from this Luksica, a water polo player, back then there were only 3 of those in Split. It took us 8 and a half hours to get there, because the roads were not as good as today. We would go there night before, so that we can make it on time.

Average years on away games?
When later on we started travelling with train, those that were 19 or 20 years old to those that are 64 as I am today, but the average was around 30 years. It was never known how to organize a train, like for example we're playing in two days in Zagreb, someone would go and buy the tickets for two carriages, and there are 10 of us in one. The tickets were not expensive, especially for the younger crowd, but lets say that one of those tickets today to Belgrade would be like 120 Croatian kuna's, and 90 percent of people that use to travel for see Hajduk back then were working or were students.

Banners?
The middle of east stands, where the flags were located, there would be a banner, mostly about a brother, tovar, father, or whatever, who you don't like and similar. Until the start of 70's there were no political banners. The police was most concerned about Croatian flag. Sometimes, someone from Hercegovina or Imotski would come, and they were considered a bit more extreme when it comes to that, and would bring some political banner. Then you would have to move from it, change your shirt, so that they don't get you, it was good because there were no cameras. 

Pyrotechnics?
We started using the flares at the beginning of 60's, but we used rockets with parachutes more , because the flares were not good as those today. They were big and heavy, you had to wear the gloves while handling them. It was crazy, especially when we won the cup in '67 against Sarajevo 2:1. When it comes to pyrotechnics, Ivo Pursic helped us, he was navy admiral and Iso Jukic.
Straight away after Sarajevo and Tottenham, we started to take them with us on away games. It wasn't a problem taking them inside the stadium because there was not much security at the gates, they would only check if your ticket was real, because we'd usually make three out of one. Normally, if the rockets were bigger, we'd put them in banners and hide them.
My brother once launched the rocket, it went past the airplane. It was a two seater plane from Sinj which had the banner behind it saying "Naprid Bili". Then they saw that the rockets were dangerous, so they started to search us before entering the stadiums. Somewhere around '72 - '73 they slowly started to punish you because of pyrotechnics . So we sometimes use to dig the rockets and smoke bombs before the game under the stands, and would then take them out.

Stands on Stari Plac?
Whoever comes to play in Split from outside of the city they would go to east, In the middle of the eastern stands is where all the organized chanting was from, with lots of flags. On north there were kids and soldiers, and my generation. When in '71 the wooded stands were built at the eastern part, then my group moved there from the north, and then it all started to expand. We became "Wild east". The kids and pensioners remained on the north side, it was more of a middle class part of the stadium, that didn't want to move or support that much, so before the game with Olimpija we gave them small flags to wave, but that wasn't that successful. At the higher part of the northern stands, there were directors, secretaries, party members...
Then those Velez fans would try to sneak in the eastern stands, but we would stop them. When they started to chant, we kicked them out from those stands. We called that liquidation.

Fights?
Hm, once at Plac, with Partizan there was a crazy match, big fight with the soldiers at the stadium. Thats where I nearly killed my own dad after he tried to take me away from the fight, so you know what kind of situation it was. One started going towards me with a bottle. Then we made a circle, 10 of us, and 10 of navy guys. Later on I was locked up because of that, myself and my wife's brother, Bura, and one guy Sore..., but it all ended up ok. One navy guy went to my wife's brother with a broken bottle. When we played against Red Star or Sarajevo, I can't remember which one, army was located at the north stands and after the game they all went out through the small doors, like 2 thousands of them, you would throw everything on them that you find around you. You couldn't miss, you would get 3 of them with one throw. They would fall like dominos. Pursic told them not to go to the games anymore, they didn't appear in the city. Then later on the army started going to the games in smaller groups, on different parts of the stadium, but there were troubles again at games with Partizan, Sarajevo, Vardar...
When it comes to those incidents, the most responsible person for them are journalists like MIljenko Smoje and others, who would 3 or 4 days before the game write stuff like "Red star our brotherly club is coming", or Partizan... don't sing stuff like "Marjane, Marjane", don't do this, don't do that. That would provoke the public to do the opposite of what they have been told. The police in uniform and with the help of the undercover ones that were within us, would lock up anyone who would yell out something. For the fight referees's were also responsible, son of a bitches, when they rule something wrong they would pay. 

