ABSTRACT

Antagonistic cooperation between Torcida and the Bad Blue Boys (BBB) is analysed on the basis of the research, which provided an understanding of football supporters as social protagonists, fighting against Modern Football in the Croatian social context. The role and importance of top-level sport - especially football - in forming modern Croatia's national identity has been emphasised in literature consistently and constantly. After that and during the peak of the transition process in Croatia and the process of the commodification of football, there was no ethnographic research into football supporters in Croatia other than that relating to Torcida. Torcida and BBB had been battling with the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) and Mamic long before the truce. Torcida had also been fighting the former management of Hajduk, although this negative feeling eventually dissipated and a good relationship with the present management has been established.