![]() Travelling to 25 countries to compare ultra movements around the world, he takes the reader to warehouses, forests, terraces and underpasses. Montague is a brilliant and daring guide. It is typified by the word dišpet used by its members from Hadjuk Split: “a term of defiance that roughly means to oppose something no matter the consequences … Dišpet means to be anti-everything.” There’s a bloody-minded contrariness to the ultras. It’s that which unites the movement: there is, Montague writes, a “mistrust in any type of authority”. The “1312” of the title refers to the alphabet code for ACAB, an ubiquitous acronym which stands for “all cops are bastards”. ![]() James Montague has spent many years with them (his subtitle – “among the ultras” – seems a conscious nod to Bill Buford’s acclaimed if flawed book on British hooligans, Among the Thugs). The ultra mentality is all about the local – your street, suburb or city – but it’s also a globalised subculture in which fans thousands of miles apart influence each others’ songs, protests, politics and philosophies. ![]() ![]() Plenty of ultras are neo-fascist, but there are many far-left groups, too. They are the most hardcore and extremist of football fans, but while many groups have become criminal gangs, morphing into semi-secretive, paramilitary organisations that accumulate great power and wealth, others are idealistic crusaders against injustice and tyranny. U ltras are notoriously difficult to define. ![]()
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