FC St. Pauli
Encyclopedia
Fußball-Club St. Pauli is a German sports club based in the St. Pauli
quarter of Hamburg. The football section is part of a larger club that also has Rugby
(FC St. Pauli Rugby
), American football
, baseball, bowling
, boxing
, chess
, cycling
, handball
, skittles
, softball
and table tennis teams.
In 2003/04 they dropped down to the Regionalliga
, at that time the third football division in Germany and remained there for four years. In 2007, St. Pauli were promoted back to the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga
and in 2010, FC St. Pauli was promoted into the Bundesliga
.
While the footballers have enjoyed only modest success on the field, the club is widely recognised for its unique culture and has a large popular following as one of the country's "Kult" clubs.
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
, 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 re-appeared in the Gauliga
Hamburg in 1942, and played there until the end of World War II.
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 Nuremberg. 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 fifties 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.
, West Germany's new top-flight professional league, was formed. Hamburg, 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 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
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 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.
" 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 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. 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
threatened the game across Europe. In 1981, the team was averaging crowds of only 1,600 spectators: by the late 1990s they were frequently selling out their entire 20,000-capacity ground.
It was also during the 1980s when the club first became associated with the Skull and Crossbones symbol. The symbol had always been associated with St Pauli in one way or another. Hamburg fostered the most famous pirate of Germany Klaus Störtebeker
and the symbol had been used by the house occupants at Hafenstrasse, but the one who should be credited with bringing the symbol to the club is probably Doc Mabuse, the singer of a Hamburg punk band, and 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 started to work on 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 das Freudenhaus der Liga ("Brothel of the League" but Freudenhaus also literally means "House of Fun").
St. Pauli moved in and out of the Bundesliga over the course of the next dozen years: The club were 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 1. Bundesliga, during 1988–91. Four seasons followed in 2. Bundesliga, and then another two in 1. Bundesliga 1995–97, before returning to 2. Bundesliga.
, the reigning World Club 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 season 2002/03 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
s 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 to 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
, for clean water in Rwanda
et cetera.
During the 2005–06 season, the team enjoyed unprecedented success in the DFB Cup
, with wins over Burghausen
, Bochum
and, significantly, Bundegsliga sides Hertha Berlin 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 Munich 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 2nd Bundesliga.
After defeating Greuther Fürth in the 2009/10 season the team secured promotion back to the 1st Bundesliga for the 2010/11 season.
On 16 February 2011 in the 2010/2011 season, for the first time since 1977, St Pauli defeated their bitter cross city rivals Hamburger SV
away at the Volksparkstadion courtesy of a Gerald Asamoah
goal. However, the team finished the season last in the league going back to the 2nd Bundesliga.
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. The organisation 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 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 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 fans' protests over the adverts' allegedly sexist depictions of women.
St. Pauli is also a worldwide symbol for punk
and related subcultures. The Totenkopf
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 and Panteon Rococo
. 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. KMFDM
frontman and Hamburg native Sascha Konietzko
is a recognisable 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 2006 'Sisters Bite The Silver Bullet' tour, Eldritch wore the famous Totenkopf shirt. Other German musicians are fans: Fettes Brot
, Die Ärzte
singer/drummer/songwriter Bela B.
, Kettcar
, Tomte
and many other bands, most of them underground. Georg Holm
, bassist of the Icelandic post rock band Sigur Rós
, performed at several festivals wearing a Sankt Pauli shirt. Alex Rosamilia, guitarist for The Gaslight Anthem
frequently wears a St. Pauli hat. Editors
guitarist and synthesiser player Chris Urbanowicz
frequently wears the skull and crossbones t-shirt. Dave Doughman, singer for Dayton, Ohio's Swearing At Motorists
, who has been spotted in concert with the Totenkopf on his guitar and amplifier, moved to St. Pauli in 2010.
When the team played in Germany's second football division, their home fixtures at the Millerntor
used to average greater attendances than any other team in that division, and often exceeded turnouts for second division teams. St. Pauli have more holders of season tickets than many Bundesliga teams. One study recently 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 passed 500 in year 2011 which is an increase of 300 over just three years.
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".
The British band Art Brut have a song about the club called "St Pauli", which is featured on their album It's A Bit Complicated
.
In 2008, Nike
commemorated the club with two exclusive Dunk
shoes, 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 Low Dunk (featuring a smooth white colorway, and holding the team's logo impregnated in the side panel leather) was released only to shops in Germany, Switzerland
, and Austria
, with only 150 pairs produced.
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.
In 2010 the FC St. Pauli was one hundred years old. To the jubilee the Fan club
18auf12 had recorded a song: Happy Birthday St.Pauli One Hundred Beers for You (Words and music by Henning Knorr & Christoph Brüx
).
St Pauli fans currently have a strong relationship with Celtic F.C fans.
In the clubs set of Fundamental Principles (Leitlinien), passed by an owerwhelming majority at the St Pauli Congress in 2009, it is written that "St. Pauli FC is the club of a particular city district, and it is to this that it owes its identity" and that "tolerance and respect in mutual human relations are important pillars of the St. Pauli philosophy".
