Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the

St. Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. ...

district of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, that competes in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

. The football department is part of a larger sports club that also has departments in rugby ( FC St. Pauli Rugby),

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

(FC St. Pauli Boxen),

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

, handball, roller derby ( Harbor Girls Hamburg), skittles,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

and since 2011 Marathon. Until the end of 2013, the club also had a department in

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

, but it was dissolved because it lacked the youth team required in order to hold a men's team. FC St. Pauli has 27,000 members as of November 2018. The men's professional football team dropped down to the Regionalliga in 2003, at that time the third highest football division in Germany and remained there for four years. In 2007, they won promotion back to the

and in 2010, they were promoted to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, the highest division. After relegation, since the 2011–12 season they have played in 2. Bundesliga, the second-highest division in Germany. FC St Pauli has a cross-city rivalry with

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

; the matches between the two are known as the '' Hamburger Stadtderby'' or simply ''Derby''. The club also has a more recent rivalry with

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

. Although the footballers have enjoyed only modest success on the field, the club is widely recognised for its distinctive social culture and has a large popular following as one of the country's "Kult" clubs, which has now developed beyond Germany. FC St. Pauli supporters are strongly identified with their support of

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soc ...

History

Early years

The club began its existence in 1899 as a loose, informal group of football enthusiasts within the ''Hamburg-St.Pauli Turn-Verein 1862''. This group did not play its first match until 1907, when they faced a similar side assembled from the local Aegir swimming club. Officially established on 15 May 1910, the club played as ''St. Pauli TV'' in the

Kreisliga The Kreisliga ( en, District League), along with the ''Kreisoberliga'' ( en, District Premier League) and the ''Kreisklasse'' ( en, District Class), are the lowest set of divisions in the German football league system, set at step 8 and below. S ...

Groß-Hamburg (Alsterkreis) until 1924, when a separate football side called St. Pauli was formed. The team played as an undistinguished lower-to-mid table side until making their first appearance in 1934 in the top-flight

Gauliga Nordmark The Gauliga Nordmark was the highest football league in the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein and the German states of Hamburg, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and parts of Oldenburg from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the ...

, 1 of 16 premier level divisions created in the re-organization of German football that took place under the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. They were immediately relegated, but returned to the top flight in 1936. Relegated again in 1940, St. Pauli re-appeared in the

Gauliga A Gauliga () was the highest level of play in German football from 1933 to 1945. The leagues were introduced in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power by the National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise. Name The German word ...

Hamburg in 1942, and played there until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Post-war football

After the war, the club resumed play in the Oberliga Nord in 1947. A second-place finish in the 1947–48 season led St. Pauli to its first appearance in the national championship rounds. They advanced as far as the semi-finals, where they were knocked out 2–3 by eventual champions 1. FC Nürnberg. The club continued to play well throughout the early 1950s, but were unable to overtake rivals

, finishing in second place in five of the next seven seasons, and going out in the early rounds in each of their championship-round appearances from 1949 to 1951. In the late 1950s and into the early 1960s, St. Pauli were overtaken by rivals such as

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

and

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its football section. History Foundation to WW2 The c ...

, but finished fourth a number of times.

Promotion to the Bundesliga

In 1963, the

– West Germany's new top-flight professional league – was formed. Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, and Eintracht Braunschweig joined the new circuit as the top-finishers from the Oberliga Nord, while FC St. Pauli found themselves in the second-tier Regionalliga Nord. That year, the club signed Guy Acolatse, who became the first

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

professional footballer to play in Germany. Nearly a decade-and-a-half of frustration followed. St. Pauli won their division in 1964, but finished bottom of their group in the promotion play-off round. They took their next Regionalliga Nord title in 1966 and, while they performed far better in the play-offs, still failed to advance to the top-flight, losing out to

Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...

on goal difference, having conceded two more goals. Division championships in 1972 and 1973, and runner-up finishes in 1971 and 1974, were each followed by promotion-round play-off disappointment. The success of the Bundesliga, and the growth of professional football in West Germany, led to the formation of the

in 1974. St. Pauli was part of the new second-tier professional circuit in the 2. Bundesliga Nord and in 1977, they finally advanced to the top flight as winners of their division. The team survived just one season at the highest level in the Bundesliga. The club's return to the 2. Bundesliga Nord was also short-lived. On the verge on bankruptcy in 1979, they were denied a license for the following season and were sent down to the Oberliga Nord (III). Strong performances that set the team atop that division in 1981 and 1983 were marred by poor financial health. By 1984, the club had recovered sufficiently to return to the 2. Bundesliga, overtaking Werder Bremen's amateur side who, despite finishing two points ahead of St. Pauli, were ineligible for promotion.

