© EuroFootball.com
This is a man who has been supporting "Žalgiris" and the Lithuanian national team for two decades, traveling across Europe extensively. Known best to the country's football fans by the nickname "Storas," he is considered the leader of the "Southern IV" group supporting "Žalgiris" and generally the leader of the Lithuanian ultras. One of the most colorful personalities in Lithuanian football has agreed to give an exclusive interview to EuroFootball.com and talk about ultras, relationships with fans of other teams, his first visit to the stadium, travels, favorite club, and other questions.
- What is ultras? What is its ideology? - Let's say it's a certain way of life. A certain subculture. I don't know if it can be called an ideology. There are certain common principles of life and activities for almost all ultras, but it's hard to call it a specific common ideology. Well, it's just one of the types of fans. Active fans. Usually ultras are the most active supporters of a particular club, gathering in their dedicated section of the stadium. One of their main activities is to create as high a level of vocal and visual support for their team as possible. Everything is done in an organized way. Ultras don't come to any stand just to shout the club's name and spend their free time. What do they do besides this? Everything, like all people - breathe, eat, love, fight, sleep, and wake up...
- Why do some people consider ultras hooligans? - Well, first of all, a hooligan is not a constant state of a person, right? The same person can throw trash on the street and then take care of his wife and children that evening, be a great father. So it is with ultras - we may be called hooligans because we might respond to an insult with force, because we don't understand the idiotic law banning the use of pyrotechnics in stadiums, maybe even because we don't want to be just football consumers and try to implement our view of football and support. But overall, we are almost the same as any other people.
- What is missing in the football support culture in Lithuania? - Firstly, people. The stadiums are empty. Secondly, the mood of those people. Because when Lithuanians gather at the stadium, they at best chew sunflower seeds, and at worst, they "dudu" with aerosol smoke, somehow thinking that this is supporting culture... Lithuanians are also particularly nonchalant. Moreover, most think that getting drunk and brawling on the ground is a great addition to football... Overall, unlike in other countries, here people go directly to the match. This also says a little about our attitude towards football...
- How should this problem be addressed? - It is definitely a difficult problem to solve. It will certainly not be solved by the Lithuanian Football Federation or anyone else. I don't know who can teach Lithuanians at least to sing their national anthem... Even ultras are far from ideal on this issue and don't always strike the right chord...
There is another problem. People who come to the stadium imagine that the most important part of vocal support is to shout as loudly as possible. Compare our stadium during national team matches and almost any foreign stadium. In our stadium, when everyone tries to chant individually, the general noise becomes "cacophony."
Everywhere else, there is a main stadium "ringleader": ultras, who "lead the chants" throughout the match. The rest of the stadium has a choice: to support what the ultras lead or to remain silent. Here, if you don't have a choice, then you shout whatever comes to your mind at that moment. In Lithuania, there are often disagreements between ultras and other fans (if there are any, of course).
- How did the "South-IV" ultras group supporting "Žalgiris" come about? "The South-IV" group formed in 1985-87, and its history is quite long. If briefly, in the past, in the early times, the most passionate people walked around various sectors, but this could not last long because some people were lost. One day, everyone just decided to come to the "South-IV" stand and never left, always gathering there.
- What relationships does "South-IV" have with fans of other Lithuanian teams? - Well, all foreigners who are familiar with the Lithuanian fan scene say that Lithuania is a very strange country in this regard. There are no ultras wars here. Perhaps because, as far as I can remember, "South-IV" has always been clearly the strongest fan group in the country. And no one wants to test their fighting power against them.
On the other hand, it cannot be said that encounters with some foreign club ultras always end peaceably. Nevertheless, I think that the peace in Lithuania is due to the fact that the ultras movement is not popular and all groups are very few. They have grown a bit in recent years, but a few years ago, everyone knew each other as "skins," how could we fight in such conditions?..
Generally, the best relationships are with the ultras of Klaipeda's "Atlantas." After them, there would probably be the now non-existent Alytus "Dainava" club but still existing ultras group and Panevezys “Ekranas” “First Armada.”
- It is no secret that the "South-IV" ultras especially do not like other teams from the capital - "Vetra" and "Vilnius." Why? - This started not so long ago. However, other clubs were recently formed too. "Vetra" is disliked because of the "aggressive" advertising campaign of this club. "Vilnius" - because of the strange behavior of their ultras.
On the other hand, sooner or later there had to be competition between clubs for their fans. I think that soon Vilnius will no longer be the provincial "city of parish patriots." It aspires to be a metropolis, so the rules of the metropolis will touch football. The times when most people of Vilnius went to all the city's club matches and supported them all equally are gone. Now more and more people are choosing a specific club and disliking their competitors.