. 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 2014 (capacity: 30,000) and cost around 30 million euros.
The Stadium is located next to the Heiligengeistfeld
, and is overlooked by the infamous Flak tower
. It can easily be reached with the Hamburg U-Bahn
line U3 (St Pauli Station and Feldstrasse Station).
Zlatan Bajramović
Deniz Barış
Alfred Beck
Morten Berre
Paul Caligiuri
Yang Chen Cory Gibbs
Ari Hjelm
Ivan Klasnić
Ivo Knoflíček
Ján Kocian
Ali Reza Mansourian
Frantz Mathieu
Michél Mazingu-Dinzey
Karl Miller
Tore Pedersen
Carlos Augusto Zambrano
Ingo Porges
Christian Rahn
Richmar Siberie Yuri Savichev
Helmut Schön
Ive Sulentic
Niels Tune-Hansen
Klaus Thomforde
André Trulsen
Walter Frosch Karl Miller
Dirk Dammann Michél Mazingu-Dinzey
Thomas Meggle
Jürgen Gronau
Harald Stendner Peter Osterhoff Franz Gerber
(1976–78) Sepp Piontek (1978–79) Michael Lorkowski
(1982–86) Willi Reimann
(1986–87) Helmut Schulte
(1987–91) Horst Wohlers
(1991–92) Josef Eichkorn
(1992) Michael Lorkowski (1992)
Josef Eichkorn (1992–94) Uli Maslo
(1994–97) Klaus-Peter Nemet
(1997) Eckhard Krautzun
(1997) Gerhard Kleppinger
(1997–99) Willi Reimann
(1999–00) Dietmar Demuth
(2000–02) Joachim Philipkowski
(2002) Franz Gerber
(2002–04) Andreas Bergmann
(2004–06) Holger Stanislawski
(2006–07) André Trulsen
(2007–08) Holger Stanislawski (2008–2011) André Schubert (2011–)
The men's rugby department has not been as successful as its female counterpart, reaching the German final only once, in 1964. In 2008–09, St. Pauli was the only club to have a team in both the rugby and football 2nd Bundesliga. In 2008–09, the men's team finished fourth in the second division.
The women's team have won the German rugby union championship
8 times (1995, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005–8) and the sevens
championship 3 times (2000, 2001 and 2002). Several of their players play in the national squad.
St. Pauli
St. Pauli , located in the Hamburg-Mitte borough, is one of the 105 quarters of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the Landungsbrücken are a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pauli contains a world famous red light district around the street Reeperbahn...
quarter of Hamburg. The football section is part of a larger club that also has Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
(FC St. Pauli Rugby
FC St. Pauli Rugby
The FC St. Pauli Rugby is a German rugby union club from Hamburg, currently playing in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North/East. The team is part of the multi-sport club FC St. Pauli, which also offers other sports like Association football, American football and Baseball.While the men's team has had...
), American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, baseball, bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
, boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
, handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
, skittles
Skittles (sport)
Skittles is an old European lawn game, a variety of bowling, from which ten-pin bowling, duckpin bowling, and candlepin bowling in the United States, and five-pin bowling in Canada are descended. In the United Kingdom, the game remains a popular pub game in England and Wales, though it tends to be...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
and table tennis teams.
In 2003/04 they dropped down to the Regionalliga
Regionalliga (football)
The Fußball-Regionalliga is the fourth tier of football in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier of the league system before being disbanded. The Regionalliga was then re-introduced as the third tier of the system in 1994...
, at that time the third football division in Germany and remained there for four years. In 2007, St. Pauli were promoted back to the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga
2. Fußball-Bundesliga
- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
and in 2010, FC St. Pauli was promoted into the Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
.
While the footballers have enjoyed only modest success on the field, the club is widely recognised for its unique culture and has a large popular following as one of the country's "Kult" clubs.
Early years
Kreisliga
The Kreisliga is a low tier in league sports in Germany and the 9th tier of league soccer there.The Kreisligen usually rank right below the Bezirksligen, Bezirksklassen or Landesligen. Any teams finding themselves at the bottom of the Kreisligen would find themselves in one of the local...
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
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...
, one of sixteen premier level divisions created in the re-organization of German football that took place under the Third Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. They were immediately relegated, but returned to the top flight in 1936. Relegated again in 1940, St. Pauli re-appeared in the Gauliga
Gauliga
A Gauliga was the highest level of play in German football from 1934-45. The leagues were introduced in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power by the Sports office of the Third Reich.-Name:...
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 NordOberliga Nord
The Oberliga Nord was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany. It covered the states of Niedersachsen, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein...
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 Nuremberg. The club continued to play well throughout the early 1950s, but were unable to overtake rivals Hamburger SV
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...
, 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 fifties and into the early 1960s, St. Pauli were overtaken by rivals such as Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its association football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the same name. The club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of sixteen vocational high school students who had won a prize...
and VfL Osnabrück
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.- Foundation to WW2 :...
