Supporters
Although the club had an army of supporters throughout the history, its first organized group of followers emerged in 1986. The most faithful and eager followers established the group Bad Blue Boys (often abbrevated BBB). As legend has it, the name was inspired by the 1983 film Bad Boys starring Sean Penn in the main role. The group aroused a great interest and BBB branches started appearing in all parts of Zagreb. The fans soon started organizing departures to visiting matches themselves to voice their support for the club.
On 17 March 1986, the first official fan club Bad Blue Boys was founded. Since its formation, the Bad Blue Boys traditionally situate on the north stand of Stadion Maksimir. During the Croatian War of Independence the fans offered their support to Franjo Tuđman and the conservative right-wing HDZ in Croatia's first elections and a lot of them were also the soldiers of Croatian Army or in the police forces who participated in the war. The monument Shrine to the Croatia Knights was built below the west stand of Stadion Maksimir to honour all of Dinamo fans who have died on the battle fields.
The BBB are often accused for hooliganism, which resulted in both UEFA and Croatian Football Federation disciplinary bodies penalizing Dinamo on several occasions. These incidents are caused by minor number of hooligans who are constantly accused for causing material damage, fights with police forces, flare throwing and racism. Despite all those incidents, the BBB are praised among the other fans for their constant and loud support during Dinamo's matches.
From 11 August 2010 the Bad Blue Boys were boycotting the club's matches due to their dissent with the club's board. The boycott ended on 30 August 2011, but remained active for the UEFA Champions League matches that season.
Read more about this topic: GNK Dinamo Zagreb
Famous quotes containing the word supporters:
“The hydra of corruption is only scotched, not dead. An investigation kills and it and its supporters dead. Let this be had.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“His [O.J. Simpson’s] supporters lined the freeway to cheer him on Friday and commentators talked about his tragedy. Did those people see the photographs of the crime scene and the great blackening pools of blood seeping into the sidewalk? Did battered women watch all this on television and realize more vividly than ever before that their lives were cheap and their pain inconsequential?”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“No Government can be long secure without a formidable Opposition. It reduces their supporters to that tractable number which can be managed by the joint influences of fruition and hope. It offers vengeance to the discontented, and distinction to the ambitious; and employs the energies of aspiring spirits, who otherwise may prove traitors in a division or assassins in a debate.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)