Legend has it that the stands of the newly built "Lagator" stadium are made of multi-colored seats to make it look like more people are watching the game than it really is.
Here's an idea for clubs struggling with low attendances at home games. True, the colored seat doesn't pay for the ticket, so the profit won't increase, but at least make it look like the ticket is hard to come by.
Ah, that Europe.
When Crvena zvezda met Barcelona last November in the new league format of the Champions League, official data says that 48.886 fans watched the match at "Rajko Mitić".
It is possible that there were more people in the stadium with a capacity of 51.755 that evening.
The remaining three games of our representative in the European competition on the home field were watched by an average of 40.000 spectators from the stands.
This season, 31.241 fans watched the victory of Zvezda against Lincoln in the second qualifying round for the same competition at the popular "Maracana".
On the other hand, the average of the past three games in the domestic championship is about 10.000 fans, but it depends on which data we look at. There are often multiple variants, depending on the source. It just so happens that the club's official figures do not match other estimates.
This season's Partizan matches in Europe are also much more watched than in the Serbian Super League. The defeat against AEK was watched by 23.253 fans, and the victory against Oleksandria by 27.757. The last match with Hibernian and the 2:0 defeat was watched by 26.342 gravediggers. The capacity of the JNA stadium is 29.775.
In the domestic league, Partizan played its only home game against Radnički from Kragujevac, and there were only about 3.500 loyal fans in the stands.
Even derbies don't fill the stadium.
If we focus on the two most trophy-winning Serbian clubs, with stadiums of the highest capacity, from which more spectators are expected in the stands, the 2024/2025 Superliga season was not about the search for a ticket anymore.
Three derbies with 31.610 and 18.000 fans at the "Rajko Mitić" stadium and 11.000 at the Partizan stadium.
RED STAR STADIUMPhoto: Tanjug/Vladimir Šporčić
If we exclude the "eternal" matches, the most attended Zvezda games are the one from the second round against Mladost, which was watched by about 16.000 fans, and the last game of the playoffs. Around 23.000 of the most loyal "Delia" fans came to the title celebration.
For many years, Partizan struggled with the intolerance of the fans towards the administration. The poor attendance last season could be attributed to the boycott by which the "Grabari" expressed their displeasure with the leaders of their club.
The most attended home game at JNA is the first game after the arrival of the new administration, headed by Rasim Ljajić. According to official data, 26 fans followed the victory against Čukaricki on October 17.156.
After that game, everything continued as before. One visit of about 7.000 fans, and then numbers of 1.200 to 3.000 of the most loyal supporters.
Cheering from home
A fan of Crvena zvezda Milan, from the vicinity of Loznica, tells "Vreme" how his club's matches used to be more attended than today. As he lives near the Drina and the border crossing, he recalled how earlier columns of fans from Bosnia used to go to Belgrade.
"There were always the fewest people from Belgrade at the matches. Before, they used to go from Bosnia to watch every game. They were columns, with all flags and banners. Now that has all stopped," he explains.
Nikola Mijatov, a historian and professor of sociology at the Faculty of Sports, tried to explain the "very complex phenomenon" of sports cheering for "Vreme".
He points out that one of the turning points that affected the number of spectators at the stadium was the global Covid pandemic.
"On a global level, people are increasingly confined to their homes, especially after the Corona virus pandemic. For example, cinemas are also failing because people prefer to watch movies from home. Television has made it possible to watch whatever we want in the comfort of home, including sports," says Mijatov.
Hooligans in stadiums, normal fans in front of the TV
He explains that one of the causes of the problem is that with the globalization of sports, all teams from all over the world are being followed.
"If we take the example of Serbia, clubs like Barcelona or Liverpool are followed far more than some others in the Serbian Super League, with the exception of Partizan and Zvezda. People know the squads of foreign clubs better than domestic ones and are more interested in them. This is the case everywhere in the world, not only in our country - usually only the best clubs are followed," emphasizes the professor.
As one of the problems, he cites the danger that matches bring with them.
"Safety in stadiums is also a big issue. They have become places for pouring out negative energy through fan groups, so a 'normal' person usually has nothing to look for in those stadiums. They are simply not places where a family would spend an afternoon. This is also a global phenomenon. For example, Fenerbahçe fans watch matches on TV, while there are ultras in the stadium," Miyatov told Vreme.
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