"Kult" phenomenon

It was in the mid-1980s that St. Pauli's transition from a standard traditional club into a " Kult" club began. The club was also able to turn the location of its ground in the dock area part of town, near Hamburg's famous

Reeperbahn The Reeperbahn () is a street and entertainment district in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife (the other being Sternschanze) and also the city's major red-light district. In German, it is also nick ...

– centre of the city's night life and its red-light district – to its advantage. An alternative fan scene slowly emerged, built around left-leaning politics,

social activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

and the event and party atmosphere of the club's matches. Supporters adopted the

skull and crossbones A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a ''memento mori'' on tombstones. ...

as their own unofficial emblem. St. Pauli became the first team in Germany to officially ban right-wing nationalist activities and displays in its stadium in an era when fascist-inspired

football hooliganism Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...

threatened the game across Europe. In 1981, the team was averaging small crowds of only 1,600 spectators, but by the late 1990s they were frequently selling out their entire 20,000-capacity ground. The skull and crossbones symbol had always been associated with St Pauli (the city quarter) in one way or another. Hamburg fostered the most famous pirate of Germany,

Klaus Störtebeker "Nikolaus" Storzenbecher or "Klaus" Störtebeker (1360 – supposed 20 October 1401) was reputed to be leader of a group of privateers known as the Victual Brothers (german: Vitalienbrüder). The Victual Brothers ( la, victualia) were ...

, and the symbol had been used by the 1980s squatters at Hafenstraße. However, the one who should be credited with finally bringing the symbol to the terraces is probably Doc Mabuse, the singer of a Hamburg punk band. As the legend tells, he first grabbed the flag from a stall while passing drunk through the Dom on his way to the Millerntor-Stadion. In the early 1990s, the media in Germany began to recognize the ''Kult''-image of the club, focusing on the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

part of the fan-base in TV broadcasts of the matches. By this time, the media also started to establish nicknames like "''Freibeuter der Liga''" ("

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 168 ...

s of the League") as well as the satirical "''das Freudenhaus der Liga''" ("Brothel of the League", literally "House of Joy"). St. Pauli moved in and out of the Bundesliga over the course of the next dozen years: the club was narrowly relegated to the Oberliga in the 1984–85 season, but won the 1985–86 championship and returned to 2. Bundesliga. Two increasingly strong years followed, resulting in promotion and three seasons in the Bundesliga, from 1988 to 1991. Four seasons followed in 2. Bundesliga, and then another two in the Bundesliga In 1995 to 1997, before another return to the 2. Bundesliga.

Into the new millennium

Until 2010, the club's most recent appearance in the top-flight had been a single-season cameo in 2001–02. A win against Bayern Munich, the reigning Intercontinental Cup winners, led to the popular "''Weltpokalsiegerbesieger''" ("World Club Champion beaters") shirts. However, the team finished last in the league, partly because the management did not trust the team which surprisingly won the promotion in 2001, but rather spent the additional money from Bundesliga TV contracts and advertisements on expensive but disappointing players. After the relegation to the 2. Bundesliga, only a skeleton of the successful 2001 team remained. The 2002–03 season ended up in chaos, with the team fighting relegation (ultimately in vain) from the very beginning, various coaches departing and other problems internal to the club. With the club almost bankrupt again and the less-lucrative Regionaliga Nord (III) looming, the club began its fund-raising activities, the so-called "''Retteraktion''". They printed

t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

s with the club's crest surrounded by the word ''Retter'' ("rescuer/saviour") and more than 140,000 were sold within six weeks. They also organized a lucrative benefit game, against Bayern Munich, to raise funds to save the club. The club has also been active in terms of charity and in 2005 the club, the team and the fans initiated the Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli campaign, which collects money for water-dispensers for schools in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, for clean water in Rwanda et cetera. During the 2005–06 season, the team enjoyed unprecedented success in the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

