FC St. Pauli

Football club infobox
clubname = FC St. Pauli


fullname = FC St. Pauli von 1910 e. V.
founded = 1910
club colours = brown & white
nickname = The Pirates of the League
ground = Millerntor-Stadion
capacity = 22,200 (expanding to 27,000)
chairman = Corny Littmann
manager = André Trulsen
league = 2. Bundesliga
season = 2007-08
position = 2. Bundesliga, 9th
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leftarm1=a0522d|body1=a0522d|rightarm1=a0522d|shorts1=a0522d|socks1=a0522d
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=ffffff|body2=ffffff|rightarm2=ffffff|shorts2=ffffff|socks2=ffffff

FC St. Pauli is a German sports club based in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg. The football department is part of a larger club that also has Rugby, American football, baseball, bowling, chess, cycling, handball, skittles, softball and table tennis teams. While the footballers have enjoyed only modest success on the field, the club is widely recognized for its unique culture and has a large popular following as one of the country's "Kult" clubs.Fact|date=September 2008 St. Pauli has secured promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for the 2007/08 Season, and will play at the same level in 2008/09.

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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 against a similar side assembled out of the local Aegir swimming club. Officially established on May 15, 1910, the club played as "St. Pauli TV" in the Kreisliga Groß-Hamburg (Alsterkreis) until 1924 when a separate football side called "FC 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, one of sixteen 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" would re-appear in the Gauliga Hamburg in 1942 and play there through to the end of World War II.

Postwar 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 put out 2:3 by eventual champions "1.FC Nürnberg". The club continued to play well through the early 50's, 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 latter half of the decade and into the early 60's "St. Pauli" was overtaken by rivals such as "Werder Bremen" and "VfL Osnabrück" and was unable to do better than earn a number of fourth place finishes.

The struggle for 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 "St. Pauli" found themselves in the second tier Regionalliga Nord.

Nearly a decade and a half of frustration followed. "St. Pauli" captured their division in 1964, but finished dead last in their group in the promotion playoff round. They took their next Regionalliga Nord title in 1966 and while they performed far better in the playoffs, still failed to advance to the top-flight, losing out to "Rot-Weiß Essen" on goal difference, having conceded two more goals. Division championships in 1972 and 1973, and second place finishes in 1971 and 1974, were each followed by promotion round playoff failures.

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 pro circuit in the 2.Bundesliga Nord, and in 1977 finally advanced to the top flight on the strength of their first place finish in their division. The team was immediately relegated after just one season of play 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 not matched by good financial health. By 1984, the club was sufficiently recovered to leapfrog back up into the 2.Bundesliga past "Werder Bremen"'s amateur side - which had actually finished two points ahead of "St. Pauli", but were not eligible for promotion.

t. Pauli and the "Kult" phenomenon

It was in the mid-80's that "St. Pauli"'s transition from a 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 St. Pauli near Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn - centre of the city's nightlife and its red-light district - to its advantage. An alternative fan scene emerged built around left-leaning politics and the "event" and party atmosphere of the club's matches. Supporters adopted the skull and crossbones as their own unofficial emblem. Importantly, "St. Pauli" became the first team in Germany to officially ban rightwing, nationalist activities and displays in its stadium in an era when fascist inspired football hooliganism threatened the game across Europe. In 1981, the team was averaging crowds of only 1,600 spectators: by the late 90's they were frequently selling out their entire 20,000 capacity venue.

"St. Pauli" began a roller coaster ride that saw them in and out of the Bundesliga over the course of the next dozen years: The 1984-85 season ended very close but "St. Pauli" was relegated to Oberliga again. The team won the 1985-86 championship and returned to 2. Bundesliga. Two increasingly strong years followed resulting in promotion and three seasons in 1. Bundesliga 1988-91. Four seasons followed in 2. Bundesliga, and then another two-season-long run in 1. Bundesliga 1995-97, before returning to 2. Bundesliga.

Into the new millennium

Their most recent appearance in the top flight was a single season cameo in 2001-02, followed by two successive relegations. With the club almost bankrupt again and the less lucrative Regionaliga Nord (III) looming the club began its fundraising 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 6 weeks. They also organized a benefit game against Bayern Munich to try and help rescue 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.

During the 2005-06 season, the team enjoyed unprecedented success in the DFB Cup, with wins over Burghausen, Bochum and, significantly, Bundesliga sides Hertha Berlin and, in the quarter-finals on January 25, 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 problems.

