Interview with Malmö (Sweden) supporters!

> Tell us a bit of the history of your group? And tell what is now?

In the beginning of 2000 there were several smaller ultragroups represented on our terrace, in 2003 these decided to merge into one big group in order to organize efforts in a more effective way, the new group was called Supras Malmö and our symbol was "sergio". In 2007 we had two big groups, SM on one side and Inferno Malmö on the other and we decided to incorporate Inferno for the cause of further development of our terrace culture. Today we consist of approximately 70 members, although we do not accept everyone into the group, in order to become a member you have to show to us that you are dedicated and share our point of view when it comes to terrace culture.

> Who is your biggest enemies, and who is your friends?

You can say we have two main rivals, on one side it is Helsingborgs IF because this is the closest thing we come to a derby (60km) and on the other side it is IFK Göteborg because of the long history of rivalry between MFF and IFK and the fact that these two clubs are the most successful in Sweden in terms of titles. The matches between Helsingborgs IF are usually the most explosive ones in terms of
terrace activities, and the hate between us and them is very big. The games between MFF and the clubs from Stockholm are also important because of the geographic locations, Malmö is located in Swedens most southern region called Scania with a long history of strive for autonomity (a little like Barcelona and Catalonia) and Stockholm as the capital presents Sweden. We currently do not have any official friendship.

> What’s your group political view?

In Sweden we have no serious groups that have any political tendencies. Most people believe that the terrace is not a political forum and that focus should be on supporting your club, not your
personal opinions, in this way you can avoid problems like for example the one in Paris. Malmö as a city has always been very multicultural and this reflects on the segments our terrace culture is formed upon. In SM we have people of all kinds of political views and nationalities, but on match day we have only one focus - Malmö FF. Ultras no politica!



> Are there any other Ultra groups in Malmo and how is the relation to them?

On our terrace, besides Supras, we have our official supporters-association called MFF Support, we also have a group of younger (under 18yrs) ultras-oriented supporters called Rex Scania and we also have one group that focus only on making choreographies –MT96. Our relations with these groups are for the time being very good. We also have our hooligan firm.

> How do you travel on away games?

As Malmö is located in the south of Sweden, distances to many away matches can be very long. For example there is approximately a 9 hours bus ride to the away games in Stockholm. We try to have at least one bus from Malmö consisting of members of Supras Malmö and the other ultras from our terrace to every game. If a bus is not possible we usually travel by combis and private cars. Sometimes we also travel by chartered train to bigger games if there is enough interest. The
question of away matches if further complicated by the game-schedule in Sweden, the high-risk-matches are often played early in the day on working-days and not on weekends like many other countries so for many who would like to travel, it becomes impossible due of personal factors. Our biggest number on an away game was when we were 8000 in Göteborg against IFK in 2004. We were also over 10000 Malmö supporters in Munich for the Europaleague final in 1979 against Nottingham
Forest.

> One point of the modern football is the increasing repression by the government, maybe you could tell us some examples of Malmo for repression (e.g. how many stadium-bans SM have) and where are the problems with repression in Sweden (stadium-bans, forbidden choreos, etc.) ?

In Malmö we have one of Swedens most brutal police forces, and they are very used to riots and problems in the suburbs and around football games, this and the fact that the area around our stadium is easy to monitor makes it hard for us to cause much problems around the stadium. In Supras we have had a few problems with stadium bans in the past but we have managed to minimize the bans due to security routines within the group. Most of the bigger clubs in Sweden focus on the
firms, and see them as the big problem, therefore the Ultras-groups have had less problems with repression even if there is a constant threat of being arrested due to newer stadiums with better
camera-equipment and new laws that give police authority to give stadium bans on location without evidence.


> Can you tell something about the Sweden scene?

In sweden the supporter scene is bascially divided between hooligan firms, ultra groups and official supporters associations. Most clubs in the higher league have official supporters associations but only the bigger clubs have firms and ultra-groups. It is also common with groups only focusing on coreographies without calling themselves official ultra-groups. The ultra scene is not that old in Sweden, the first groups calling themselves ultras were formed in the early 90's, extreme tensions between particular groups have always been there and violence around games has become more common as the culture has progressed during the years. Old school hooliganism has existed for
over 20 years but today it is more organized. The scene is very active and you can see all the big groups progress in terms of organization for every season that passes.

> What is your opinion of the Ultramovement in Europe, which scene are in your view the best and which scene have a good development?

Now i cant answer for the whole group, but in my personal opinion the scene on the Balkans and Greece are the best and continue developing for every year that passes. The organization and actions of some groups are very impressive. In general the development of the ultramovement in Europe is impressive if you consider the ever growing repression we have to deal with from authorities and clubs.  In Sweden and many other countries new hooligan laws seem to be formed every year and supporters that are not willing to take part of the commercialization of football and american inspired popcorn-entertainment that the sport is turning in to are considered as second grade citizens. Football is not just a source of entertainment, football is life. Against modern football!

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