FC St Pauli

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 district of Hamburg. The team plays in the Bundesliga from the 2024–25 season following promotion from the 2. Bundesliga in 2023–24.

The football department is part of a larger sports club that also has departments in rugby (FC St. Pauli Rugby), baseball, bowling, boxing (FC St. Pauli Boxen), chess, cycling, handball, roller derby (Harbor Girls Hamburg), skittles, softball, table tennis, and since 2011, marathon. Until the end of 2013, the club also had a department in American football, but it was dissolved because it lacked the youth team required in order to hold a men's team. As of April 2023, FC St. Pauli has 30,400 members.

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 2. Bundesliga, the second highest division in Germany and in 2010, they were promoted to the Bundesliga, the highest division. After relegation, since the 2011–12 season they have played in 2. Bundesliga until the 2023–24 season when they were promoted back to the Bundesliga.

FC St. Pauli has a cross-city rivalry with Hamburger SV; 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.

Although the club has been only modestly successful, it is widely recognised for its distinctive social culture and has a large popular following as one of the country's "Kult" clubs. FC St. Pauli and supporters are strongly identified with their support of left-wing politics.

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 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, 1 of 16 premier level divisions created in the re-organization of German football that took place under the Third Reich. They were immediately relegated, but returned to the top flight in 1936. Relegated again in 1940, St. Pauli re-appeared in the Gauliga Hamburg in 1942, and played there until the end of World War II.

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 Hamburger SV, 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 and VfL Osnabrück, but finished fourth a number of times.

Promotion to the Bundesliga

In 1963, the Bundesliga – 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 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 won their next Regionalliga Nord title in 1966, but, while they performed far better in the play-offs, still could not advance to the top-flight, losing to Rot-Weiss Essen 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 2. Bundesliga in 1974. St. Pauli was part of the new second-tier professional circuit in the 2. Bundesliga Nord and, in 1977, they advanced to the top flight as winners of their division. The team survived for 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 – 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 and the event and party atmosphere of the club's matches. St. Pauli became the first team in Germany to officially ban right-wing nationalist activities and displays in its stadium during a period of fascist-inspired football hooliganism 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.

Supporters adopted the skull and crossbones as their own unofficial emblem in the 1980s. Although precise details are uncertain, the story goes that named "Doc Mabuse", a singer in a Hamburg punk band, nailed a Jolly Roger flag to a broomstick and brought it to the Millerntor-Stadion. The original flag featured a skull with pirate eyepatch. Inspired, other fans began to bring similar flags to matches. In 1989, Hamburg screenprinter Steph Braun created an image combining a detailed representation of a skull (taken from an anatomy textbook) with the words "ST. PAULI" underneath. Intended to represent the area itself, and sold in various record shops around the district, Braun's graphic was adopted by St. Pauli fans and came to be seen as specifically associated with the club.

In the early 1990s, the media in Germany began to recognize the ''Kult''-image of the club, focusing on the punk 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''" ("Buccaneers of the League") as well as the satirical "''das Freudenhaus der Liga''" ("Brothel of the League", literally "House of Joy"). The club itself realized the potential and in September 1999 bought the rights to Steph Braun's skull and crossbones graphic, making it an official club logo.

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-shirts 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, for clean water in Rwanda et cetera.

During the 2005–06 season, the team enjoyed unprecedented success in the DFB-Pokal, with wins over Burghausen, VfL Bochum 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 and two from Claudio Pizarro. 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 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 cross-city rivals, Hamburger SV, away at the Volksparkstadion, courtesy of a Gerald Asamoah 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 remained in the 2. Bundesliga, finishing fourth in 2011–12 but declining in results in the years to come, until they earned promotion back to the Bundesliga in the 2023–24 season.

Football Cooperative St. Pauli von 2024 eG

In order to be able to guarantee and expand financial security in professional football, the board and members of the club have decided in the End of 2024 to found the Football Cooperative St. Pauli von 2024 eG. The cooperative will enable fans and members to acquire shares for 750 euros plus a subscription and administration fee of 100 euros. The club is expecting 20,000 to 30,000 shareholders, which should raise up to 30 million euros, with the sale of shares to be discontinued once 36 million is reached. The co-operative will use these funds to acquire a majority stake in the Millerntor stadium operating company. The income is also needed to service existing loans, in particular from the new stadium construction and the coronavirus period. Members of the cooperative have co-determination rights according to the one man, one vote - priciple and elect the Executive Board. The Football Cooperative St. Pauli von 2024 eG is the first cooperative in German professional football.

Colours and kit

The colours of FC St. Pauli are brown and white, and to a lesser extent red. Black is also common among fans and on third kits.

The club has worn brown and white since 1910, when it joined the Northern German Football Association (''Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband''). These early uniforms were made up of brown shirts and socks with white shorts. Some time between the 1920s and 30s, the club took on what would become its traditional look, namely a white shirt, brown shorts and brown socks with a white turnover. From early on in the club's history until the 1990s, the club readily wore its brown change shirts at home, even during such games as those against rivals HSV, who also wear white shirts.

During the 1960s, the club introduced white socks which regularly alternated with plain brown socks. A motif was used on the club shirt for the first time in 1968, when the club donned stripes, and, in the 1970s, various other motifs adorned the club's first and second-choice shirts. In the 1976–77 season, St. Pauli began wearing Adidas kits, marking the end of a period of often experimental shirts, and this traditional look continued when the club started wearing Puma kits in the 1980s. For the 1985–86 season, the club sported an all-white Puma kit, which would be worn for four consecutive seasons before some brown details returned to the shirt. However, the Kiezkicker would continue to wear these predominantly white kits until 1993.

