Football Club Borac, founded back in 1926, has always enjoyed strong backing from the stands. However, in the second half of the 1980s, during the time of the former Yugoslavia, a true wave of fan enthusiasm swept through Banja Luka as well.
For the first time, alongside flags and scarves, banners appeared on the east stand. The very first with the inscription “Vultures” (Lešinari) was displayed on 18 November 1987, during a cup match against Vojvodina from Novi Sad. Behind that name stood a group of young men determined to support their club in a new, more fanatical way.
The great rise of the group coincided with Borac’s impressive performances in the 1987/88 Yugoslav Cup, where the team reached the final. In May 1988, Borac shocked the footballing public by becoming the first second-division side in the history of Yugoslavia to win the Cup, defeating Red Star Belgrade. Among the thousands of fans on the south stand of the JNA Stadium in Belgrade was a young group proudly standing behind the Vultures banner, giving remarkable support to their club.
The cup victory sparked a frenzy in Banja Luka. Borac were followed by large numbers of supporters at both home and away fixtures, giving the players added motivation to achieve outstanding results. With such support, Borac secured promotion to the First Federal League. The Vultures followed them everywhere – to Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zrenjanin, Belgrade, and even the most distant stadiums in Titograd, Priština and Skopje.
Their trademark became fanatical support combined with heavy use of pyrotechnics, something new and striking at the time. Some of the biggest trips were to Ljubljana, Osijek, Vinkovci, Bačka Palanka, Šabac and Dubrovnik. One of the most famous moments came in Osijek, when over 1,000 Vultures caused chaos in the city, and no one dared to confront them.
Alongside their reputation came inevitable clashes. There were conflicts in Ljubljana, Osijek, Sarajevo, Belgrade and even Banja Luka itself. The fiercest were with Red Star’s Delije, when half of Gospodska Street was demolished, and with Dinamo Zagreb’s Bad Blue Boys, when the police confiscated a large number of knives and other weapons. Incidents were also recorded with Rijeka’s Armada and Sarajevo’s Manijaci.
One of the darkest chapters came during the Yugoslav Cup semi-final against Hajduk in Split. On the Poljud stadium’s west stand, Torcida broke through and attacked the Banja Luka fans. Despite the intervention coming too late, the consequences were tragic – Antonio Kirčanov (23), one of the most passionate Vultures, died several months later from injuries sustained in the attack.
With the outbreak of war, many Vultures joined the Army of Republika Srpska, playing a significant role in defending Serbian territories. The first casualty among them was Saša Končar, one of the most prominent members, who was killed as a volunteer near Zadar in 1991. Many others lost their lives or returned from the war severely disabled.
During the war, sporting life stopped – and with it, organised support. But with the beginning of competitions in Republika Srpska, the Vultures reappeared, this time led by a younger generation. Without the guidance of their predecessors, they built their own path, learning the essentials of supporter culture from scratch. Their determination revived the group and carried its story forward.
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, a generational shift was complete. New fanatics, who had grown up in the post-war years, took over. Their biggest challenge came with the creation of joint competitions across Bosnia and Herzegovina. This meant facing in the stands those against whom bloody wars had been fought only years before. For many Vultures, it reinforced the belief that the group was a Serbian supporters’ movement, carrying the name of Borac, Banja Luka and Republika Srpska wherever they went.
They were also the first group to cross the entity line after the war, travelling to Čitluk. More trips followed to Široki Brijeg, Mostar, Zenica, Tuzla and Sarajevo. These matches often brought incidents, mostly involving the police. But the most frustrating opposition came from within – the city authorities, whose neglect of sport in Banja Luka and of all clubs bearing the Borac name contributed to the decline of the city’s sporting scene.
On the other hand, friendly ties with their brothers from Novi Sad – Vojvodina’s supporters – were restored. After being broken during the war, the bond between the two Serbian groups across the Drina was renewed, with hopes it would never again be disrupted.
Today, after more than three decades, the Vultures remain a symbol of passion, loyalty and resilience. Despite countless challenges and hardships, they have proven that nothing has broken them – and nothing ever will.