Badge of the Day #81 (Dinamo Zagreb)

 



Following the flurry of mostly Serbian clubs, of the more obscure variety, featured recently, Trešnjevka Zagreb excepted, today we present the crest of the dominant Croatian one in the form of Dinamo Zagreb (who could be regarded as a team for whom we have an affection on a continental scale but are behind Hajduk Split domestically & also Red Star Belgrade when considered in terms of the former Yugoslavia, which is, of course, often here at TOoT), which, by a curious oversight, we’ve neglected to post until now, despite it featuring in the collection for a while – the badge was, in fact, among the earlier acquisitions & appeared within the arrangement of such displayed upon the canvas as originally photographed & blogged here.

The object is a contemporary one, incorporating as it does the Croatian red & white chequered flag with the design, along with the obvious ‘d’ for Dinamo, thus it has no hauntological quality, but nevertheless the crest is an effective piece of design.

Badge of the Day #73 (Vojvodina Novi Sad)

Today’s example represents the fine & exotic name of Vojvodina Novi Sad (in the glory of its native Serbian Cyrillic) in the form of what appears to be a desirable object of Yugoslav-era vintage, during which time the name would have come to attention & lingered romantically since as amongst those to be regarded with affection from that (former) part of Europe – not necessarily in quite the same league as perennial favourites Red Star Belgrade & Hajduk Split, perhaps, but still ‘The Vodge’ (& being aware that it really is pronounced ‘Voy-’) are one of those teams we hope to see at the business end of their league/cup, hopefully successfully enough to qualify to make a foray into the continental competitions, resplendent in the red & white halved shirts that only add to their allure.

On the subject of which, if history were able to be rewritten, Vojvodina might well have contested the 1967 European Cup Final, in an attractively-named & -kitted match-up with Internazionale, had they not lost, alas, to a very late Glasgow Celtic goal at the quarter final stage, although, then again, in an ideal world, it’s perhaps doubtful they would have overcome Atlético Madrid after a replay in the previous round: whatever, Vojvodina’s is a name that surely should have graced a European club final or two.

This Vojvodina badge is in fact but one of a batch of eight newly-acquired from Kruševac in Serbia, arriving as they did in some style, as might be appreciated from this photograph of the beautiful envelope containing the objects: look at those wonderful stamps, for instance.

Badge of the Day #67 (Hajduk Split #2)

Finally acquired for the collection, today we present a much-desired vintage object representing the crest of Hajduk Split as it was (re)designed for & appeared during the era of the former Yugoslavia, whose red star it incorporates, thus imbuing the badge with suitable hauntological & ‘Ostalgic’ credentials.

For the badge featuring the current (& earlier) Croatian Hajduk Split logo & more on our devotion to the name/cause, please redirect here.

Badge of the Day #32 (Hajduk Split)

Following on from yesterday’s post, today we present the latest exhibit from the European football club collection & that handsome badge featuring the crest of Croatia's finest, Hajduk Split, the other of the two irresistible-to-love names of 1970s Yugoslavian soccer, &, in the case of Hajduk, it certainly was the sheer exoticism of the name that appealed, as it still does, more than any other factor (although in those early years, one tended to represent it erroneously as ‘hadge-uk’, as Bob Wilson once memorably did during an edition of ‘Football Focus’). If Hajduk Split hadn’t emerged on the register by the time of the coming of the 1976-77 Panini Euro Football sticker album, they certainly would have on the occasion of.

The crest itself is both the current & former one of the club, featuring the chequered red & white squares of the Croatian flag, which always has a certain dandyesque aesthetic appeal, but, during the lifetime of the unified political entity, was replaced by the Yugoslav red star, the encircling legend ‘Hajduk Split’ remaining, which in itself is another badge to be desired, both aesthetically & from the familiar ‘Ostalgie’.

Regular participants in the European club competitions, thus keeping the name alive in one’s heart & mind, the team are currently tucked in second place domestically behind the perma-dominant Dinamo Zagreb, against whom Hajduk salvaged a stoppage time equaliser in their most recent league fixture, which, in an ideal world, might be the harbinger of a shift in power, although, of course, our devotion is never dependent upon on-field success, welcome as that might be.