Pogo on the terraces:Perspectives from Croatia

From its very emergence, there has been a particular connection between the punk and football scenes in the UK whether demonstrated by those in the limelight (Cockney Rejects’ links with West Ham’s Inter City Firm, for example) or simply ordinary young people whose lifestyles and identities were articulated simultaneously through punk and football fandom. Tracing the history of punk scenes in Croatia confirms the significance of these cross-scene connections. In the 1980s football stadia became appropriate(d) places for pogo dancing while punk concerts became home for football fans who joined the dancing adorned with scarves and team colours. In the 1990s, however, the shadow of war fell across football stadia, which became virtually‘no-go’ areas for punks while football fans became unwelcome intruders to punk concerts. The punks’ place on the terraces was taken by skinheads who, by the mid 1990s, had become a visible and aggressive element who engaged in frequent violent clashes with punks. This article, based on research of the punk scene in the cities of Zagreb and Pula, traces the complex and changing connections between punk and football in Croatia over the last three decades.