Few supporter groups have influenced the modern history of Partizan’s South Stand as strongly as Alcatraz. Known in Serbian as Alkatraz, the group rose from one faction within the wider Grobari movement to become the dominant force behind organised support at Partizan Stadium during the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Its period of control produced some of the loudest atmospheres, largest away followings and most recognisable images in the recent history of the South Stand. It was also accompanied by internal divisions, confrontations with rival groups, criminal proceedings involving prominent individuals and an increasingly complicated relationship between football support, club officials, politics and the streets of Belgrade.
Alcatraz should not be confused with Grobari as a whole. Grobari is the collective name for Partizan’s organised supporters, while Alcatraz is one group within that much larger and historically fragmented movement. It is also incorrect to describe Janjičari or Principi as later names for Alcatraz, as they were separate factions that eventually displaced it from control of the South Stand.
The Grobari Movement and the South Stand
The first organised Partizan supporters began gathering during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Partizan’s progress to the 1966 European Cup final attracted a new generation to the club and strengthened the South Stand as the traditional home of its most committed followers. The name Grobari, meaning “Gravediggers”, became firmly established around 1970. Its exact origin remains debated, although it is usually connected to Partizan’s black colours and the dark clothing worn by many supporters. During the 1970s and 1980s, Grobari developed into one of Yugoslavia’s largest supporter movements, known for constant chanting, large travelling numbers and an uncompromising terrace identity.
Alcatraz traces its foundation to 1989 and presents itself as one of the older surviving groups within the Grobari scene. Independent documentation of its earliest years is limited, so 1989 should be understood primarily as the founding date maintained by the group itself. What can be established with greater confidence is that the Alcatraz name and banner existed long before the group’s eventual rise to control the South Stand. The name was taken from the famous former prison in San Francisco Bay. It projected ideas of isolation, resistance and a closed community governed by its own rules, all of which fitted the group’s later reputation. Its principal banner used a simple and immediately recognisable black-and-white design, ensuring that the name Alcatraz became one of the most visible identities on Partizan’s terraces.
Divisions Among the Grobari
The Grobari scene has rarely operated as a single, permanently unified organisation. Different neighbourhood groups, generations and influential individuals have repeatedly disagreed over leadership, money, ticket distribution, relations with the club and control of the South Stand. One of the most important divisions occurred in 1999, when Južni Front was established by supporters dissatisfied with the existing Grobari structure. Its founders accused established figures within the fan organisation of abusing privileges and criticised Partizan for favouring particular individuals. Južni Front initially left the South Stand and operated from other parts of the stadium.
Alcatraz did not emerge from this split, since the group traces its existence to a decade earlier. However, the dispute created the fragmented environment in which Alcatraz would later expand. The South was no longer governed by one unquestioned authority, and every attempt to reunite the terrace depended on negotiations between groups with different interests and histories. In April 2005, the principal factions returned to the South Stand following an agreement intended to restore unity. That reconciliation was soon followed by a much larger confrontation with the leadership of FK Partizan.
The Boycott of Partizan
During the 2005-06 season, Grobari launched a boycott of Partizan’s football matches. The protest was directed against senior club officials, particularly general secretary Žarko Zečević and director of football Nenad Bjeković, who were accused by supporters of mismanaging the club and treating it as a private system of influence. Thousands attended demonstrations outside Partizan Stadium and in central Belgrade. The boycott continued through a difficult period in which the football team often played in front of a largely empty South Stand, although Grobari continued supporting other teams belonging to the Partizan multi-sports society.
The organised supporters returned to the stadium in May 2007 after the departure of the officials at the centre of the protest. The return created an opportunity for a new generation to reorganise the South, and Alcatraz was among the groups best positioned to take advantage of it. Its members possessed a recognisable banner, an established neighbourhood network and individuals capable of directing the terrace. Over the following seasons, Alcatraz moved from being one of several important factions to the group most closely associated with leadership of the South Stand.