, but finished fourth a number of times.
Promotion to the Bundesliga
In 1963 the BundesligaFußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
, West Germany's new top-flight professional league, was formed. Hamburg, Werder Bremen, and Eintracht Braunschweig
Eintracht Braunschweig
Eintracht Braunschweig is a German association football club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963 and won the national title in 1967.-History:...
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 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
Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia.- Early years :The club was formed as SV Vogelheim on 1 February 1907 out of the merger of two smaller clubs: SC Preussen and Deutsche Eiche. In 1910, Vogelheim came to an arrangement with Turnerbund...
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
2. Fußball-Bundesliga
- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...
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)
Oberliga (football)
The Oberliga is currently the name of the fifth tier of the German football leagues. Before the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008, it was the fourth tier...
. 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 traditional club into a "KultCult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
" 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
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...
— centre of the city's night life and its red-light district
Red-light district
A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...
— 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
Jolly Roger
The Jolly Roger is any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, a flag consisting of a human skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field. This design was used by...
as their own unofficial emblem. St. Pauli became the first team in Germany to officially ban right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
nationalist activities and displays in its stadium in an era when fascist-inspired football hooliganism
Football hooliganism
Football hooliganism, sometimes referred to by the British media as the English Disease, is unruly and destructive behaviour—such as brawls, vandalism and intimidation—by association football club fans...
threatened the game across Europe. In 1981, the team was averaging crowds of only 1,600 spectators: by the late 1990s they were frequently selling out their entire 20,000-capacity ground.
It was also during the 1980s when the club first became associated with the Skull and Crossbones symbol. The symbol had always been associated with St Pauli in one way or another. Hamburg fostered the most famous pirate of Germany Klaus Störtebeker
Klaus Störtebeker
Nikolaus Storzenbecher, or Klaus Störtebeker , was a leader and the best known representative of a companionship of privateers known as the Victual Brothers...
and the symbol had been used by the house occupants at Hafenstrasse, but the one who should be credited with bringing the symbol to the club is probably Doc Mabuse, the singer of a Hamburg punk band, and as the legend tells, he first grabbed the flag from a stall while passing drunk through the Dom
Hamburger DOM
The Hamburger Dom is a large funfair held in Hamburg, at Heiligengeistfeld fair ground, in Northern Germany. With three fairs per year it is the biggest and the longest fair throughout Germany. It attracts approximately ten million visitors annually. This Volksfest is a funfair...
on his way to the Millerntor-Stadion.
In the early 1990s, the media in Germany started to work on 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 das Freudenhaus der Liga ("Brothel of the League" but Freudenhaus also literally means "House of Fun").
St. Pauli moved in and out of the Bundesliga over the course of the next dozen years: The club were 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 1. Bundesliga, during 1988–91. Four seasons followed in 2. Bundesliga, and then another two in 1. Bundesliga 1995–97, before returning to 2. Bundesliga.
Into the new millennium
Until last season, their most recent appearance in the top flight had been a single-season cameo in 2001–02. A win against FC Bayern MunichFC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....
, the reigning World Club 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 season 2002/03 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)
Regionalliga (football)
The Fußball-Regionalliga is the fourth tier of football in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier of the league system before being disbanded. The Regionalliga was then re-introduced as the third tier of the system in 1994...
looming, the club began its fund-raising activities, the so-called Retteraktion. They printed t-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s 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 to 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
Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli
Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli is a charity founded in 2005 in the Hamburg quarter of St. Pauli. The aim of the organization is to improve drinking water supply in developing countriesin conjunction with the Welthungerhilfe. The organization is built up as an "open network" which means that it mainly...
campaign, which collects money for water-dispensers for schools in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, for clean water in Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
et cetera.
During the 2005–06 season, the team enjoyed unprecedented success in the DFB Cup
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga...
, with wins over Burghausen
SV Wacker Burghausen
SV Wacker Burghausen is a German association football club based in Burghausen, Bavaria and is part of one of the nation's largest sports clubs with some 6,000 members participating in two dozen different sports.-History:...
, Bochum
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.-Founding to World War II:...
and, significantly, Bundegsliga sides Hertha Berlin and, in the quarter-finals on 25 January 2006, Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its association football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the same name. The club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of sixteen vocational high school students who had won a prize...
. 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 Hargreaves
Owen Lee Hargreaves is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for English Premier League club Manchester City and the English national football team....
and two from Claudio Pizarro
Claudio Pizarro
Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio is a Peruvian football forward. Pizarro plays for Werder Bremen of the German Bundesliga...
. Coincidentally Bayern Munich 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 2nd Bundesliga.
After defeating Greuther Fürth in the 2009/10 season the team secured promotion back to the 1st Bundesliga for the 2010/11 season.
