Why Serbia’s Most Successful Football Club and Party Appear Unchallengeable

Ludogorets Razgrad surrendered their title to Levski Sofia last season in the Bulgarian league, ending their streak of 14 consecutive league titles. The ripple effect of that reached Belgrade – the nine-time consecutive champions of the Serbian SuperLiga, Red Star Belgrade, now possess the longest winning streak in European football, dating back to the 2013-14 season. The domestic winning streak enjoyed by Red Star (or Crvena Zvezda, as they’re known at home) is surpassed only by that of the Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, whose election victories began in 2012. The SNS has “scored” six successful election wins since then. Meanwhile, Red Star will be looking to continue their victories in the new Serbian SuperLiga season, which just got underway this month. Football and politics are often the two biggest topics in many European nations and Serbia is no different. What is starkly different to other European nations, however, is how connected and similar Serbia’s football and politics are. Usually, when looking at sporting success, such as Red Star’s title victories, fans would refer to this as a dynasty – the type of dynasty that deserves praise for every aspect of the club, from the top to the bottom.