The relationship between Budućnost (Zora, Montenegro) and Balšić was complex and nuanced, and cannot be placed in a historical framework using a simplistic black-and-white technique. The antagonism between the Podgorica rivals and their ideological polarization may not have been as pronounced as they were emphasized in the decades after World War II. This is indicated, among other things, by the fact that the border between them was permeable.
A large number of players were members of both clubs. However, this does not mean that fair play always prevailed. Milan Raičević he left an interesting anecdote about the goalkeeper's transfer Dode Tahiri from Balšić to Buducnost and the attempt of his former club to get him back, with the help of the police.
Doda Tahiri's father, according to Milan Raičević, fled from Albania to Podgorica in fear of blood feud. Other sources also give his name - Tahir Curi - as well as a different reason for fleeing his homeland, which he left for politics. Doda began training with Balšić, but after the president of Budućnost Grujo Petrovic helped cure a skin disease, joined the ranks of rivals. Balšić tried to bring him back, and when he failed, the police got involved, and spoke with Curi.
"There they explained to him that we communists were against the king and the state that was giving him shelter and material assistance," writes Milan Raičević.
Despite pressure from the police and his father, Doda Tahiri remained with Buducnost until its closure. He later played for Crnogorac, then for Šumadija from Aranđelovac, and briefly spent time in Skopje. After World War II, he was a member of Vlaznija from Shkodra, before returning to Podgorica and Buducnost. He also played three matches for the Albanian national team.
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And although Budućnost and Balšić played a large number of matches against each other, incidents, at least according to newspaper reports, were relatively rare. The two clubs often played friendly matches, which in some cases had a pronouncedly friendly character. When they Gojko Mitrović, player and treasurer of Buducnost, and captain of Balšić Petar Novićević were preparing to go to the army, their teams met on July 19, 1931, to raise funds for the send-off.
In a preserved joint photo from the same year, taken at a friendly match for the "Olympic picture" Smail Junuzović", the football players of the two teams pose intermingled and embracing, not resembling bitter and sharpened ideological rivals.
The two clubs met on other occasions as well. On October 28, 1934, nineteen days after the Marseille assassination, Budućnost and Balšić played a duel intended to pledge allegiance to Petar II Karađorđević, heir to the Yugoslav throne. The debt was eventually repaid.
There is much to suggest that Podgorica's rivals were, for lack of a more appropriate local word, "frenemies", or favorite enemies. Their interests overlapped to a significant extent. In both the Split and Cetinje football sub-associations, they were in the same position - neglected, without their own people in decision-making positions. However, when the Zeta County was formed in the autumn of 1934, it turned out that it was not easy to harmonize desires and that the clubs competed for primacy. In addition, there is no doubt who was privileged at the local level.
“Balšić is in a somewhat better financial position - the municipality helps him with 500 dinars, he has his own playground and plenty of players,” Zeta wrote in October 1930. The phrase “own playground” should be understood conditionally. On the land owned by the Yugoslav Army, where the barracks were also located, Balšić carried out the necessary work to adapt the field to playing matches and tried to take advantage of that position.
Both clubs found themselves in a bind when the Podgorica military command confiscated the land on which they had been training and playing in early 1935. Four years later, shared troubles united Balšić and Montenegro. The older club fenced off its own playground in the area between the barracks and the park, after which an agreement was reached at a meeting with representatives of Montenegro on joint training, participation in matches and equal participation in the costs of the fence already erected around the playground. The deal paid off immediately, and the local opponents confirmed it with a friendly match whose revenue amounted to 3.125 dinars.
The idyll, however, did not last. As early as March 1940, Zeta reported that the sports field near the park had been occupied by a building, and athletes were advised to train in the open air, on Ćemovsko polje.
(From the monograph “Proud Past, One is Future”, which can be purchased in the Future fan shop)
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