, with wins over Burghausen,

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seasons in the Bundeslig ...

and, significantly, Bundesliga sides Hertha BSC and, in the quarter-finals on 25 January 2006, Werder Bremen. Their 3–1 victory in front of a sell-out Millerntor crowd, and their subsequent place in the DFB Cup semi-final, netted the club approximately €1 million in TV and sponsorship money, going a long way to saving the club from immediate financial ruin. St. Pauli finally went out of the cup to Bayern Munich on 12 April, going down 3–0 with a goal from

Owen Hargreaves Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known as a hard-working and "solid defensive midfielder who worked tirelessly to win the ball" and provide his teammates with posses ...

and two from

Claudio Pizarro Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio (; born 3 October 1978) is a Peruvian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently serving as Club Ambassador for Bayern Munich. He was captain of Peru's national football team, being ...

. Coincidentally, Bayern were also St. Pauli's opponents and dispatchers in the first round of the following season's cup. After success in the 2006–07 season, the team was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. After defeating

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following relegation from the B ...

in the 2009–10 season, the team secured promotion back to the Bundesliga for the 2010–11 season. On 16 February 2011, during the 2010–11 season and for the first time since 1977, St Pauli defeated their bitter cross-city rivals Hamburger SV away at the

Volksparkstadion Volksparkstadion () is a football stadium in Hamburg, Germany, and is the home of Hamburger SV. History HSV actually have nothing to do with the origins of the stadium, even though they own the current arena. Before the club moved to the cur ...

courtesy of a

Gerald Asamoah Gerald Asamoah (; born 3 October 1978) is a German football manager and former professional player who works as the first-team manager of Schalke 04. During his playing career, Asamoah played as a forward, and he was mainly known for his pace, ...

goal. The team, however, finished the domestic season in last place, resulting in their relegation to the 2. Bundesliga for the 2011–12 season. Since then, the club has remained in the 2. Bundesliga, finishing fourth in 2011–12 but declining in results since then.

Honours

League

(II) **Runners-up : 1987–88, 1994–95, 2009–10 * 2. Bundesliga Nord (II) ** Champions : 1977 *

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

(II) ** Champions : 1963–64, 1965–66, 1971–72, 1972–73 *

(III) ** Champions : 2007 * Oberliga Nord (III) ** Champions : 1981, 1983, 1986 * Stadtliga Hamburg (I) ** Champions : 1947

Cup

* Hamburger Pokal ** Winners: 1986, 2004, 2005, 2006

Reserve team

* Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein (IV) ** Champions: 1995, 1999, 2003 * Oberliga Hamburg (V) ** Champions: 2011 * Hamburger Pokal ** Winners: 1998, 2001, 2008

Kit

Historically the colors of the St. Pauli are

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, and to a lesser extent

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

. During the 21st century,

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

details were integrated into the third shirt.

Recent seasons

The club's recent seasons:

Supporters

St. Pauli enjoys a certain fame for the left-leaning character of its supporters: most of the team's fans regard themselves as

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

, anti-fascist, anti-homophobic and anti-sexist, and this has on occasion brought them into conflict with

neo-Nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

and hooligans at away games. The organization has adopted an outspoken stance against racism, fascism, sexism, and homophobia and has embodied this position in its constitution. Team supporters traditionally participate in demonstrations in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, including those over squatting or low-income housing, such as the Hafenstraße and Bambule. The centre of fan activity is the ''Fanladen St. Pauli''. Partly because of shared leftist political views, St. Pauli fans have strong relationships with supporters of Ternana, Unione Calcio Sampdoria,

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

, Club Universidad Nacional,

SV Babelsberg 03 SV Babelsberg 03 is a football in Germany, German association football club based in Potsdam-Potsdam-Babelsberg, Babelsberg, on the outskirts of Berlin. The team was founded as ''Sport-Club Jugendkraft 1903'' and again as ''SG Karl-Marx Babelsbe ...

