Torpedo Ultras is a supporters' organization of Torpedo Hockey Club. The fan movement is divided into two "firms" — Robbers and White Blue Supporters.
Nature of the Phenomenon
An official supporters' association supported by Torpedo Hockey Club.
Explanation of the Name
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ULTRAS is a modern trend in fandom. Originating in Italy, it quickly conquered stadiums across Europe.
Contrary to stereotypes, true Ultras are not carriers of radical hooligan culture. They channel all their energy into creating a special atmosphere at matches and making the support in the stands as vibrant as possible. They are the ones who travel with their beloved team across the expanse of our Motherland, the ones who stand by the team in joy and in sorrow, the ones who are always in the know. This phenomenon takes root differently in every city, occupying a special place in the fan culture of one region or another. That is entirely natural. What is more, it is no accident that mass supporters' associations are called "fan movements." This speaks to the fact that fan culture does not stand still — new trends and currents emerge, old traditions are revived. But one thing is clear: the end stand behind the goal will never die! That is where the heart of the team beats! And it needs fresh blood! Your energy must find a worthy outlet! |
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History
The founding date of the fan movement of Torpedo Hockey Club is September 9, 2007. The founders were V.A. Bykov and O.Yu. Chistova.
After several months of creative searching and agonizing deliberation, report the authors of the fan movement's website, it was given the name "Torpedo Ultras."
"From the moment of our creation to this day, we have been actively cooperating with the Torpedo Hockey Club's management. It, to the best of its ability, helps us in organizing vibrant support at the team's home and away games."
Season Reports
Season 2007–2008
The history of the Nizhny Novgorod hockey fan movement "Section 5" is quite short. It all began when, on one of the away trips "to football" in Moscow, Sergey (Brass) and his twin brother Dmitry (OKorOK) realized that cheering and supporting are not the same thing. And that there are, it turns out, special stands called fan sections, where people are supposed to stand, where you need to chant not just anything but what is proper. Where you need to sing — and not only when the team is winning, but especially when it is losing.
That came later: the attempts to outshout the vuvuzelas, laying out the letters "NN" in blue paper against a white background on the away end. And our first banner, bought with money pooled from everyone. It hung in the Konovalenko Sports Palace, where our home team had previously played its matches.
Then came the trip to Dmitrov...
The second match against Khimik at the Konovalenko Sports Palace and the feeling that we would not be coming back here for a very long time... The long-awaited promotion to the Superliga — anticipated by all for the past three years... A real home Superliga... Season tickets... Avangard… And the sense that something was not right about all this admiration, that something needed to change.
The idea of buying season tickets for a single section in order to support Torpedo Hockey Club more cohesively at home matches belonged to Roma (Ranch). He was the one who voiced it, in a thread created specifically for the purpose on the city website NNover.ru. Many people got behind it — among them Slava "banner enthusiast" (tjary) and Dima "do the wave" (Sharagin), and Brass, along with his twin brother OKorOK, the wonderful fan Katya (Koshka), and many others. Brass and Ranch knew each other only in passing — they had gone together on the away trip to Dmitrov. Pasha (fanat1k), a thoroughbred Spartak fan, but one who could not deny his genuine support for Torpedo, was known to us from a joint trip to Moscow for football. (All these ideas about creating a fan stand had begun to take shape back in the winter, at the start of 2007.)
And then we simply took our place in the fifth section of the new-old Palace, embraced, and began chanting what we knew, what we had perhaps borrowed from somewhere. Only later did we start developing something of our own...
At the first home matches against Avangard and Spartak, Section 5 had about 15 people who, though standing together, still supported the team while seated... because there were so few of us, and we simply didn't know any better. That was also when the first banner appeared — or rather, a strip of fabric with a spray-painted inscription: "1947–2007 — It's Only Just Beginning." Its meaning was connected above all with the history of Torpedo's first match in the USSR championships.
At matches against SKA, Khimik, Neftekhimik, Ak Bars, Severstal, and finally Lokomotiv, new people kept joining us, filled with the desire to support the team together, and we eventually reached around 40–50 people.
Over all this time, two more banners were produced for more powerful support of the team ("Torpedo vs Money" and "Stadium Without Vuvuzelas"), five flags (Russian, Czech, Canadian, Latvian, and Kazakhstani), and a special pre-match event was held in which blue balloons and sheets of white paper were laid out in strips across sections 5 and 6, which fans raised during the playing of the anthem.
An important achievement of the first year was establishing contact with management and securing Section 6 as the designated fan section at the home stadium.
What we would like to highlight...:
- The first match in "our" section took place on October 31 against Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The section numbered approximately 200–250 people and filled the entire end stand.
- The creation of the fan movement's logo, authored by Natalya Selskova. The image of a deer was printed on a banner.
- A trip to the Raduga children's home in the city of Bor. Gifts were given to the children. The event was held jointly with the club.
Season 2008–2009
A great deal was accomplished during the second year.
By the beginning of September we already had a core group of people who were interested in the movement and its development.
Ties were established with management, which helped us with season tickets (50% discount) and away trips (assistance with travel costs).
There was an internal conflict and split in December 2008, which, it should be noted, helped create what we have today. "Everything happens for a reason." (c)
Season 2009–2010
The start of the third season was marked by the "revival" of the hockey cup in Nizhny Novgorod under the auspices of our club. There is simply no better warm-up before a season begins. What's more, when all was said and done, it was our players who had the honor of lifting the cup above their heads in victorious euphoria.
At the start of the season, the White Blue Supporters firm was formed out of the entire Torpedo Ultras fan movement. A corresponding banner was made. Our movement did not grow in numbers, but it is worth noting that in terms of support we took a small step forward.
Away activity was also not encouraging (approximate statistics):
- Vityaz, Podolsk: 80
- Sibir, Novosibirsk: 0
- Amur, Khabarovsk: 0
- Metallurg Nk, Novokuznetsk: 0
- Ak Bars, Kazan: 25
- Neftekhimik, Nizhnekamsk: 15
- Lada, Tolyatti: 0
- HK MVD, Balashikha: 30
- Salavat Yulaev, Ufa: 0
- Barys, Astana: 0
- Avangard, Omsk: 0
- Metallurg Mg, Magnitogorsk: 18+1(Ufa)
- Avtomobilist, Yekaterinburg: 0
- Traktor, Chelyabinsk: 1
- SKA, St. Petersburg: 20
- Severstal, Cherepovets: 35
- Atlant, Mytishchi: 30
- Lokomotiv, Yaroslavl: 0
- CSKA, Moscow: 20
- Severstal, Cherepovets: 0
- HK MVD, Balashikha: 25
- Lokomotiv, Yaroslavl: 200
- Spartak, Moscow: 15
- Atlant, Mytishchi: 30
- Vityaz, Podolsk: 15
- Dynamo, Minsk: 45
- Dynamo, Riga: 20
- Dynamo, Moscow: 50
Due to certain internal disagreements, some members of the movement decided, at the end of the season, to get together in a close circle and create something new — keeping everything good that had been and leaving out everything bad and unnecessary.
2010–2011 Season
Full photo reports on home and away games can be viewed in the photo gallery of the website.
Where to Buy Fan Merchandise
Contacts
Administration
- ICQ: 303 243 086
- Tel.: +7 908 159 32 79
- Email: fgrobbers@gmail.com