Armada are a football

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

group that support

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka ( en, Croatian Football Club Rijeka), commonly referred to as NK Rijeka or simply Rijeka, is a Croatian professional football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka compete in Croatia's top division, HT Prva lig ...

. They also support Rijeka's other sports clubs, such as RK Zamet ( handball), Primorje EB (

waterpolo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

) and KK Kvarner 2010 (

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

). The name Armada was given in 1987 at a bar in the "Ri" shopping mall in Rijeka, and the first game attended by the Armada was the Final of the Yugoslav football cup against Hajduk Split in Belgrade on 9 May 1987. The newly formed supporters group named themselves after the Spanish Armada because of the strength they showed in their support. Their fiercest rivals are BBB (

Bad Blue Boys Bad Blue Boys (BBB) are an ultras group who support the Croatian football club GNK Dinamo Zagreb and Futsal Dinamo. History Bad Blue Boys were officially founded on 17 March 1986 in Zagreb, with members from different areas of the city. The n ...

Torcida Torcidas organizadas () are formal (or informal) associations of football fans in Brazil in the same vein as '' barras bravas'' in the rest of Latin America, ''hooligan firms'' in United Kingdom and ''ultras'' in the rest of Europe, Asia, Aus ...

and Kohorta. At home games, Armada members gather in the west stand at Stadion Kantrida, from where they fiercely support their club. They also regularly support Rijeka in the club's away games. They regularly display choreographies and light up flares. Their

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

s are: ''Sami protiv svih'' - Alone against everybody, and ''Krepat, ma ne molat'' - Die but not give up. Armada's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

is a

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

. There are numerous Armada murals around the city of Rijeka, and its surroundings, showing each neighbourhood's support and love for the club. The murals, a form of

urban art Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

, stretch from

Jelšane Jelšane (; it, Elsane) is a village in the Municipality of Ilirska Bistrica in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia, right on the border with Croatia. The Jelšane Border checkpoint, international border crossing between Slovenia and Croatia is ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

in the north,

Novi Vinodolski Novi Vinodolski (, often also called Novi or ''Novi del Vinodol'' o ''Novi in Valdivino'' in Italian) is a town on the Adriatic Sea coast in Croatia, located south of Crikvenica, Selce and Bribir and north of Senj. The population of Novi is 3,988 ...

in the east,

Lošinj Lošinj (; it, Lussino; vec, Lusin, earlier ''Osero''; german: Lötzing; la, Apsorrus; grc, Ἄψορρος) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, in the Kvarner Gulf. It is almost due south of the city of Rijeka and part of the P ...

, on

island, in the south, and

Lovran Lovran ( it, Laurana, german: Lauran) is a village and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia. It is situated in eastern Istria, on the western coast of the Kvarner Bay with a population of 4,101 in the municipality and 3,336 in th ...

in the west. The location and photos of murals can be found on Armada's official website.

References

External links

*
NK Rijeka official websiteForza FiumeHoću Ri
{{HNK Rijeka 1987 establishments in Croatia Croatian football supporters' associations HNK Rijeka Ultras groups