I’d like to tell you a thing or two about football culture in Sarajevo and its powerhouse FK Željezničar.

At the beginning of the last century, Sarajevo workers’ children started playing matches on the big playground, due to the problems they had in religious clubs. In July 1921, a group of children of railway workers submitted an application for registration of the Željezničar club, and on September 19 they received a decision on registration from the local association. Today, that same club is the most trophy-winning club in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Željezničar and Grbavica stadium were victims of the last war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In wartime, the area around the stadium was the area where the fiercest fighting took place. Thus, the Sarajevo singer of the legendary Yugoslav group “Bijelo Dugme”, Mladen Vojičić Tifa, sang the song “Grbavica” at that time, which describes that period of life in Sarajevo. The song became the spirit of that time and is an indispensable part of the introduction to the home game of Željezničar.

We will start the trip with čevapi in the restaurant named after the club. It is located in the Old Town. After that we will go through the center of Sarajevo to catch a tram. It will take us to Wilson’s Promenade. Along the beautiful river Miljacka we will get to the stadium on foot, watching and getting familiar with some awesome graffiti along the way. The game experience I’ll share with you will give you a whole another perspective of a footballing event, you’ll love the authenticity of it. After the game, I’ll take you for some delicious local beers.

Come visit Sarajevo and let me take you off the beaten track and show you the local way to support a football club.