Delije

Delije
Делије Север / Delije Sever (Delije North)
Abbreviation	DS89
Founded	7th January 1989 (officially)
Type	Supporters' groups Ultras group
Team	Red Star Belgrade
Headquarters	Belgrade, Serbia
Arenas	Rajko Mitić Stadium Aleksandar Nikolić Hall Štark Arena
Stand	North
Coordinates	44°46′59.52″N 20°27′53.69″E / 44.7832000°N 20.4649139°E / 44.7832000; 20.4649139
Colors	red,   white
Affiliations	Gate 7 (Olympiacos CFP) Fratria (FC Spartak Moscow)
Website	Delije.net

Delije (Serbian Cyrillic: Делије) is collective name for supporters of various sports clubs that are part of Red Star Belgrade multi-sport club. The plural of the singular form delija (делија)—which in Serbian generally signifies a courageous, brave, strong, tough, or even handsome young man—a rough English translation of Delije is "Heroes", "Braves", or "Studs".^[1]

Red Star multi-sport club has clubs in over twenty sports, although Delije mostly focus on football (FK Crvena zvezda) and basketball (KK Crvena zvezda). The name Delije first began to be used by hardcore Red Star supporters during the late 1980s, with official inauguration taking place on 7 January 1989. Up to that point, the die-hard fans were scattered amongst about eight groups that shared the north stand at the Rajko Mitić Stadium (known colloquially as Marakana), most prominent of which were the Red Devils, Ultras and Zulu Warriors.^[2]

As a sign of appreciation, during the late 1990s, Red Star painted the word Delije in block letters across the north stand. Since the mid-1980s the supporters maintain friendly relations with Olympiacos main ultras group, Gate 7, a friendship based on traditional Greek-Serb friendship, common Eastern Orthodox faith and same club colours. Since the mid-2000s the brotherhood has evolved to include Spartak Moscow ultras Fratria, owing to strong Russophilia and a shared Slavic heritage.^[3][4]