The Cellist of Sarajevo

The Cellist of Sarajevo

Celtic supporters know more than most that the character of some football clubs is inextricably linked to their history. The foundation of Celtic among the poor and marginalised Irish-Catholic community of Glasgow in the 1880s set a stamp on the club which lasts to this day. Identity is a key part of any football club and it is fostered by a common understanding of the club’s history and the values it espouses. Celtic looks to be an inclusive and welcoming club and today the support is more diverse than it has ever been. There will always be debates among fans about various things affecting the club but the support is generally united behind the team and focussed on driving them on to more success.

Of course Celtic’s identity and success in time led to Rangers being fostered as the Scottish team best placed to put the ‘Irishmen’ in their place. It could be argued that the identity of Rangers has been largely shaped by their rivalry with Celtic. The rivalry certainly has political overtones but it pales into insignificance when we consider the history of some clubs in the world.

Celtic’s Champions League Qualifier with Sarajevo FC in July will see them play once more in the Republic which was once part of Yugoslavia. That country, carved out of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire in the days after world war one, was a conglomerate of various religious and national groups who coexisted sometimes uneasily until the calamities of the early 1990s. Communist dictator Josef Broz Tito kept a lid on nationalist tendencies in his state and was in some ways the glue holding the country together. His slogan; ‘Brotherhood and Unity’ was known to all in the communist country but his death saw the first cracks appear in that fragile unity. The economic troubles of Yugoslavia in the 1980s and the imminent collapse of communism in Eastern Europe added to the tensions building in the Balkan state.

Football mirrored the pressures building in the former Yugoslavia and in the Croatian Republic’s elections in 1990 pro-independence candidate Franjo Tudjman won. This did not go down well with Serbia nor the Serb minority in Croatia. A month after this election a match took place between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade in the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb. The clubs were the symbolic representatives of Croatia and Serbia and their more hard core fans were ready for trouble.

The Red Star ‘Delije’ Ultras were led by Zelijko Raznatovic who would become infamous in the Balkans war as Arkan, leader of the murderous ‘Serb Volunteer Guard.’ (Arkan’s Tigers) The Zagreb Ultras, known as the Bad Blue Boys were ready for trouble too as were the Police who were out in force for the match. There was violence in Zagreb before the game but the increasing levels of violence on the terraces and eventually on the field of play led to the match being abandoned. The Red Star players left the field but the Dinamo players did not and this led to one of the most famous, or depending on your outlook - infamous, kicks ever delivered by a footballer. Dinamo Zagreb captain, Boban, perceiving that the Police were far from neutral enforcers of the law got involved in the mayhem and delivered a drop kick to one of the riot Police. It was captured on camera and Boban immediately became a Croatian hero. Some rather dramatically called it the ‘kick which started a war’ but in truth the disintegration of Yugoslavia was well underway by then and Boban’s kick was a symbol of the increasing tensions which were soon to lead to open conflict.

Tensions between the various republics which made up Yugoslavia increased and the war which followed brought to the surface ethnic, religious and nationalist differences which fuelled bitterness and led to some truly dreadful crimes against humanity. As Serbia and Croatia descended into open warfare, Bosnia’s politicians discussed possible independence for their ethnically mixed republic but they were warned by Serb leader Radovan Karadžić   of the consequences of separating from Yugoslavia…

‘This, what you are doing, is not good. This is the path that you want to take Bosnia and Herzegovina on, the same highway of hell and death that Slovenia and Croatia went on. Don't think that you won't take Bosnia and Herzegovina into hell, and the Muslim people maybe into extinction. Because the Muslim people cannot defend themselves if there is war here.’

For the city of Sarajevo, war meant enduring a 1425 day siege by the Serb controlled Yugoslav National Army which used shells, mortars, tank and sniper fire to decimate the defenders and civilian population. Over 15,000 people died in the siege. Of course the Yugoslav Football league had collapsed by then as players and fans had far more important issues than football to deal with. One of FC Sarajevo’s best players in the 1970s and 80s was Zelimir 'Keli' Vidovic, who had played abroad as well as for the Yugoslav national side. An ethnic Serb like many in Bosnia, he was in Sarajevo during the siege and it was while helping evacuate wounded civilians to a hospital he was stopped at a Serb military checkpoint. He was taken away and never seen alive again. It is thought that he was killed by Arkan’s para-military group after being recognised as a former footballer. His remains were found in a mass grave in 1996 and in 2004 he was reburied in Sarajevo. In his coffin was placed the maroon strip of FC Sarajevo.

At the height of the siege, well know cellist Vedran Smailovic appeared in bombed out buildings playing the hauntingly beautiful Adagio in G Minor by Albinoni. The so called ‘cellist of Sarajevo’ reminded people that even amid the ugliness of war there could still be beauty and hope for better days ahead. His music was a protest against the war and a prayer for peace. He played regularly in ruined buildings and at a host of funerals risking the ire of Serb snipers in the surrounding hills. He now lives in in County Down, Ireland, a country itself dealing with the legacy of conflict and trying to find a way forward to a better future.

The horrors of the early 1990s may now be consigned to the history books but as in other conflicts the legacy of violence and loss lingers on. Today FC Sarajevo is a club with a social conscience. It seeks to foster inter-community relations by sponsoring multi-ethnic football team, FC Guber. It supports refugees and its charitable foundation helps disadvantaged children, funds a shelter for battered women and allows its clinic to be used as a blood collection centre each month. The war may have left indelible scars on Sarajevo but its football club is trying to be part of the healing process which brings the city and indeed wider country together.

Celtic fans visiting there in July will no doubt be aware of some of the history of the city of Sarajevo. This diverse city can boast a Mosque, Synagogue, Catholic Church and Orthodox Church in one district. It is well known in the west as the setting for the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, an event which began the First World War and of course most will recall the dreadful siege in the early 1990s. However, it is reinventing itself and rebuilding for what it hopes will be a peaceful and better future. I’m sure Celtic fans will be respectful of the city, the host club’s history and enjoy their visit there. The match will take place in the stadium where U2 performed in 1997 and sang, among others, their song, ‘Miss Sarajevo’ to 45,000 ecstatic music fans. Celtic supporters will of course back their team with the usual enthusiasm but will know that there are some things more important than football. That being said they will want the team to put on a performance and try to progress to the next round of the qualification process. FC Sarajevo will of course make it tough for Celtic as will the summer heat but it is a tie Celtic should approach with confidence.

Football at its best can bring people together and I’m sure Celtic and their supporters will make new friends in Sarajevo. When the game kicks off we’ll no doubt be engrossed in the action but happy to see young men test themselves on the football field and not the battlefield. 

We can’t change history but we can learn from it and help create a better future.