Škripari
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Škripari is the organisation of football supporters of the Croat-backed club NK Široki Brijeg. They also support Široki Brijeg's other sport clubs, primarily HKK Široki in basketball.
The name for the fan club as it exists today was given in 1996. At that time (from the year 1993/1994 onwards, reaching a peak in 1998), Škripari were the only real supporters in Herzegovina, aside from a small faction of supporters in Ljubuški, as well as Torcida Kiseljak and Torcida Mostar who where only really active in home matches of teams that they supported.
The very name Škripari (or križari to be more precise, which means crusaders) is in tribute to those brave and defiant men, originally known by that name, who resisted communist rule in Yugoslavia for several years after World War II and presented an unsolveable enigma to the communist authorities of that time. They would often hide in caves (local term being the so called škripine) and thus the name Škripari.
An earlier idea for the fan club's name was Broadly Hill Boys dating from the year 1989, more specifically when supporters came up with that name during a basketball match of the Republic league of Bosnia and Herzegovina between KK Mladost (at the time) and KK Borac Čapljina. It was accepted almost immediately and from that day on all up until the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina a blue banner with the words Broadly Hill Boys written in white could be seen in all matches where the local clubs of Široki Brijeg played. This was a play on Dinamo Zagreb's Bad Blue Boys, as well as a play on the name of their own club (Široki Brijeg means wide, or broad, hill).
Škripari support the Croatian national football team primarily, as well as other croatian national teams and croatian players.
The official song of the Škripari is Igraj, igraj Široki (Play Široki, Play) which can be downloaded from the Škripari official website, rather low sound quality though.