On 16 February 2011 in the 2010/2011 season, for the first time since 1977, St Pauli defeated their bitter cross city rivals Hamburger SV
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...
away at the Volksparkstadion courtesy of a Gerald Asamoah
Gerald Asamoah
Gerald Asamoah is a Ghanaian-born German footballer. He last played as a forward for FC St.Pauli, following an 11-year long stay at Schalke.-Club career:...
goal. However, the team finished the season last in the league going back to the 2nd Bundesliga.
Recent seasons
| Year | Division | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1999-00 | 2. Bundesliga 2. Fußball-Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20... (II) |
13th |
| 2000–01 | 2. Bundesliga | 3rd (promoted) |
| 2001–02 | 1. Bundesliga Fußball-Bundesliga The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga... (I) |
18th (relegated) |
| 2002–03 | 2. Bundesliga 2. Fußball-Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20... (II) |
17th (relegated) |
| 2003–04 | Regionalliga Nord Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord is currently the fourth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the third tier. It currently is the highest regional league for the northern and eastern part of Germany. It covers ten of the sixteen states of Germany... (III) |
8th |
| 2004–05 | Regionalliga Nord | 7th |
| 2005–06 | Regionalliga Nord | 6th |
| 2006–07 | Regionalliga Nord | 1st (promoted) |
| 2007–08 | 2. Bundesliga 2. Fußball-Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20... (II) |
9th |
| 2008–09 | 2. Bundesliga | 8th |
| 2009–10 FC St. Pauli season 2009–10 For the 2009-10 season, Fußball-Club St. Pauli competed in the 2. Bundesliga.-Summer Transfers:In:Out:-Winter Transfers:In:-Appearances and goals:... |
2. Bundesliga | 2nd (promoted) |
| 2010–11 | 1. Bundesliga | 18th (relegated) |
Supporters
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
and hooligans at away games. The organisation 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 Hamburg district of St. Pauli, including those over squatting
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
or low-income housing, such as the Hafenstraße
Hafenstraße
Hafenstraße is a common German abbreviation of St. Pauli-Hafenstraße, a street in St. Pauli, a quarter of Hamburg, Germany....
and Bambule
Bambule
Bambule, a term of German prison sociolect, originally refers to a form of mostly non-violent prison protest, typically effected by banging hard items against the cells' metal bars. The term is derived from the African dance Bamboule or Bamboula....
. The centre of fan activity is the Fanladen St. Pauli.
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 (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
were removed from the team's stadium, in response to fans' protests over the adverts' allegedly sexist depictions of women.
St. Pauli is also a worldwide symbol for punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and related subcultures. The Totenkopf
Totenkopf
The Totenkopf is the German word for the death's head and an old symbol for death or the dead. It consists usually of the skull and the mandible of the human skeleton...
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
Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence...
, Gaslight Anthem and Panteon Rococo
Panteón Rococó
Panteón Rococó is a Mexican ska band from Mexico City. Despite flourishing black markets, they have sold thousands of records. While being stars in Mexico, they have been touring Europe for the last several years, especially Germany, where their European Label Übersee Records is located.- Musical...
. Turbonegro
Turbonegro
Turbonegro is a Norwegian punk rock band that was initially active from 1989 to 1998, and later reformed in 2002. Their style combines glam rock, punk rock and hard rock into a style the band describes as "deathpunk"....
recorded a special version of their song "I Got Erection
I Got Erection
"I Got Erection" is a single from the Norwegian band Turbonegro from their 1996 album Ass Cobra released on 7" Vinyl in 1995 by Hit Me! Records, which was run by long time Turbo-photographer Morten Anderson....
" with re-worked German lyrics for St. Pauli. Bad Religion
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...
played a charity match against St. Pauli's third team in 2000. KMFDM
KMFDM
KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
frontman and Hamburg native Sascha Konietzko
Sascha Konietzko
Sascha Konietzko , also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and producer. He is the founder, frontman, and "anchor" of industrial rock band KMFDM. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the father of industrial rock...
is a recognisable St. Pauli fan, even at one point placing a huge picture of a fist smashing a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
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
Andrew Eldritch
Andrew Eldritch is the English frontman, singer, songwriter and only remaining original member of The Sisters of Mercy, a band that emerged from the British post-punk scene, transformed into a gothic rock band and, in later years, flirted with pop and hard rock.Eldritch also programs the tracks...
, lead singer of band The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...
. On his 2006 'Sisters Bite The Silver Bullet' tour, Eldritch wore the famous Totenkopf shirt. Other German musicians are fans: Fettes Brot
Fettes Brot
Fettes Brot is a German hip hop group founded in 1992.Fettes Brot is German for fat bread. "Fett" is a German slang term for "excellent" and brot is slang for "hash". The band took the name from a fan who called them "Fettes Brot" after an early gig, which was probably meant as a compliment, but...
, Die Ärzte
Die Ärzte
Die Ärzte is a punk band from Berlin. Die Ärzte are one of the best-known German punk rock bands and have released over 20 albums. The band consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B. and bass player Rodrigo González...
singer/drummer/songwriter Bela B.
Bela B.
Dirk Felsenheimer , better known under his stage name Bela B., is a German musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for being the drummer and one of the singers in the German band Die Ärzte. In 2006 he released his first solo album entitled Bingo. Bela B...