In the wake of its DFB Cup victories, the club has also produced a new line of t-shirts with the slogan "Wir sind Pokal" ("We Are Cup"), after the Bild newspaper's famous 2005 headline "Wir sind Papst" ("We Are Pope").

St. Pauli finally went out of the cup to FC Bayern Munich on April 12 going down 3-0 with a goal from Owen Hargreaves and two from Claudio Pizarro. Incidentally, Bayern Munich was also drawn as St. Pauli's opponent in the first round of the following season's cup leading to an early exit as Bayern Munich won 2-1.

However, after success in the 2006/2007 season the team was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga.

Recent seasons

upporters

"FC St. Pauli" enjoy certain fame for the left leaning character of its supporters: most of the team's fans regard themselves as anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-sexist, and this has on occasion brought them into conflict with neo-Nazis and hooligans at away games. The organization has taken up 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 Hamburg district of St. Pauli, including those over squatting or low-income housing such as the Hafenstraße and Bambule. The centre of fan activity is the Fanladen St. Pauli.

The club prides itself on having have the largest number of female fans in all of German football. In 2002, advertisements for the men's magazine Maxim were removed from the team's stadium in response to fan protests over the sexist depictions of women in the ads.

"St. Pauli" is also a worldwide symbol for punk and related subcultures. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/features/2004/11/st_pauli/st_pauli.shtml Punk rock football] The unofficial Totenkopf logo and the team's brown and white football jerseys have often been worn by international artists such as Asian Dub Foundation. Turbonegro recorded a special version of their song "I Got Erection" with re-worked German lyrics for "St Pauli". Bad Religion played a charity match against St. Pauli's third team in 2000. [http://thebrpage.net/index.htm?http&&&thebrpage.net/answer.asp?heading=Soccer Soccer entry in The Archive hosted at The Bad Religion Page] KMFDM frontman and Hamburg native Sascha Konietzko is a recognizable St. Pauli fan, even 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-wing) underneath it. One of the most notable supporters and sponsors is Andrew Eldritch, lead singer of band The Sisters of Mercy. On his latest tour, Sisters Bite The Silver Bullet in 2006, Eldritch wore the famous Totenkopf shirt. German musicians: Fettes Brot, Die Ärzte singer/drummer/songwriter Bela B., Kettcar, Tomte and many other bands, most of them underground.

Home fixtures at the Millerntor average greater attendance than any other team in the German third division, and often exceed turnouts for second division teams. "St. Pauli" can also boast more season ticket holders than many Bundesliga teams. One study recently estimated that the team has roughly 11 million fans throughout Germany [http://www.internet-nachrichten.com/archiv/heise_artikel.asp_id_35635/news/Mobilcom-sponsert-FC-St.-Pauli.htm New sponsorship deal for St. Pauli (German)] , making the club one of the widely recognized German sides. There are about 200 registered fan clubs, many of them outside Germany.

St. Pauli are also known for their close links with many other foreign clubs and enjoy a particularly close friendship with Celtic with "St. Pauli" fans attending Celtic games on the continent when Celtic play UEFA competitions. St Pauli flags and scarves are frequently seen on display at Celtic Park and every year Celtic supporters arrive in Hamburg for the annual St Pauli - Celtic Festival.

In Israel, St. Pauli is identified with Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C., a first division team that also see itself as anti-racist and anti-Fascist. In the Tel Aviv derby that has take place at February 17, 2008, Hapoel Tel-Aviv fans waved a large St. Pauli flag in the stadium.

Club culture

*"St. Pauli" opens its home matches with AC/DC's "Hells' Bells", and after every home goal "Song 2" by Blur is played, turning the stadium into a giant mosh pit.

*A rivalry developed between "St. Pauli" and "Hansa Rostock" in the early 90's because of the number of neo-Nazis among "Hansa" supporters at that time. As "Hansa" brought these groups under control and eventually banned them, the rivalry faded and died.

