Torcida Mitrovicë, also known as Torcida 1984, is an

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

group in Mitrovica,

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. Torcida are one of the major sports fan groups in

and one of the largest in

Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

. Founded in 1984, they are the oldest

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

ultra group.

History

The beginnings of the supporters group can be traced back to the 1970s when

KF Trepça Klubi Futbollistik Trepça, commonly known as KF Trepça, is a professional football club based in the southern part of Mitrovica, Kosovo. The club currently plays in the First Football League of Kosovo in Group A. KF Trepça was founded in 19 ...

played in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

. Torcida first appeared on stage in 1981 with its banners Armata e Minatoreve, Vëllëzërit Shqiptarë Torcida in the handball match Trepca- Vardari in a great atmosphere where Trepca won this important match. After the match, the two leaders, Qeti and Xhelali, were imprisoned because of the banners with the inscription "Torcida". After being released from prison, the banners with the name Torcida did not appear on stage for a long time. On 20 March 1984, Shefqet Begu, also known as Qeti, officially founded Torcida Mitrovicë. His inspiration came from

Torcida Split Torcida Split is a HNK Hajduk Split supporters' group in Croatia with the branches in other countries, mostly, (but not exclusively) among Croat communities. Founded on 28 October 1950, Torcida is the oldest supporters group in Europe. The ...

, the oldest European ultras, of which he was a member. After the start of the cultural oppression of the ethnic Albanian population, Torcida Mitrovicë also started to support other Kosovan sports teams and contributed to the independent sports leagues. Many members later joined the

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Republic of Serbia (1992–2006), Republic of R ...

. One of them was Besim Nuka who was killed in action against the Serbian forces in the Battle of Koshare and was posthumously declared a Hero of Kosovo. After the

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, Torcida Mitrovicë regularly supported the Trepça clubs and even the Albanian national team against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 2001 being the first supporters group from

to do so.

Politics

Since their foundation Torcida Mitrovicë promotes

Greater Albania Greater Albania () is an irredentist and nationalist concept that seeks to annex the lands that many Albanians consider to form their national homeland. It is based on claims on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in ...

and seeks for Unification of Albania and Kosovo. They criticize the division of Mitrovica and opposed the

Kosovo–Serbia land swap A land exchange has been proposed between Serbia and the partially recognized state of Kosovo to make their border run along ethnic lines. Initially rejected by the international community, the little progress made by the European Union-backed B ...

Relations with other supporters

Rivalries

Their biggest rival are

Plisat Football Club Prishtina (, ), commonly known as Prishtina, is a professional football club based in Pristina, Kosovo. The club plays in the Football Superleague of Kosovo. It is the most successful domestic club. History The club was founded i ...

. The rivalry is the most known rivalry in Kosovo due to the history of both clubs. It started in 1945 when Trepça and Prishtina were the dominant clubs in the Kosovo Province League. There were several incidents between Torcida and Plisat, Prishtina's supporters club. The incident which made the most headlines was the incident in

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

in 2015 where ten fans were arrested and four fans ended up injured. Another rival is Forca from

Vushtrri Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria; sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн, ''Vučitrn'') is a List of cities in Kosovo, city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Mitrovica, Mitrovica District in Kosovo. According to the 2024 c ...

Brother Groups

Brother groups are Ballistët from Tetovë and Ujqërit e Dëborës from

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

References

{{KF Trepça KF Trepça 1984 establishments in Kosovo Ultras groups Albanian football supporters' associations