Sparta Prague vs. Slavia Prague: 0-0 insanity

So a couple weeks ago I went to a Sparta Prague game where they played the crappy Scottish team Hearts (videos can be seen below). While there, fierce riot police were in full effect at all times and the entirety of the Scottish contingent were caged off in one corner of the stadium. When I say cage, I mean there was an actual cage in front of them and all around them. Also, there was a net over them so no foreign objects could be hucked on to the field. There was even a buffer zone of a whole section of seats that were purposely not sold to any fans so no one could sit close to them.
We wanted to sit with the Sparta Hooligans but the guy who sold us tickets said he wouldn't sell them to us for our own safety haha. We sat with other home fans and even we were caged in, although not as tightly as the Scots were.

SO, the following week the two Prague teams played each other and we were all in attendance. Before the game started there had already been fights outside the stadium and we had been told that the Sparta-Slavia rivalry was as intense as it gets. There was a whole line of riot police that stretched around the stadium. They were in full gear and looked like stormtroopers, it was very intimidating. Some were on horses and even the horses had mask-helmet type things on.


We ended up sitting next to the Slavia hooligans and we should have known what was going to transpire after we saw the sign hanging next to their fan club banner which read "Fans of Alcohol".

Amazingly, the Slavia Hooligans were very well prepared for the match. They had expertly coreographed cheers and fire displays.

However, the Sparta Hooligans didn't have time for pre-conceived antics and chose to just riot. Their favorite ruckus tactic was to try to break down the gate that held them in. Then when the riot police would come, snipers from up top would throw firecrackers and flares down on the advancing cops. At first we thought the police were shooting at them from the loud pops but we soon realized what was going on.

We quickly learned of the Slavia fans affinity for fire. They had several different displays they put up during the game, all using fire as the main theme.

This dude decided to just dip a Sparta flag in lighter fluid and burn it.

Then at the end of the game, things got a little crazy. We were about to leave when a huge fire erupted right below us from the Slavia fans. Two dudes were running around the bottom of the stands and they were lighting things on fire. They were lighting what appeared to be huge buckets of gasoline strategically placed along the edge of the rows.
They lit quite a few and an enormous inferno ensued.



A little while into it, the smoke got so thick you could barely see what was in front of you. Unfortunately I could still see these idiots.

Luckily we felt our way out to the waiting army of riot police. It was an all around crazy game and an awesome experience. Oh, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie. It was a pretty boring game. Luckily I wasn't watching it on tv. And I like Sparta better. Their fans are crazier and they have better cheers.