, Kettcar
Kettcar
- History :Former German punk rock great Marcus Wiebusch of ...But Alive and bass player Reimer Bustorff, who were both members of ska band Rantanplan, decided in 2001 to break away from punk's and ska's traditions of aggressive, political lyrics in favor of developing a more emotional, laid-back...
, Tomte
Tomte (band)
Tomte is an indie band from Hamburg in Germany. Their lyrics are almost completely in German and their sound could be described as guitar pop with some punk influences. The group may be considered to be a part of the “Hamburger Schule” on the basis of the band Tocotronic's influence on their work...
and many other bands, most of them underground. Georg Holm
Georg Hólm
Georg "Goggi" Hólm is the bassist of the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. Holm is the most prominent member of Sigur Rós in the English press, as he does significantly more press than the other members due to his being the most fluent English-speaker in the band; part of Georg's fluency in...
, bassist of the Icelandic post rock band Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with classicaland minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound, and frontman Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto vocals and use of bowed guitar. In January 2010, the band announced that they will be on hiatus. Since then, it has since been announced...
, performed at several festivals wearing a Sankt Pauli shirt. Alex Rosamilia, guitarist for The Gaslight Anthem
The Gaslight Anthem
The Gaslight Anthem is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, consisting of Brian Fallon , Alex Rosamilia , Alex Levine and Benny Horowitz...
frequently wears a St. Pauli hat. Editors
Editors
Editors are a British indie rock band based in Birmingham, who formed in 2002. Previously known as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield, the band consists of Tom Smith , Chris Urbanowicz , Russell Leetch and Ed Lay .Editors have so far released two platinum studio...
guitarist and synthesiser player Chris Urbanowicz
Chris Urbanowicz
Christopher Dominic Urbanowicz is the lead guitarist and synthesizer player of the British indie rock band Editors. He studied music technology at Staffordshire University for three years with the other members of Editors...
frequently wears the skull and crossbones t-shirt. Dave Doughman, singer for Dayton, Ohio's Swearing At Motorists
Swearing at Motorists
Swearing At Motorists is a two-piece rock and roll band composed of Dave Doughman and Joseph Siwinski . They formed in Dayton, Ohio in the early 1990s...
, who has been spotted in concert with the Totenkopf on his guitar and amplifier, moved to St. Pauli in 2010.
When the team played in Germany's second football division, their home fixtures at the Millerntor
Millerntor-Stadion
The Millerntor-Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Hamburg St. Pauli, Germany. It is mainly used for football matches and is the home stadium of FC St. Pauli. It is on the Heiligengeistfeld, near the Reeperbahn, the red light district of Hamburg. The stadium had a capacity of 32 000 when it...
used to average greater attendances than any other team in that division, and often exceeded turnouts for second division teams. St. Pauli have more holders of season tickets than many Bundesliga teams. One study recently 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 passed 500 in year 2011 which is an increase of 300 over just three years.
Club culture
St. Pauli opens its home matches with "Hells Bells"Hells Bells (song)
"Hells Bells" is the first track of Australian hard rock band AC/DC's album Back in Black. It is the first song on their comeback album after the death of vocalist Bon Scott, introducing his successor Brian Johnson....
by AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, and after every home goal "Song 2
Song 2
"Song 2" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur, the second track on and second single released from their fifth album Blur in April 1997...
" by Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
is played.
The former club president Corny Littmann
Corny Littmann
Cornelius "Corny" Littmann is an entrepreneur, entertainer, theater owner and former President of the club FC St. Pauli. He lives in Hamburg, Germany.-Biography:...
, long active in German theatre and head of the Schmidt Theater on the Reeperbahn
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...
, is openly gay.
St. Pauli have made pre-season appearances at Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...
, 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
Greenland national football team
The Greenland national football team is the national team of Greenland and is controlled by the Football Association of Greenland. Although it has the same status as the Faroe Islands within the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is not a member of FIFA nor of any continental confederation and therefore...
, Tibet
Tibet national football team
The Tibet national football team is an association football controlled by the Tibetan National Football Association, an organizations of exiled Tibetans. The current manager is Kelsang Dhondup....
and Zanzibar
Zanzibar national football team
The Zanzibar national football team is the national team of Zanzibar, and is controlled by the Zanzibar Football Association.- History :Zanzibar is not a member of FIFA and is therefore not eligible to enter either the World Cup, But she is a member of the CAF so she can take a part in the Africa...
. They participated as the "Republic of St. Pauli".
The British band Art Brut have a song about the club called "St Pauli", which is featured on their album It's A Bit Complicated
It's a Bit Complicated
The initial reaction to the album has been generally favorable. The Guardian awarded the album full marks, comparing the group to both The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit...
.
