Ultraver

Football fans in the focus of the lens

The St. Petersburg football fans, or as they are also called - “ultras”, joy: “Zenith” reached the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. A lot has been written about the club players. But what do we know about ultras? In addition to the fact that the RFU fines Zenit for tidy amounts for the antics of the fans, whether it is the use of prohibited pyrotechnics or aggressive behavior

One of the main indicators of fidelity to the club is the number of trips together with the club - to other cities and countries. Those who visited the club’s visiting games for one season receive the right to enter the prestigious “golden exit”. They get, as a rule, by train or bus, and sometimes by plane.

St. Petersburg ultras is about 5 thousand people (part of the organized groups of fans, the other is loners), this is their own hierarchy, discipline, values ​​and leaders. These are your own flags, banners (including historical topics) and fires, songs and river. They even have their own choir, which monitors the renewal of the repertoire and how things are in other clubs, not only in Russia-around the world, and is arranging rehearsals in the fan bar twice a week.

Ultras is a subculture. Their image is glued from stereotypes: aggressive undergrowth, asocial types, vandals and brawls. Real ultras are offended when they hear this. “To know us, we must be with us,” they say. And this is true: there are a variety of people here, often with prestigious work and good education.

Among fans, tattoos with the name of the club or its logo are popular.

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"In order to truly know and understand us, we must be with us"

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A game on the road is not only the match itself, it is also adventure, extreme, the experience of communication, and booze, of course.

Among the ultras, there are special groups that are responsible for the input of the repertoire, songs and chants, as well as “Coreography” - visual support.

Photos: Mikhail Domozhilov