Founded 101 years ago, FC Rudar, from the city of Pljevlja, is one of the best teams in Montenegrin football. The club, owned by the Pljevlja Municipality, have played in the top division since the foundation of the league in 2006. With two league titles and three Montenegrin Cup titles, Rudari (The Miners) have had some complicated few last seasons, but be sure that they are eager to return to European football as fast as possible. Emir, 29, puts his dreams and hopes behind the team he loves since his uncle played for them. Emir expresses what a passionate and ambitious fanbase wants, to see Rudar celebrate again.
Q: What is your first memory related to Rudar?
A: My first memory related to the club is the moment when the club won "the double" by winning the final match in National Cup against Budućnost in Podgorica. The club was already league champion because the final was played after all the games in the championship.
Q: Do you remember your first match at Stadion Pod Golubinjom?
A: I started going to matches when I was very young because my uncle played for Rudar and my mom and dad watched every game, so I went with them as a kid. Can't really remember the first match, but I have some memories from those times.
Q: Do you have a "favourite" memory regarding Rudar? Perhaps going to the stadium with family/friends?
A: Favourite memory is any moment at the home ground when one older man in the stands starts yelling and giving instructions to the players, even if those instructions are totally out of the tactics, it's quite funny and interesting to listen to that.
Q: How do you feel about Rudar's recent European adventures in the Europa League? Are you happy to have qualified for that tournament quite a few times in the last few years? Was it thought to play Partizan in 2018? Are there a lot of tensions between Montenegro and Serbia or things are more or less okay?
A: Well in general we are not that satisfied with European adventures, but it's hard to change that for now, we usually play with much richer and stronger teams. As you asked, for example, Partizan are a much bigger and expensive team, with a lot of people in Montenegro also cheering for them, so many went to that game and used the opportunity to watch Partizan and see their favourite players. There weren't many tensions since we had one player (Damir Cakar) who is a legendary Partizan player, born in Pljevlja, and on two occasions captain of Rudar. We also had many transfers from Rudar to Partizan in the past. Politicians are making tensions, but people are very fine in relationships and not very much bothered by official politics.
Q: What were your sensations when Rudar won the tournament for the first time in 2010? And the second one so far in 2015?
A: In these few years we had very good teams, with a lot of good players and expectations were big. The main point was that we were in front of the rivals and that we will have the opportunity to play in European matches, so we can see how good (or bad) we were.
Q: What is the most rewarding and the most unrewarding thing about being a Rudar fan?
A: I guess the answer is the same for every football fan in the world. Winning and losing are the most joyful and most painful feelings in football.
Q: What are your predictions for the Men's National Team? You guys had very good World Cup qualifiers (led by Jovetić) but fell short by some points. The 2020 Euros qualifying wasn't that good, but you managed to earn promotion in the UEFA Nations League, is there some consistency?
A: Everyone in the country is hoping for Jovetić to be healthy and wants his leadership, a good form of Savić, and maybe few more players. Expectations are big, we hope we can make it to the World Cup. Montenegro is a small country, we don't have too many players, but people here are not quite realistic when it comes to sport, so why not? Maybe we will watch Montenegro at the FIFA World Cup.
Q: What does football mean for the "average" Montenegrin? How's the sport lived in the country?
A: Many people watch sport here, maybe not the National championship, but football is very popular. We have good national teams in handball, Waterpolo, but football brings much more interest and satisfaction when it comes to winning. When the National team wins, people here stay late at night drinking and celebrating, when we lose, then they stay only drinking :)
Q: Do you have any pre-match "rituals"?
A: As a fan not really, maybe the only thing is that I don't watch the game in the west stand, I always go to the east stand.
Q: Could you describe "Montenegro" with one word, "Football" with one word, and "FC Rudar" with one word?
A: Montenegro - exotic; Football - love and Rudar - family.
I would like to add that the name Rudar in our language means miner (same as Shakhtar in Ukraine) since we have a coal mine, and the town is an industrial center of the country. Also, our non-official slogan is “Snaga Udar Rudar” which means: “strength, impact, Rudar”.