In 2008, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
commemorated the club with two exclusive Dunk
Dunk (footwear)
The Dunk was first introduced by Nike, Inc. in 1985. As the Nike Terminator’s "fraternal twin", originally having numerous colors in most sizes for various Universities and Colleges...
shoes, 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 Low Dunk (featuring a smooth white colorway, and holding the team's logo impregnated in the side panel leather) was released only to shops in Germany, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, with only 150 pairs produced.
In 2009, Italian Ska Combat-Folk Punk band Talco
Talco (band)
Talco is an Italian ska punk and alternative band from Marghera, Venice. Musically the group combines the horns and rhythms of ska-punk with Italian folk music. Their lyrics reflect the band's support for left-wing politics and often include anti-fascist, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist themes...
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.
In 2010 the FC St. Pauli was one hundred years old. To the jubilee the Fan club
Fan club
A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well-known person, group, idea or sometimes even an inanimate object . Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to supporting them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the person...
18auf12 had recorded a song: Happy Birthday St.Pauli One Hundred Beers for You (Words and music by Henning Knorr & Christoph Brüx
Christoph Brüx
Christoph Brüx is a German composer, pianist, keyboardist, arranger and music producer.He composed for interpreters such as No Angels, Matthias Reim, The Underdog Project, Brooklyn Bounce etc., and he also composed film scores....
).
St Pauli fans currently have a strong relationship with Celtic F.C fans.
In the clubs set of Fundamental Principles (Leitlinien), passed by an owerwhelming majority at the St Pauli Congress in 2009, it is written that "St. Pauli FC is the club of a particular city district, and it is to this that it owes its identity" and that "tolerance and respect in mutual human relations are important pillars of the St. Pauli philosophy".
Stadium
The club's home is the Millerntor-StadionMillerntor-Stadion
The Millerntor-Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Hamburg St. Pauli, Germany. It is mainly used for football matches and is the home stadium of FC St. Pauli. It is on the Heiligengeistfeld, near the Reeperbahn, the red light district of Hamburg. The stadium had a capacity of 32 000 when it...
. 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
National Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
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 2014 (capacity: 30,000) and cost around 30 million euros.
The Stadium is located next to the Heiligengeistfeld
Heiligengeistfeld
Heiligengeistfeld is an area of Hamburg in the St. Pauli quarter. Since 1893 the funfair Hamburger DOM is held here. In times where this area is not used for exhibitions, circuses or the DOM it is a car park...
, and is overlooked by the infamous Flak tower
Flak tower
Flak towers were 8 complexes of large, above-ground, anti-aircraft gun blockhouse towers constructed in the cities of Berlin , Hamburg , and Vienna from 1940 onwards....
. It can easily be reached with the Hamburg U-Bahn
U-Bahn
U-Bahn or Untergrundbahn is German for underground rapid transit or metro. Five systems take its name, with only four of them being metro systems:*Berlin U-Bahn*Hamburg U-Bahn*Munich U-Bahn*Nuremberg U-Bahn...
line U3 (St Pauli Station and Feldstrasse Station).
Current squad
International players
The following international players have also played for St. Pauli:Zlatan Bajramović
Zlatan Bajramovic
Zlatan Bajramović is a German-born Bosnian footballer. He last played for Eintracht Frankfurt....
Deniz Barış
Deniz Baris
Deniz Barış is a footballer. He currently plays for the Turkish Premier Super League club Antalyaspor in the Defensive midfielder position. He is 1.84 meters tall and weighs 79 kilograms....
Alfred Beck
Alfred Beck
Alfred Beck was a German footballer who played as a forward.-Club career:Beck began his career at Bremer SV. He went on to play for FC St. Pauli and Wuppertaler SV before finishing his career with FC Zürich....
Morten Berre
Morten Berre
Morten Gladhaug Berre is a Norwegian football player, who currently plays at Oslo club Vålerenga in the Norwegian Premier League....
Paul Caligiuri
Paul Caligiuri
Paul David Caligiuri is a retired American soccer player.Caliguiri's professional career spanned 16 years, during which he played for numerous teams in the United States and Germany, and for the U.S. national team...
Yang Chen Cory Gibbs
Cory Gibbs
Cory Gibbs is an American soccer player who currently plays for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer.-College and amateur:...
Ari Hjelm
Ari Hjelm
Ari-Juhani Hjelm is a Finnish football coach and former player. He was the head coach of home-town club Tampere United in Finland's Veikkausliiga....
Ivan Klasnić
Ivan Klasnic
Ivan Klasnić is a Croatian footballer who plays for Bolton Wanderers of the Premier League. He is a Croatian international. In 2007, Klasnić underwent a kidney transplant, and became the first player to participate in a major tournament after a transplant.-St. Pauli:Klasnić started his...
Ivo Knoflíček
Ivo Knoflícek
Ivo Knoflíček is a Czech football coach and a former player. He played for Czechoslovakia, for which he played 38 matches and scored 7 goals. At the club level, he played mostly for SK Slavia Praha....
Ján Kocian
Ján Kocian
Ján Kocian is a Slovak football coach and former player.-Career:During his playing days, he made 209 appearances for FK Dukla Banská Bystrica between 1979 and 1988 before moving on to German club FC St. Pauli, where he made another 147 appearances up to 1993.-International:He was capped 26 times...
