Return to Belgrade - Serbian Groundhop 9

The 9th edition of the Serb hop took place between 27 November and 1 December 2025

Organised by our great Serb host, Alek Pekovic and the indomitable Peter Miles

My 5th Serb hop, some similarities with the Romanian version but there are some differences, I love this hop but it is not for everyone, it is not just about the football but also the culture, meeting other fans from different countries but at the same time visiting some great stadiums - if getting in as many games as possible is your thing, this is not for you - having a group meal, visiting an Orthodox Church, an occasional monastery, enjoy a bottle of the local spirit with both teams after a game are all part of the experience.

The Serb hop is also a great one for supporters making their first trips outside the UK, in the company of supporters from the UK, Denmark and Norway - sharing information, trying to include everyone is also part of the ethos of these hops - and re-visits not an issue - as obvious any new visitor to Serbia will want to see both Red Star and Partizan.

32 of us were on the 9th version of the hop, coming from Serbia, UK, Norway and Denmark - some arriving early on the Wednesday to see Red Star in a top basketball match. We had 7 games planned 6 from the top 2 divisions and one non-league game. 3 re-visits (if you had been on every Serb hop) but an option to miss one of those games to see the Red Star Ice Hockey team play.

No pens allowed but pyrotechnics are OK!

Saturday 8 April 2017, Partizan Belgrade 2 FK Radnik Surdulica 1 - Supa Liga, Stadion Partizan

After the morning game which contained plenty of good football, with the players all being very talented technically it was surprising how poor the first team game was - and the result also looked quite dodgy!

Partizan needed a win but the opponents scored first- certainly not in the planned script, Partizan got back in the game and then the Ref did not want any more upsets, so he sent a few of the Surdulica players off just to make sure Partisan got over the line- well that is what seemed to happen to most of us watching.

Now I want to go back to Belgrade for the derby match v Red Star, and even today there was trouble even with no away fans present- it seemed that the Red Star Ultras turned up to burn a few Partizan flags outside the ground then one Red Star fan was spotted in the ground- a quick chase and fight followed.

The ground itself is typical of the East European bowl, but luckily the rain kept off as not much cover. We had very little pyrotechnic use but some were smuggled into the ground- not sure how? As our group even had their pens confiscated!! How did they expect these groundhoppers to fill in their legendary notebooks?

Technically superb = Partizan U19 v FK Brodarac U19

Saturday 8 April 2017, Partizan Belgrade U19 1 FK Brodarac 4 - Omladinska Liga, SC Partizan-Teleoptik

Now together as a group of 45 intrepid groundhoppers we set off by coach for the Partizan training ground. A Government Minister and made sure that Partizan had a set up as good as many in the west. The ground, locally known as 'Zemunelo' is also home to FK Teleoptik a team at the top of the Srpska Liga Beograd Zona (Regional third division).

A crowd of almost 400 were at the game which was a local derby and it was the visitors who dominated and were by far the better team, I found out one of the possible reasons from our guide who is also a sports journalist. The Partizan team were actually Under 18 whilst their opponents Under 19. It seems at 18 the Partizan players find themselves on 'loan' at Teleoptik. So the club who share the ground seem to be a Partizan nursery club. Not sure if taht will be able to continue if Teleoptik get promotion (they were top at the time of our visit).

The quality of the football was excellent and easy on par with the academy football in  England. there is also much more public support for the U19 teams than in the UK.

Only issue was that we were quite cold as the rain always threatened - disappointing as we heard the UK was in the middle of a mini heatwave!

For a better report of this game, check the blog from Peter Miles