, Hapoel Tel Aviv,

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

( Original 21), Celtic and Oakland Roots. In the past they also had a friendship with the fans of

Bohemians 1905 Bohemians Praha 1905 (previously named FC Bohemians Praha) is a Prague-based football club, which was founded in 1905 as AFK Vršovice. The club won the 1982–83 Czechoslovak First League, its only league championship. Its colours are green a ...

and Partizan Minsk. The group ''Ultrá Sankt Pauli'' also has a special friendship with the group ''Schickeria München'', from the ultras scene of Bayern Munich. A banner of the Schickeria München is occasionally displayed at the Millerntor Stadion, and a flag of the Ultrá Sankt Pauli – sporting a picture of

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quot ...

– has been displayed at the

Allianz Arena Allianz Arena (; known as Fußball Arena München for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany with a 70,000 seating capacity for international matches and 75,000 for domestic matches. Widely known for its exterio ...

. Both Ultrá Sankt Pauli and Schickeria München are members of ''Alerta Network'', an international anti-fascist network of supporter groups. The club prides itself on having the largest number of female fans in all of German football. In 2002, advertisements for the men's magazine ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

'' were removed from the Millerntor-Stadion in response to fans' protests over the adverts' sexist depictions of women. In 2011, the club banned lap dancers from performing during match before guests at a corporate suite, following fans' complaints. The suite belonged to local lap dance club ''Susies Show Bar''. St. Pauli is also a worldwide symbol for

and related subcultures. The skull and crossbones logo and the team's brown and white football jerseys have often been worn by international artists such as the bands

Asian Dub Foundation Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) is an English electronic music band that combines musical styles including rap rock, dub, dancehall, ragga, and South Asian music. The group also includes traditional rock instruments such as electric bass and guit ...

Gaslight Anthem The Gaslight Anthem is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 2006. The band consists of Brian Fallon (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Alex Rosamilia (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alex Levine (bass guitar, backing vocals), ...

and Panteon Rococo. The

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

frontman and Hamburg native

Sascha Konietzko Sascha Kegel Konietzko (born 21 June 1961), also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and record producer. He is the founder, frontman and "anchor" of the industrial band KMFDM. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the fat ...

is a recognisable St. Pauli fan, at one point placing a huge picture of a fist smashing a swastika on his band's main page, with the caption ''"St. Pauli Fans gegen Rechts!"'' ("St. Pauli fans against the

Right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

") underneath it. American punk band Anti-Flag can be seen wearing St. Pauli shirts in numerous music videos for their album '' American Fall''. Another notable supporter and sponsor is

Andrew Eldritch Andrew Eldritch (born Andrew William Harvey Taylor, 15 May 1959) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is the frontman and only remaining original member of the Sisters of Mercy, a band that emerged from the British post-punk scene ...

, lead singer of band

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasi ...

. On his 2006 "Sisters Bite The Silver Bullet"- tour, Eldritch wore the famous skull and crossbones shirt. Georg Holm, the bassist of the Icelandic

post rock Post Rock may refer to: * Post-rock, a form of experimental rock music * Post Rock (South Georgia) Elsehul (also Paddocks Cove, Else Cove, Elsie Bay, Elsa Bay, Else's Hole, and Else Bay) is a bay along the north coast of South Georgia Island in t ...

band Sigur Rós, has performed at several festivals wearing a St. Pauli T-shirt. Alex Rosamilia, the guitarist for

The Gaslight Anthem The Gaslight Anthem is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 2006. The band consists of Brian Fallon (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Alex Rosamilia (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alex Levine (bass guitar, backing vocals), ...

, frequently wears a St. Pauli hat and hoodie and displays a flag of the club's logo in front of the speakers of his guitar amp.

Editors Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

guitarist and synthesiser player Chris Urbanowicz frequently wears the skull and crossbones t-shirt. Dave Doughman, the singer for

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

's Swearing at Motorists, who has been spotted in concert with the skull and crossbones on his guitar and amplifier, moved to St. Pauli in 2010. Bad Religion played a charity match against St. Pauli's third team in 2000. German musicians that are fans include:

Fettes Brot Fettes Brot () is a German hip hop group that formed in 1992. History Band name Fettes Brot means ''fat bread'' in German. "Fett" is a German slang term for "excellent" and brot is slang for "hash". The band took the name from a fan who ca ...