The Rise of Alcatraz
Between 2007 and 2009, Alcatraz reached the height of its influence. Its banner occupied a central position, while figures associated with the group directed chanting from the fence and participated in decisions concerning away travel, ticket distribution and relations with other factions. The group’s strongest territorial base was generally identified with Dorćol, one of Belgrade’s central neighbourhoods, although members and sections existed elsewhere. Around the beginning of the 2010s, Alcatraz publicly claimed approximately 200 members, including a substantial younger section, but no independent or consistently reliable membership figures exist.
Alcatraz adopted the traditional black-and-white appearance of the Grobari and placed greater emphasis on physical unity and discipline than on elaborate visual branding. Its most recognisable images came from densely packed groups of supporters, large flags, pyrotechnics and continuous chanting behind the central banner. Partizan’s Eternal Derby against Red Star provided the main stage for its power. During this period, Alcatraz helped coordinate some of the South Stand’s most intense performances against Delije, while also organising support at away matches and fixtures involving KK Partizan.
The group’s rise coincided with an important period for Partizan’s basketball support. The atmosphere created by Grobari at the Pionir Hall became internationally recognised, and the Alcatraz banner was visible alongside those of other Partizan groups. As with football, however, the support belonged to the wider Grobari movement and should not be attributed exclusively to one faction.
youtube
The Death of Brice Taton
The decisive turning point in the history of Alcatraz occurred in September 2009. Brice Taton, a 28-year-old supporter of Toulouse, travelled to Belgrade for a UEFA Europa League match against Partizan. On 17 September, he and other French supporters were attacked in the centre of the city. Taton suffered catastrophic injuries after being beaten and falling or being thrown from a height of more than four metres at Obilićev Venac. He died in hospital twelve days later. The killing caused widespread shock in Serbia and France and became one of the most serious cases of football-related violence in modern Serbian history.
Serbian courts concluded that supporters connected to several Partizan groups, including Alcatraz, Irriducibili and Rebels, had participated in the organised attack. A number of defendants publicly associated with Alcatraz were convicted, while others denied involvement or disputed the prosecution’s reconstruction of the event. The original sentences imposed in 2011 were extremely severe and were later substantially reduced on appeal. Separate retrials were held for defendants arrested after periods abroad. Đorđe Prelić ultimately received a ten-year sentence, while Dejan Puzigaća was sentenced to thirteen years. Ljubomir Marković, known as Kića, received a reduced thirteen-year sentence after initially being sentenced to thirty years.
The legal proceedings remained controversial because the prosecution did not establish which individual caused each of Taton’s injuries or who was directly responsible for throwing him over the barrier. Nevertheless, the final judgments maintained that the defendants had participated in a collective attack that resulted in his death. It is important to distinguish the criminal responsibility established for particular people from collective guilt attributed to every Alcatraz member or Partizan supporter. However, the case had an enormous organisational impact on the group. Several prominent figures were imprisoned, went into hiding or withdrew from the terrace, weakening the structure that had controlled the South.
The Attempt to Ban Alcatraz
Following the Taton case and several other incidents, Serbia’s public prosecutor requested the prohibition of Alcatraz and a number of other supporter factions. The proposal formed part of a wider attempt to respond to violent groups that formally operated outside the normal system of registered associations.
The Constitutional Court dismissed the request in March 2011. The decision was based on legal and procedural questions concerning whether the court could prohibit informal or unregistered groups, rather than a finding that no violence or unlawful activity had occurred.
This distinction is important. Alcatraz was never formally prohibited, but the court’s decision did not represent official approval of the group or its activities. It instead exposed the difficulty Serbian institutions faced when attempting to regulate informal terrace organisations without a clear legal structure, membership register or publicly accountable leadership.
