Ipswich Town Serbia made their first appearance at their nation’s Second Annual Supporters Clubs tournament earlier this month. The Serbian branch of the Town Supporters Club didn’t win the competition, but had an enjoyable day all the same.
Uros Zivaljevic says the Serbian Blues very much reflected the season we’ve all just endured at Championship level: "We did make quite a realistic picture of our beloved Town during this season by conceding extremely bad goals and failing to score from good positions.
"Not to mention that in our group were the teams that played the previous final — AC Milan beating Liverpool last year — and Chelsea.
"The first game we had ever played as a team of Town fans together (five players plus a goalkeeper on the pitch, two subs) was against the champions AC Milan and they justified the title holder's position — 3-0 to Milan.
"Not that we were that bad, but two very bad goals in the first half in just three minutes and then the third somewhere near the end of the game from a good counter-attack.”
Uros and the rest of the Serbian Blues did better in their subsequent match: "In the second game we should have won against the Liverpool. Both teams had their chances, but again, like our idols in blue shirts, we just couldn't score from five or six very good positions.
"The game ended 0-0 with the Liverpool boys faithfully sticking to Rafa Benitez's strategy of ‘taking care of our goal first’.
"The match against Chelsea was crucial for both sides meaning the winner of that game would join AC Milan and advance to semi-finals. What happened then was another replica of Town characteristics, literally losing the game for being too nice — 1-0 to Londoners and that was game over for Ipswich Town Serbia.”
But Uros says the Serbian Blues weren’t too downhearted: "The outing was fun though, despite some sunburns and lack of luck, and that's what matters the most!
"We are happy to bring good name of Ipswich Town to as many people as we can here and I can proudly say that, despite failing on the competitive side, we were somewhat the stars of the tournament, true exotic representatives of the so-called small club, drawing attention for most of the time.”
AC Milan retained their title, defeating Chelsea 2-0 in the final. You can find more details on Ipswich Town Serbia on the Official Supporters Club website.