Crveni Đavoli (Serbian Cyrillic: Црвени Ђаволи; English: The Red Devils), or simply Đavoli, are the organized supporters of the Kragujevac based professional football club Radnički Kragujevac. They are one of main supporter groups in Serbia. Besides football club, they also support other sport sections of the Radnički Kragujevac Sport Association.
History
Early years
Since its foundation, Radnički has been a magnet for the audience in Kragujevac and its surroundings. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1943), the followers of Kragujevac were one of the most numerous and loyal group of supporters, following their team wherever they played. They were recognizable by the red caps they wore. Trips to away games were organized, usually by train. The first "fan train" started on 29 July, in 1934. About 600 Radnički Kragujevac fans travelled to Belgrade for a qualification match for the national championship against BASK. After Belgrade, the "fan train" became a tradition, and the fans traveling to away games to Zagreb, Sarajevo, Split, Novi Sad, Niš, Skoplje and other cities. At the home games, against teams like Rapid Wien, Olympique Marseille, Ferencváros Budapest and Honvéd Budapest, up to 10,000 fans came to support the club. The support continued after the Second World War. In 1946, Radnički Kragujevac played against Red Star Belgrade for promotion to the Yugoslav First League. At the game there were too many fans at the former City Stadium, which was too small to accommodate all visitors and supporters of Radnički Kragujevac. This situation prompted the city and club to build a new stadium. The first game which was played on the new Čika Dača Stadium, was in 1957 between Radnički Kragujevac and Partizan Belgrade in front of 30,000 jubilant fans.
1969 and the origin of the name
The real spectator boom began in Kragujevac in the late sixties. In 1969, Radnički were promoted for the first time to the Yugoslav First League after beating Sutjeska from Nikšić and FK Crvenka in the play-off. To Nikšić traveled more than 1,000 Radnički supporters and in Crvenka came up to several thousand. At that time began the first attempts at organized support. After being promoted the Yugoslavian league Radnički acquired much more supporters. In the home game against Hajduk Split were 35,000 spectators. But the away win against Partizan Belgrade truly made history. On 7 September 1969, the Radnički fans support their team particularly fanatical and organized one of the first torch show. The atmosphere was so good that it was compared with the atmosphere at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United (statements from local and foreign journalists and opponents). On this day, the Radnički fans and the club were given the nickname Crveni Đavoli (English: Red Devils), after the nickname for Manchester United. All thus made headlines. After that game, the Brazilian football giant FC Santos with the legendary Pelé was so impressed by the atmosphere, instead of the friendly game against Partizan Belgrade, they drove to Kragujevac and played against Radnički. They were not disappointed, because 40,000 spectators were at the Čika Dača Stadium with another seven to eight thousand fans surrounding the stadium. Radnički achieved with the support of their Đavoli in a legendary atmosphere a 4-4 draw. After this Đavoli started to attract worldwide attention. In these years Radnički's home games were very well attended and well known for its great atmosphere mainly made by Đavoli. Numerous Đavoli traveled to away games. So they went to the games to Belgrade, Split, Zagreb, Skopje, Ljubljana, Maribor and other cities.