Alcatraz and Zabranjeni
As the consequences of the Taton case weakened Alcatraz, a new internal conflict developed among the Grobari. During 2010 and 2011, supporters who opposed the existing leadership began organising under the name Zabranjeni, meaning “The Forbidden”. The name reflected their claim that they had been prevented from entering the South Stand and denied normal access to Partizan matches. Zabranjeni accused Alcatraz of controlling the terrace through intimidation and alleged that the club favoured the ruling group through tickets and other privileges. Alcatraz and its supporters rejected the opposing faction’s version of events and regarded its activities as an attempt to seize control of the South.
Zabranjeni initially followed smaller Partizan teams, including women’s basketball and ice hockey, before establishing a presence at football matches. They eventually gathered on the eastern side of Partizan Stadium, creating the extraordinary situation in which two groups supporting the same club led separate chants from different stands. The conflict soon moved beyond arguments over songs and banners. Fights occurred at matches, on away trips and in different parts of Belgrade. The division disrupted support, reduced away numbers and forced ordinary Partizan fans to choose between sections that were increasingly hostile to one another.
The darkest moment came on 22 October 2011, when 20-year-old Zabranjeni member Ivan Perović was shot dead in New Belgrade and Đorđe Stanojević was wounded. A former Alcatraz figure was prosecuted in connection with the case but was ultimately acquitted after the court concluded that the evidence was insufficient. Perović’s death must therefore be understood within the wider conflict without assigning legal responsibility that the final judgment did not establish. Efforts at reconciliation eventually allowed some supporters connected to Zabranjeni to return to the South in 2014. By that point, however, Alcatraz was no longer the only or even the strongest force competing for control.
The Arrival of Janjičari
The decline of Alcatraz created space for another group. In 2013, Janjičari, led by Aleksandar Stanković, known as Sale Mutavi, took control of the central part of the South Stand. Investigative journalists reported that the weakened position of Alcatraz, following arrests and internal conflicts, made this transfer of power possible. Janjičari were not a continuation or renamed section of Alcatraz. They were a separate formation whose membership, leadership and outside connections differed from those of the old group. The distinction is essential because later accounts have frequently combined every dominant South Stand faction into one organisation.
The struggle surrounding the takeover was not limited to the stadium. In December 2013, a café owned by Aleksandar Vavić, publicly identified as an Alcatraz leader, was attacked and damaged by members associated with Janjičari. The incident was widely interpreted as part of the transfer of power between rival groups. Stanković remained the leading figure until he was shot dead in Belgrade in October 2016. Control then passed to Veljko Belivuk and his associates, whose organisation later used the name Principi. Once again, Principi was not Alcatraz under a new name.
The dominance of Janjičari and Principi pushed the old Alcatraz structure away from the centre of the South. Its name and networks continued to exist, but the period in which it could independently determine the direction of the entire terrace had ended.
The 2017 Eternal Derby Conflict
The continuing instability became visible during the Eternal Derby of 13 December 2017. A violent fight erupted inside the South Stand when one coalition attempted to remove the faction controlling the central section. Several Croatian citizens were among those injured or detained, producing widespread speculation about who had organised the attempted takeover and why. Different media reports attributed the confrontation to combinations of Janjičari, Alcatraz, Vandal Boys, Južni Front and other groups, often without reliable evidence.
For that reason, the incident should not be simplified into a straightforward fight between Alcatraz and Zabranjeni. It was part of a much wider struggle involving several factions, outside participants and competing criminal and political interests. What the event demonstrated clearly was that the South Stand remained deeply divided.
Leaders, Crime and Collective Responsibility
Serbian media have identified Miloš Radisavljević Kimi, Đorđe Prelić, Ljubomir Marković Kića, Aleksandar Vavić and several others as important Alcatraz figures during different periods. Because the group was informal and did not publish a transparent structure, descriptions such as “leader” often reflected police, court or media terminology rather than an official position confirmed by the group. Several individuals associated with Alcatraz were convicted of serious crimes, while investigative reporting also documented business arrangements involving figures described as group leaders. Others were accused of offences but acquitted, or never faced a final conviction.
