The objective of The Red ultras was simply to back the team for 90 minutes, and to stand up for what we believed in...

A few months ago it came to my attention that Aberdeen's Red Ultras has disbanded. Despite not being an Aberdeen fan I was pretty disappointed to hear that they had fallen by the wayside. Their choreographed displays and impressive banners injected some much needed colour and passion into what were often drab Scottish premier league encounters. The group, formed back in 1999, had their critics, but always struck me as a dedicated (if misunderstood) bunch who surrendered a huge amount of their own personal time to the cause of supporting their team and ensuring that any display they put their name to went off without a hitch.

Like many groups attaching themselves to the 'ultras' movement, they were often subject to criticism and even ridicule from those who quite simply failed to grasp their concept. The most laughable, pathetic and ill-informed piece written about them probably came a couple of years ago in The Mirror.

Sadly this was an indication of the attitudes which they often found themselves up against.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/columnists/ray-hepburn/2009/01/25/red-ultras-banner-at-aberdeen-spoilt-classic-celtic-clash-115875-21072935/

It seems awful journalism such as that of Ray Hepburn, on going struggles with Aberdeen FC and differences between themselves and other Aberdeen fans (culminating in some pretty bitter internet forum exchanges) have taken their toll and forced the group into feeling they have no other option but to call it a day.

Ulmitately part of the Scottish football landscape which stretched back over the last decade has been lost and I hope that Aberdeen fans manage to resurrect the group in some form within the near future.......Well, we can’t have the Old Firm supporters taking all the glory can we?

I was able to contact one of the Red ultras, Mezz, and put a few questions to him regarding his time spent attending matched with the group...

What was the motivation behind the formation of the Red Ultras?

After witnessing fans in Italy first hand, I wanted to try and do something pro-active at Aberdeen.

Did the Red ultras have any kind of ‘mission statement’ or specific ethos?

The objective of The Red ultras was simply to back the team for 90 minutes, to have the group and its banner represented at every game and to stand up for what we believed in.

Did you face much opposition from Aberdeen FC and even fellow dons fans in the group’s formative stages?

The club were fine to start with, however, there were some pathetic comments from other fans, for example, we were labelled as racist or fascists, it was laughable really.

Was it difficult to set up an ultras style group whilst remaining distanced from casual culture?

It took a few years to really get going but we did have very large numbers when we first started and back then we had a lot of "lads" involved.

Initially it was more or less a piss up club, so we had to change direction and start introducing some colour with choreographed displays, flags and songs.

Were you interested in ultras groups in places such as Italy and Spain, was this a major influence?

Definitely especially Ultras Tito from Sampdoria and Grifoni from Genoa. I had spent some time with ultras from both teams but Samp were the ones I chose to follow and I have since been to several Samp games in both Italy and England.

The Italian scene was absolutely crazy at times and although times are changing over there these days with government clampdowns, they can still do it with style.

Did the Red Ultras themselves form links with any other Ultras groups throughout Europe?

Yes, we had a great friendship with Boavista’s Panteras Negras, we have been over a few times and they have been in Aberdeen on a few occasions. They even came to Madrid when we played Atletico. Even though the RU have disbanded, lads from both sides still keep in touch and still go over to visit. They are a great bunch and have had it hard from the Portuguese Football Association over match fixing nonsense.

What’s the most memorable game you’ve ever spend supporting Aberdeen with the Red ultras?

The trip to Ukraine to watch the 1-1 draw with Dnipro to see us through to the UEFA cup group stages..there were many great games but that was a mental trip..400 dons fans, a wee display, flares and everyone really tight together looking out for each other. The way it should be!

Is there a particular Red Ultra’s display which you’re most proud of?

A lot of people speak about the Bayern Munich ‘ONE LOVE’ display, but there were so many big displays its hard to mention one in particular......Copenhagen at home with the huge pieces of polythene was a tricky one to pull off and keep in place! 3200 streamers v Celtic was another that had to be timed to perfection. I used a megaphone to talk to the whole top deck and we got the effect we desired.

Were there any grounds that you visited where stewards/police assumed you were troublemakers and didn’t really get your concept?

Most grounds we had some problems at one point or another but for a while we had a good run at it.

Similarly where there any stadiums which were particularly accommodating towards you?

Celtic let us in a few times before the gates opened to set up displays, Rangers wouldn’t allow us in and most others we just took items in with us.

Were you received better in European grounds compared to stadiums in Scotland?

If anything European grounds were a nightmare! In Madrid we had over 100 flags snapped in front of us by the riot police. Everyone knows what happened over there and the police were looking for trouble.

At its peak, what level of numbers did you have in the group?

We had about 250 members in the first 2 seasons but, like I said, we never really did anything. Our peak as you say was 2-3 years ago and we had roughly 80 members with about 30 present all the time.

Are there any other UK based ultra groups who you admire?

I admire all of them, from Celtic’s Green Brigade to Accrington Stanley’s Ultras. For UK fans to start any kind of group takes a lot of bottle and hard work. Good luck to them all.

How far do you think the Ultras scene could develop in Scotland?

Dead slow and stop I’m afraid..we were flying and you had Ranger’s Blue Order and Livingston’s Drum Beat Mafia, you now have a few groups at both the Old Firm and now the other groups are too few in number to make a difference. It’s really is hard in this environment.

I’d imagine you saw Rangers as your number one rivals in a playing sense, but are their fans also your biggest rivals in the supporting sense?

For a good while it was the Blue Order but we always outdid them. We outdid everyone at the time but the Green Brigade (Celtic) have taken things to a new level in the UK, they really are flying at the moment. I always said it would catch on at the Old Firm and if it did, this would spur on the smaller clubs, but if anything it’s had the opposite effect.

Sadly the group called it a day and is no longer active, what was the reasoning behind this?

The hassle involved was beyond belief and it’s 24-7. That’s all I’ll say on the matter.

Do you have any hopes for a resurrection of the group in the future?

There’s been talk of the group coming back and there’s been talk of another group but the club at present wouldn’t allow it to breathe.

There’s also red army 12 that some of us are involved with, one of its aims is to bring back displays and some atmosphere but apathy is rife at present amongst the dons support and the vast majority simply aren’t interested in doing anything positive.

All photos from www.redultras.net head over there to see more of their pictures from over the years.