Incidents at away games?
We were crazy as ultras, but it was much fairer back then compared to today. There were no knifes, bottles, there was no one coming at you behind your back... There were fights in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Subotica, Tuzla, Skoplje, everywhere, but most problems we had in Mostar. Somewhere around 70's when we went to Mostar with the car we would take chains with us if it becomes too rough you had to use that. For example in Buna and those places on the way to Mostar, near the road there would be a women waving Hajduk's flag. You wave back to her, and as you get closer, she hits you with a gravel, on which the flag was attached, but you could not see that straight away.
Somewhere '66, '67, '68 it was already scary to go to Mostar because it was known that sometimes someone's car would end up demolished, and then we started organizing in groups of 15 - 20 people. Those groups were not like those today, when you go with people from your suburbs, but were more generation based, or there would be a group of alcoholics or things like that. You had to organise against those enemy supporters, that have never been to Split. You always have a better chance when you're in a group, otherwise if you are not organized or alone, you're gonna get your ass kicked. Those assholes of 'supporters' never had the balls to come to Split, and even if they come, they would be protected like panda bears. On away games we didn't have anyone to fight with, we'd mostly have problems with police, or we start to fight with each other.
'65 in Zagreb, we take down the flag of markets and put on Hajduk's flag.
'67/'68 we were walking to the stadium and on one intersection, policeman was there, and my brother punched the radio station of motor BMW which was parked at the side. The policeman started to chase him. Then Zele Marici which had his white jersey on, started to boss the traffic, totally locking it for hours. Even the day after newspapers wrote about it.
'68'/'69 we rented two rooms with double beds, 15 of us. My brother Jera, who was an autoelectirican, had 2 battery's of 12 walts and fire mans siren, he connected them to the roof of 'Dubrovnik'. The siren was on the whole night, the whole Zagreb got pissed. No one knew what was going on, nor from where, or why. In Zagreb, in Ilica, there was a restaurant 'Split', somewhere '70/'71, we came there to celebrate after the game which Hajduk won against Dinamo 1:0. Inside we drank when about 15 soldiers get in and the fight started. We took their belts, we kicked their ass. An hour later after all that, when the police came we found out that all those soldiers were actually Hajduk fans from Dalmatia too, they came there to celebrate like we did, it's just that we didn't know each other.
'73 after the game in Zagreb, about 300 of us. All sorted out by our height. From the tallest to shortest. First it was Donandini, then me, then Vrandecic from Brac and that was like a train, 200 meters long, we walked and whistled a theme song of "The bridge on the river Kwai". And when we got to the center, there were many Zagreb residents, one of us yelled out: "Now!", and those people thought that we're gonna attack them, and they ran away, and we just sat on the floor.

About Purgers?
When we sang Hajduk songs, they still sang "Na sljeme, na sljeme", "Samoborcek" and other their songs.

Throughout Knin?
Before when we use to go to away games, throughout Knin, there would be like 700 or 800 of us, and if some guy talked shit on the side, or some army guy, you'd bash him straight away. No one could do anything to us, they were all scared of us, 2 or 3 streets around train station would be empty when we go there. After '71 the police started to put the pressure on us, and somewhere around '74 they would not let you get out at the train station, so we hit the breaks a couple of times and get out before we get there.

Sport antagonism?
I hated Dinamo as much as I hated Mornar and Poska in Split. I hated those sailors because I was born on Matejuska. Red Star and Partizan were always far away, 500 hills away from me, I never gave them too much attention, while Dinamo was closer, and was like yours, you were in more contact with it, who would always pretend to be tough.

Begging?
In my time there was no begging for money from players and I hate this picture today. They were like a people from mitology and you were honored just to be around them, and until 70's, players, besides playing in the club, worked in the factory's so they could not afford much. Only later on, when some players get motor bikes, you might have borrow it for a spin or two.

Relationship between parents and supporting the club?
They were mostly proud of us for supporting Hajduk, its hard to explain that, but they were fucked from the previous war. One time when in '67 all three of us brothers went to Belgrade with the bus, our mother asked why the fuck are we going in the same bus. She wouldn't tell you, but you knew it, if something happens to the bus, she would lose all three of her children.

Islanders?
There were great supporters from the islands, from Brac, Solta, Hvar, Korcula, Vis, while we could never go to Vis. Later on in late 60's we would wait for them at the shipyard, and they would lit their flares on the arrival. They had a great group.

City Derby?
When Split got in the first league the scandals started even inside the family. Split had about 10000 of their supporters and straight away it started with 'who burned down who's house' and stuff...They told young people all kind of bullshit like that Hajduk is rich, and Split is working class, which is all just bullshit.

Favorite players?
Every generation has its own, and depending from what suburb you were from. We loved Lukas, respected Frane. There were players that were like warriors like Broketa, Kokeza, Lustica, they were all great players so you could not distinguish between them. Then later a new generation arrived Ivo Bego, Stipe Ilic, Pave Garov... then Muzinic. We liked the players that, how should I say, enter the brain of someone else.
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