These cases cannot be used to define every person who stood behind the Alcatraz banner. The group included ordinary Partizan supporters as well as individuals involved in violence or criminal proceedings. Treating all members as criminals would be inaccurate, just as ignoring the documented activities of influential figures would produce an incomplete history. The Alcatraz period instead illustrates a wider problem within Serbian football. Weak institutional control, unofficial ticket systems, private security work and relationships between supporter leaders, club officials, police and political structures allowed parts of the terraces to acquire power far beyond organising chants.
The Death of Ljubomir Marković
Ljubomir Marković, known as Kića, was one of the best-known figures from the group’s dominant generation. After receiving a reduced sentence in the Taton case, he was released in 2017 following amnesty provisions and conditional release. On 1 November 2019, Marković was shot dead near a football facility in Belgrade. His killing again drew attention to the violent environment surrounding several generations of prominent Partizan terrace figures.
Marković’s death came six years after Alcatraz had lost control of the South, but it showed that the conflicts and relationships formed during that period continued outside the stadium. No final judicial account has established that his killing was ordered because of his role in Alcatraz, so explanations connecting it directly to a particular supporter dispute should be treated as speculation.
The Return of the Alcatraz Name
The arrest of Veljko Belivuk and members of his organisation in February 2021 created another vacuum on the South Stand. With the structure that had succeeded Janjičari removed, older Grobari factions attempted to restore their presence. The Alcatraz banner and individuals associated with its previous generation reappeared. Media reports speculated that Đorđe Prelić or Miloš Radisavljević might again become influential, although no transparent leadership structure was publicly confirmed.
The proposed return immediately met opposition. Other South Stand groups issued statements rejecting the presence of any Alcatraz faction, demonstrating that the old disputes had not disappeared. The situation also showed that the name still carried weight, even though the group no longer possessed the unquestioned authority it had enjoyed before 2013. Partizan’s football support subsequently entered another period of boycott against the club’s management. When larger numbers of Grobari returned during the 2024–25 season, the South increasingly presented itself through general Grobari and Partizan symbols rather than emphasising the banners of individual factions.
Alcatraz therefore remains part of the identity and memory of the South Stand, but public information does not support describing it as the current undisputed leader of the terrace. Its exact membership, internal organisation and present level of influence remain unclear.
Style, Identity and the Eternal Derby
At its height, Alcatraz represented a hard and disciplined version of the traditional Grobari style. The group favoured black clothing, simple banners, strong vocal coordination and a compact central formation. Pyrotechnics and physical presence were important elements of its match-day image. The Eternal Derby against Red Star was the defining fixture. Alcatraz measured its strength not only through the volume of support but also through control of territory, the protection of banners and its ability to mobilise members around Belgrade before and after matches.
Its central rivalry was naturally with Delije, the organised supporters of Red Star. However, during the final years of Alcatraz’s dominance, conflict with other Partizan supporters became at least as important as opposition to the traditional rival. This internal war is one of the main reasons the wider Grobari movement lost much of its former unity.
Alcatraz’s Place in Grobari History
Alcatraz was never the entire South Stand, but for several years it became its most powerful organisation. It helped restore coordinated support after the long boycott, led one of the strongest periods of modern Grobari atmosphere and established a name recognised far beyond Serbia. Its history also reflects the destructive side of struggles for control. The death of Brice Taton, the war with Zabranjeni, criminal convictions involving prominent individuals and the later takeover by Janjičari permanently changed how the group was viewed.
Any serious account must include both sides. Alcatraz produced a highly organised and visually powerful terrace presence, but its period of dominance cannot be separated from violence, fear and conflicts that divided supporters of the same club. Today, the name remains part of Partizan’s supporter history, yet the modern South Stand is no longer defined by Alcatraz alone. Its rise and decline demonstrate how quickly authority can change inside a fragmented fan scene - and how difficult it is to rebuild unity once control of a terrace becomes more important than the club it was created to support.