Ali Reza Mansourian
Frantz Mathieu
Frantz Mathieu
Frantz Mathieu is a Haitian former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a defender.-Professional:Mathieu spent the 1978-79 season in West Germany with FC St...
Michél Mazingu-Dinzey
Michél Mazingu-Dinzey
Michél Mazingu-Sinda-Dinzey is a retired German-Congolese football player. He has played for several clubs in Germany, including Hertha BSC, 1860 München, Hannover 96 and Eintracht Braunschweig.- Playing career :...
Karl Miller
Karl Miller (footballer)
Karl Miller was a German international footballer.Hamburg-born Miller played 12 times for the German national football team between 1941 and 1942. With Dresdner SC he won the Tschammerpokal in 1940 and 1941.- External links :...
Tore Pedersen
Tore Pedersen
Tore Pedersen is a retired Norwegian international football defender, who played abroad for Wimbledon, St...
Carlos Augusto Zambrano
Carlos Augusto Zambrano
Carlos Augusto Zambrano Ochandarte is a Peruvian footballer who plays for FC St. Pauli on loan from Schalke 04.-Career:...
Ingo Porges
Ingo Porges
Ingo Porges is a German former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a midfielder.-External links:...
Christian Rahn
Christian Rahn
Christian Rahn is a German footballer. He plays for SpVgg Greuther Fürth as a defender.- Career :Rahn began his career at FC St Pauli and has had spells at Hamburger SV and 1. FC Köln. On 15 December 2008, he was released by FC Hansa Rostock. After this he joined SpVgg Greuther Fürth.- External...
Richmar Siberie Yuri Savichev
Yuri Savichev
Yuri Nikolayevich Savichev is a former football striker. He is an identical twin brother of Nikolai Savichev.-Honours:* Olympic champion: 1988.* Soviet Cup winner: 1986.* Soviet Top League bronze: 1988.* Greek Football Cup winner: 1992....
Helmut Schön
Helmut Schön
Helmut Schön was a German football player and manager. He is best remembered for his exceptional career as manager of West Germany....
Ive Sulentic
Ive Sulentic
John Ive Sulentic, also known as Ive Sulentic or Johnny Sulentic is a former Canadian professional soccer player who last plays for Croatia SC and coached currently the Under-12 team of Mountain WFC....
Niels Tune-Hansen
Niels Tune-Hansen
Niels Tune-Hansen is a Danish former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a defender.-External links:...
Greatest ever team
In 2010, as part of the club's celebration of its 100th anniversary, fans voted the following players as the best in the club's history:Klaus Thomforde
Klaus Thomforde
Klaus Thomforde is a German football coach and a former player who is currently a goalkeeping coach with Holstein Kiel.-External links:...
André Trulsen
André Trulsen
André "Trulla" Trulsen is a German football coach and a former player who is currently an assistant manager with FC St. Pauli.-External links:...
Walter Frosch Karl Miller
Karl Miller (footballer)
Karl Miller was a German international footballer.Hamburg-born Miller played 12 times for the German national football team between 1941 and 1942. With Dresdner SC he won the Tschammerpokal in 1940 and 1941.- External links :...
Dirk Dammann Michél Mazingu-Dinzey
Michél Mazingu-Dinzey
Michél Mazingu-Sinda-Dinzey is a retired German-Congolese football player. He has played for several clubs in Germany, including Hertha BSC, 1860 München, Hannover 96 and Eintracht Braunschweig.- Playing career :...
Thomas Meggle
Thomas Meggle
Thomas Meggle is a German football player, who played for FC St. Pauli before retirement at the end of the 2009/2010 season.-Career:...
Jürgen Gronau
Jürgen Gronau
Jürgen Gronau is a retired German football player.-External links:...
Harald Stendner Peter Osterhoff Franz Gerber
Franz Gerber
Franz Gerber is a German former professional footballer who is currently general manager of SSV Jahn Regensburg.-Playing career:...
Coaching staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Germany André Schubert |
| Assistant coach | Germany Thomas Meggle Thomas Meggle Thomas Meggle is a German football player, who played for FC St. Pauli before retirement at the end of the 2009/2010 season.-Career:... |
| Assistant coach | Germany Jan-Moritz Lichte |
| Assistant coach | Germany Klaus-Peter Nemet Klaus-Peter Nemet Klaus-Peter Nemet is a German football coach and a former player. As of January 2009, he works as a goalkeeping coach with FC St. Pauli. He was the manager of St. Pauli in the end of the 1996/97 season when they were relegated from the Fußball-Bundesliga. The club lost all 6 games they played... |
| Goalkeeping coach | Germany Mathias Hain Mathias Hain Mathias Hain is a retired German football goalkeeper. He is the brother of Uwe Hain, himself a former goalkeeper. Hain is known for his great shot stopping ability and, during his time at Arminia Bielefeld, captained the side until he left in 2008.-External links:... |
| Fitness coach | Germany Dr Pedro Gonzalez |
Head coach history
Otto Westphal (1963–64) Kurt Krause (1964–65) Erwin Türk (1970–71) Edgar Preuß (1971–72) Karl-Heinz Mülhausen (1972–74) Kurt Krause (1974–76) Diethelm FernerDiethelm Ferner
Diethelm Ferner is a German football coach and a former player. As a player, he spent eight seasons in the Bundesliga with SV Werder Bremen and Rot-Weiss Essen...