But is that a bad thing? I think not. Because now our matches against "Vetra" are a matter of principle, and for "Vetra" fans, the derby with "Vilnius" is also important. Look at our support. During the derbies, it is slightly better than during matches with, for example, "Suduva" or "Kaunas."
- Are there any disturbances and conflicts during the national championship matches in Lithuania? - Serious ones - no. Some minor incidents happen from time to time. Recently, there have been a few more such incidents. Perhaps because the fan groups have grown a bit. Now I no longer know all the active ultras of other clubs, whereas before we all knew each other like "skins."
- Ultras' relationships with the stadium security and police are often quite tense. What are the reasons for this? - Well, I would say that blame lies partly with both us and them. I think that in the future, both sides will have to come to terms with the fact that the presence of both in the stadium is inevitable.
On the other hand, tell me how the "Atlantas" ultras are supposed to reconcile with the local police, when a couple of years ago, the officers killed their friend, and the culprits not only have not been punished but are also "pulled by the ears" by the entire law enforcement system?
- When did you start getting interested in football? Your first visit to the stadium? - Let me tell you a paradoxical story. The first time I went to the stadium with my mom was because of my dad. I was just a few years old then. And how could I not stand football then... Where you had to sit, watch, see some uncles chasing the ball, and not understand why all the other uncles grabbed their heads, shouted, screamed, reacting to events on the field... Unbelievable? But that's how it was.
- And gradually, did you get used to it? - When "Žalgiris" climbed to the highest league of the USSR. Football had already "penetrated" my head by then. I watched all the matches on TV, spent days at the football field, and of course, I couldn't help but go to the stadium. I went with my classmates. Then the stadium already made a different impression on me. It enchanted me. Since then, if I hadn't attended the home matches of "Žalgiris," I think I wouldn't have missed twenty...
- What does "Žalgiris" and the Lithuanian national team mean to you? - "Žalgiris" means a way of life, emotions, friends from "South- IV" - almost everything. The Lithuanian national team is the expression of the nation, the homeland in football.
- Have you visited many countries? Which trips were most memorable and why? - Many trips have been memorable. For example, this year's trip to Italy (European Championship qualifying match between Lithuania and Italy, which ended 1-1). I could be proud that I am Lithuanian. However, we did not lose to the world champions.
I also remember the trip with the national team to the Czech Republic a few years ago. We lost the match then, but we won the "third half." The locals behaved very badly at the time - they burned our Tricolor. We were very angry, it didn't matter if there were more opponents or if they were bigger...
Also, "Žalgiris" matches in the "Intertoto" tournament in Budapest against "Honved," where we won the "throat battle" in the stands with such a margin that the local ultras applauded us when they left... I remember the longest trip - a double trip: Yerevan-Kyiv, which lasted 16 days.
And of course, I won't forget the "Žalgiris" matches in Belgrade during the Soviet era. That was my first time abroad. Just because of that, I remember it very well. But what happened at the "Crvena Zvezda" stadium during those matches, I have never seen with my own eyes again... The support of the Serbian team amazed me, and since then, I always love this city. The beauty of the country, nature, architecture - all of that - are secondary things.
- Are you interested in foreign football? - Let's say, a little bit.
- Not interested? - During the World or European Championships, only the "Žalgiris" matches can distract me from the TV. However, the commercialization of the Champions League is becoming distasteful to me. Generally, I am more interested in the foreign fan movement than the foreign football itself...
- Do other ultras have the same attitude? - Not necessarily. Some are more interested, others less. For some, what "Milan" or "Inter" won is more important, for others (including me) - what is being won in the stands.
- Approximately how many times have you been abroad and how many countries have you visited? - It would be better if I answer the other way around. Of the current 53 UEFA members, I have not been to eight countries. However, I have never counted how many times I have been there...
- What do you think about the changes at "Žalgiris"? Do you believe that the new owners can bring the club back to its former glory? - It can't bring it back to its former glory. Because back in the day, "Žalgiris" was nothing more than the Lithuanian national team. In the end, let's forget that nostalgia for the legendary "Žalgiris." It's a glorious part of the club's history, but repeating it in today's conditions is impossible.
Overall, I think that the changes are beneficial. With the arrival of new owners, it was a new impetus and hope for me.
Everyone curses Janusas Loputis, but many of them don't remember that without him, "Žalgiris" might not have survived at all. For that, I am grateful to him. But with the change of owners, there is much more hope.
- What do you wish for Lithuanian football fans? - I don't know what to wish for, I'm not a football star... I actually wish that their numbers keep growing...