At this point, the club would return to a kit based on a white-brown-white scheme, but in a more contemporary style, often incorporating patterns. The Reusch kits of 1994– 96 and 1996–97 had hoops and stripes respectively, while Kappa would also produce a striped kit in 2000–01. The Italian brand would provide a set of kits for the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons in which the shirt, shorts, and socks were all available in white and brown, meaning that the team would wear a different combination each game, reminiscent of the club's look between the 1960s and 1980s. During the 2001–02 season, the team would frequently make recourse to the previous year's all-black away kit.

In 2003–04, the club would once again sport a white shirt with brown sleeves, manufactured by Stanno. However this is, as of the 2022–23 season, the last time the club has donned its traditional kit. While the club's uniform for the 2005–06 season would combine a light shirt and brown shorts, St. Pauli would wear an all-black kit during the following campaign (marking the first time that neither of the club's colours were present on the home kit). From the 2007–08 season, St. Pauli has worn an all-brown home kit on all but three occasions, one of which saw the team return to a striped shirt, while in the two other instances the team wore white shorts.

Between 2019–20 and 2021–22, LGBT details were integrated into the third shirt. In 2020, having sought a kit supplier who would meet their ecological and ethical requirements since 2018, St. Pauli founded their own brand, Di!Y ("Do it. Improve Yourself"). From the 2021–22 season, St. Pauli have worn kits made in-house by Di!Y.

Sponsors

Stadium

The home venue of the FC St. Pauli is the Millerntor-Stadion. Work on the stadium began in 1961, but its completion was delayed until 1963 as there was initially no drainage system in place, making the pitch unplayable after rain. It originally held 32,000 supporters, but the capacity was later reduced for safety reasons.

In 1970, the stadium was renamed the Wilhelm Koch-Stadium in honour of a former club president. However, this name became highly controversial when it was discovered by historian René Martens that Wilhelm Koch had been a member of the Nazi Party from 1937 to 1945, as stated in his 1997 book "FC St. Pauli - You'll never walk alone". After protests by fans, the name was changed back to Millerntor-Stadion in 1999.

A total redevelopment began in 2006. The final phase of the redevelopment work ended with the completion of the new north stand in July 2015. The stadium is since then permitted for a capacity of 29,546 spectators of which 16,940 are standing and 12,606 are seated.

The stadium is located next to the Heiligengeistfeld, and is overlooked by the Flak Tower IV to the north and a building of the Deutsche Telekom to the south. It can be reached with the Hamburg U-Bahn line U3 ( St. Pauli Station and Feldstraße Station).

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-fascist, anti-homophobic and anti-sexist, and this has, on occasion, brought them into conflict with neo-Nazis and hooligans at away games. However, the fans are reportedly split on the Israel-Palestine conflict. 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''. St. Pauli has a supporters group in England, Yorkshire St. Pauli.

Partly because of shared leftist political views, St. Pauli fans have strong relationships with supporters of Bayern Munich (Schickeria), Werder Bremen, Ternana, Club Universidad Nacional, Unione Calcio Sampdoria, Rayo Vallecano, SV Babelsberg 03, Hapoel Tel Aviv, AEK Athens (Original 21), Olympique Marseille, Celtic, Venezia, Cosenza, Standard Liège and Clapton CFC In the past they also had a friendship with the fans of Bohemians 1905, Partizan Minsk and F.C. United of Manchester, the latter of whom were invited to the Millerntor for a friendly game to celebrate St. Pauli's centenary. 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 – has been displayed at the Allianz Arena. 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'' 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 punk 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, Gaslight Anthem, Panteon Rococo and Molotov (band). The KMFDM frontman and Hamburg native Sascha Konietzko 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") 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, lead singer of band The Sisters of Mercy. 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 band Sigur Rós, has performed at several festivals wearing a St. Pauli shirt. Alex Rosamilia, the guitarist for The Gaslight Anthem, 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 guitarist and synthesiser player Chris Urbanowicz frequently wears the skull and crossbones t-shirt. Dave Doughman, the singer for Dayton, Ohio'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 who are fans include: Fettes Brot, Die Ärzte singer/drummer/songwriter Bela B., Kettcar, Tomte, and many other bands, most of them underground.

Several bands have also made music directly related to St. Pauli: The Norwegian punk rock band Turbonegro recorded a special version of their song " I Got Erection" with re-worked German lyrics for St. Pauli. In 2009, Italian ska combat-folk punk band Talco from Marghera, Venice, 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 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 Irish-American 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 2. 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 was 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 had 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 was an increase of 300 over three years.

In January 2020, the club's skull and crossbones flag was listed by the United Kingdom's counter-terrorism police in a guide sent to public sector workers, to notice potential extremism, prompting a backlash from St. Pauli's Welsh defender James Lawrence.

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 Reeperbahn, is openly gay.

St. Pauli have made pre-season appearances at Wacken Open Air, a heavy metal festival, several times.

The club hosted the 2006 FIFI Wild Cup, a tournament made up of unrecognised national football teams like Greenland, Tibet and Zanzibar. They participated as the "Republic of St Pauli".

In 2008, Nike commemorated the club with two exclusive Dunk shoes, both released in limited quantities. The High Dunk (featuring a black colorway