(1976–78) Sepp Piontek (1978–79) Michael Lorkowski
Michael Lorkowski
Michael Lorkowski is a German football manager.His greatest achievement was winning the 1992 DFB Cup with Hannover 96, while the team was still in the second flight...
(1982–86) Willi Reimann
Willi Reimann
Willi Reimann is a German football manager.Reimann played in the Fußball-Bundesliga for Hannover 96 and Hamburg, appearing in 287 in which he amounted 93 goals.As manager he worked for FC St. Pauli, HSV, VfL Wolfsburg, 1...
(1986–87) Helmut Schulte
Helmut Schulte
Helmut Schulte is a German football coach currently working as an athletic director at FC St. Pauli.-Coaching career:His best result as a coach in Bundesliga is 10th place in 1989 and 1993.-Notes:...
(1987–91) Horst Wohlers
Horst Wohlers
Horst Wohlers is a former German football player and manager.- Playing career :Wohlers joined first teams of SC Brunsbüttelkoog and FC St. Pauli until his 1975 transfer to Borussia Mönchengladbach...
(1991–92) Josef Eichkorn
Josef Eichkorn
Josef 'Seppo' Eichkorn is a German football coach and a former player, he works as an assistant coach with FC Schalke 04.-External links:...
(1992) Michael Lorkowski (1992)
Josef Eichkorn (1992–94) Uli Maslo
Uli Maslo
Uli Maslo is a retired German football player and manager.-External links:*...
(1994–97) Klaus-Peter Nemet
Klaus-Peter Nemet
Klaus-Peter Nemet is a German football coach and a former player. As of January 2009, he works as a goalkeeping coach with FC St. Pauli. He was the manager of St. Pauli in the end of the 1996/97 season when they were relegated from the Fußball-Bundesliga. The club lost all 6 games they played...
(1997) Eckhard Krautzun
Eckhard Krautzun
Eckhard Krautzun is a German football coach and former football player.-Managerial career:As a player, Krautzun turned out for Union Solingen, Rheydter SV, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Young Fellows Zürich and TeBe Berlin. As well as a manager, Krautzun has acted as a technical director and scout...
(1997) Gerhard Kleppinger
Gerhard Kleppinger
Gerhard Kleppinger is a German former footballer, he works currently as Assistant Coach from FSV Frankfurt.-References:*...
(1997–99) Willi Reimann
Willi Reimann
Willi Reimann is a German football manager.Reimann played in the Fußball-Bundesliga for Hannover 96 and Hamburg, appearing in 287 in which he amounted 93 goals.As manager he worked for FC St. Pauli, HSV, VfL Wolfsburg, 1...
(1999–00) Dietmar Demuth
Dietmar Demuth
Dietmar Demuth is a German former footballer who is now manager of SV Babelsberg 03.-External links:...
(2000–02) Joachim Philipkowski
Joachim Philipkowski
Joachim Philipkowski is a German football coach and a former player who is currently managing the youth team of FC St. Pauli.-External links:...
(2002) Franz Gerber
Franz Gerber
Franz Gerber is a German former professional footballer who is currently general manager of SSV Jahn Regensburg.-Playing career:...
(2002–04) Andreas Bergmann
Andreas Bergmann
Andreas Bergmann is a former German footballer and current manager of the VfL Bochum.-Career:Bergmann played in his career as Midfielder for 1...
(2004–06) Holger Stanislawski
Holger Stanislawski
Holger Stanislawski is a retired German football player and a football manager. After 18 years with FC St. Pauli he left at the end of the 2010–11 season in order to manage TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.-External links:* at transfermarkt.de...
(2006–07) André Trulsen
André Trulsen
André "Trulla" Trulsen is a German football coach and a former player who is currently an assistant manager with FC St. Pauli.-External links:...
(2007–08) Holger Stanislawski (2008–2011) André Schubert (2011–)
Other sports
The St. Pauli rugby section has several teams, both in the men's and women's leagues.The men's rugby department has not been as successful as its female counterpart, reaching the German final only once, in 1964. In 2008–09, St. Pauli was the only club to have a team in both the rugby and football 2nd Bundesliga. In 2008–09, the men's team finished fourth in the second division.
The women's team have won the German rugby union championship
German rugby union championship
The German rugby union championship was established in 1909 and has since been played, with exceptions, annually. It is the highest competition in Germany in the sport of Rugby Union.-Men:...
8 times (1995, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005–8) and the sevens
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
championship 3 times (2000, 2001 and 2002). Several of their players play in the national squad.