* The club's arch enemy is "Hamburger SV", the city of Hamburg's largest and most successful football club. Past derby matches have taken place under close police watch to keep the supporters of the two sides separated, as "HSV" has a small, but visible group of neo-fascist fans. During derbies, "HSV" supporters have held up banners reading "HASS" (hate), or chanted "Zecke verrecke!" ("Ticks, croak it!"), while "St. Pauli" fans often answer, in allusion to the Italian leftist Ultra scene, "Amburgo, Amburgo: Vaffanculo!" (Hamburg, Hamburg: go fuck off!). Another chant of some HSV supporters is "Eine U-Bahn bauen wir - von St. Pauli bis nach Auschwitz" ("We'll build a subway - from St. Pauli up to Auschwitz").As "HSV"'s stadium lies on the outskirts of Hamburg, many St. Pauli fans see their club as the only "true" football club in the city.

*St. Pauli was very proud of having what was probably the last non-electronic scoreboard in the upper leagues. After every goal, a worker manually updated the scoreboard by taking down and then replacing a number placard. With the 2007 opening of the new South Stand, a large electronic scoreboard is installed the Southeast corner of the stadium.

tadium

The club's home is the Millerntor-Stadion. Work on the stadium began in 1961, but its completion was delayed as there was initially no drainage system in place, making the pitch unplayable when it rained. It originally held 32,000 supporters, but this has been reduced in recent years for safety reasons.

In 1970, the stadium was renamed the Wilhelm Koch stadium, in honour of a former club president, but this was controversial when it was discovered he had been a member of the Nazi Party during the war, so the name was changed back to Millerntor in 1999. Currently, a reconstruction effort has begun. The goal, a total renovation of the stadium (expanded seating, new amenities, etc), is expected to be completed in 2013 and cost around 30 million euros.

Team trivia

*St. Pauli's supporters sometimes refer to the club as "Weltpokalsiegerbesieger" (World Club Champ beaters) after their 2:1 home win against Bayern Munich, the then-World Club Championship winners, in 2002. Another popular nickname for the side is "Freibeuter der Liga" (Pirats of the League) as well as "das Freudenhaus der Liga" ("league house of merryment", a double entendre for "league brothel"').
*The sports club also fields a women's rugby team, which has won six national titles, the most recent in 2007.
*The club president Corny Littmann, long active in German theatre and head of the Schmidt Theater on the Reeperbahn, is openly gay. [http://in.sports.yahoo.com/060630/43/65i69.html Gay footballers still frowned at in Germany]
*FC 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 unrecognized national football teams like Greenland, Tibet and Zanzibar. They participated as the "Republic of St. Pauli."
*The British band Art Brut have a song about this football club, called "St Pauli" which is featured on their album "It's A Bit Complicated".
*In 2008, Nike commemorated the club with two exclusive Dunks. Both released in limited quantities. The High Dunk (featuring a black colorway, and the skull and crossbones symbol) was released to all countries throughout Europe, with only 500 pairs produced. The more limited Low Dunk (featuring a smooth white colorway, and holding the teams logo impregnated in the side panel leather) was only released to shops in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, with only 150 pairs produced.

Players

Current squad

"As of February 20, 2008:"

"For recent transfers, see List of German football transfers summer 2008."

Out on loan

Notable players

Notable former or current players of St. Pauli include:

Ivo Knoflíček, Ján Kocian, Ivan Klasnić, Cory Gibbs, Zlatan Bajramović, Thomas Meggle, Klaus Thomforde, Walter Frosch, Volker Ippig, Ronald Karp, Martin Driller, Bernd Hollerbach, Felix Luz, Fabian Boll, Morten Berre, Yang Chen, Deniz Baris, Ian Joy, Christian Rahn, Franz Gerber, Jürgen Gronau, Carsten Pröpper, André Trulsen, Leo Manzi, Holger Stanislawski, Paul Caligiuri, Dieter Schlindwein, Heinz Müller and Tore Pedersen.

External links

* [http://www.fcstpauli.de/ FC St. Pauli Official Website]
* [http://stpaulifansuk.forumup.co.uk/ UK St. Pauli Fans Messageboard]
* [http://www.rheinpiraten-st.pauli.de.vu Fanclub Rheinpiraten St.Pauli]
* [http://www.deadraibead.org/ North American- FC St Pauli Supporters Group & Forum]
* [http://www.fcstpauli.gr/ FC St. Pauli Greece Fan Club Website]
* [http://www.midfielddynamo.com/clubs/profiles/stpauli.htm FC St. Pauli 'Cult' club profile on midfield dynamo cult website]
* [http://fc-stpauli.sixgroups.com/ German Fan Community]

References