Die Ärzte Die Ärzte (; ) is a German rock band from Berlin. The band has released 14 studio albums. The group consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B and bass player Rodrigo González. All three write and perform their songs. History Ea ...

singer/drummer/songwriter Bela B.,

Kettcar Kettcar is an indie rock music band based in Hamburg, Germany. The band has released five studio albums so far. The band released their fourth album, ''Zwischen den Runden'', in 2012. Their fifth album, ''Ich vs. Wir'', was released in October ...

Tomte A (, ), tomte (), , or () is a mythological creature from Nordic folklore today typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. They are generally described as being short, having a long white beard, and wearing a co ...

and many other bands, most of them underground. Kollmarlibre 06

Several bands have also made music directly related to St. Pauli: The Norwegian punk rock band

Turbonegro Turbonegro (Turboneger in Norway) is a Norwegian Rock music, rock band, active from 1989 to 1998 and from 2002 to the present. The band combines glam rock, punk rock, and hard rock into a self-described "deathpunk" musical style. History Earl ...

recorded a special version of their song "

I Got Erection ''Ass Cobra'' is the third full-length studio album by Norwegian punk rock band Turbonegro. It was first released in May 1996 on Boomba Records in Germany and in 1997 on Sympathy for the Record Industry in the United States. It was re-released ...

" with re-worked German lyrics for St. Pauli. In 2009, Italian ska combat-folk punk band Talco from

Marghera Marghera is a ''municipalità'' (borough) of the ''comune'' of Venice, Italy. It includes the industrial area known as Porto Marghera (English: Marghera Port) or Venezia Porto Marghera. Etymology The name Marghera is said in popular myth to come ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, wrote the song "St Pauli". The team has since used the song as an anthem and Talco has played a number of concerts at Millerntor-Stadion.

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

band The Wakes have also played the Millerntor, having written "The Pirates of the League" about the club. Also, British band Art Brut has written a song about the club called "St Pauli" which is featured on their album '' It's a Bit Complicated''. In 2010, FC St. Pauli celebrated its 100th anniversary. For the occasion, the fan club 18auf12 recorded the song "Happy Birthday St.Pauli, One Hundred Beers for You", with words and music by Henning Knorr and Christoph Brüx. The Canadian punk rock band The Pagans of Northumberland recorded a song in 2014 called simply "St Pauli" for their first 7-inch detailing their love of the club and its supporters around the world. In January 2017, FC St. Pauli announced an extensive co-operation with

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Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys. The co-operation includes a strictly limited seven-inch picture disc of the song " You’ll Never Walk Alone" recorded by the band, and new club merchandise labeled "You’ll Never Walk Alone", sporting both the club and the band. When the team played in Germany's 2nd Bundesliga, their home fixtures at the Millerntor used to average greater attendances than any other team and often exceeded turnouts for second division teams. As of the 2011–12 season, St. Pauli is the only team that has close to 100% in average home attendance. In 2006, St. Pauli had more season ticket holders than many Bundesliga teams. One study estimated that the team has roughly 11 million fans throughout Germany, making the club one of the most widely recognised German sides. The number of official fan clubs in 2011 passed 500 which is an increase of 300 over three years. In January 2020, the club's famous skull and crossbones flag was listed by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's counter-terrorism police in a guide sent to public sector workers, to notice potential

extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...

, prompting a backlash from St Pauli's Welsh defender

James Lawrence James Lawrence (October 1, 1781 – June 4, 1813) was an officer of the United States Navy. During the War of 1812, he commanded in a single-ship action against , commanded by Philip Broke. He is probably best known today for his last words, ...

Club culture

St. Pauli opens its home matches with " Hells Bells" by AC/DC, and after every home goal " Song 2" by Blur is played. The former club president Corny Littmann, long active in German theatre and head of the Schmidt Theater on the

, is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

. St. Pauli have made pre-season appearances at

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are ...

, a heavy metal festival, several times. The club hosted the

2006 FIFI Wild Cup The FIFI Wild Cup was an alternative FIFA World Cup, held from 29 May to 3 June 2006 in Germany, prior to the official FIFA World Cup which started one week later. It was run by the Federation of International Football Independents (FIFI). FIFI ...

, a tournament made up of unrecognised national football teams like

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Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

and

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

. They participated as the "Republic of St. Pauli". In 2008,

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commemorated the club with two exclusive Dunk shoes, both released in limited quantities. The High Dunk (featuring a black

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