The tale of St.Pauli is really the story of two different clubs built in one: the "traditional", and the "Kult", which started in the late 1980s...
Although the soccer section was only founded in 1910, the club can trace it's roots back to around 1862, when a couple of local gymnastic clubs merged. In 1924, the soccer section became independent, but success was minor. SP played in the Gauliga through most of the 1930s-1940s, but usually finished around mid-table.
After WW-II, things started getting better on the field. Throughout the 1950s, SP played in the old Oberliga Nord, finishing runner-up to HSV, and even participating in the German championship rounds in 1951. Upon the reorganization of soccer in 1963, SP was seeded into the new Regionalliga Nord.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the club was always a tough 2nd division contender, but when it came to the promotion playoffs, they'd always get their ass kicked. They finally made to leap up at the end of the 70s, but got bounced after one year. Then, they dropped another division due to financial irregularities (i.e. no money). After a few years of 3rd division though, they were back knocking at the top.
The 1998-99 season was a bit shaky, but in the home stretch, they put things together and finish mid level. Things got even hotter the next year, but a tense battle and a last second goal by Marcus Marin was enough to save their ass. Amazingly, it didn't take much time to bounce right back. By 2001, they were again making a cameo appearnace in the top flight. But not for long, as they were back on the roller coaster.
Starting in the late 1980s, St.Pauli began it's transformation into a "cult", at least in the positive sense. This has led to a change in it's supporter base being limited to a district of Hamburg to a truly national phenomenon. Many supporters were attracted by the left-leaning politics and the "event" and party atmosphere of the games. Hardcore oldtimers accused the new carpetbaggers of not even knowing the player's names. Nevertheless, in huge increase in fanbase (SP was averaging only 1,600 in 1981, was frequently selling out the Millerntor by the late 1990s) was necessary to save the club. President Heinz Weisener, who used his fortune to keep the club solvent, basically went bankrupt. The relegation from the 2.Liga in 2003 and director incompetance almost led to bankruptcy. The fans jumped in with a massive campaign to save the club. Although the famous Saufen für St.Pauli (Gulping for St.Pauli - Basically all bars in the district added 50 cents to every drink, which was donated to the club) was picked up international media, it actually only raised some 100,000 euros. The big seller was the T-shirts, which apparently raised several million. The massive campaign was a success, but it wasn't before long that the Paulistas were in hot water again: in February 2005 the Federal "Finanzamt" announced that St.Pauli owed some 1 million euros in back taxes. Yet despite all the problems, St.Pauli proved once again that with a strong fanbase and decent elevator cables, anything is possible. By 2007 they were back up in the 2.Liga.
Fullname | Fußball-Club St.Pauli von 1910 e.V.
City |
Hamburg (Hamburg). Pop: 1,700,000 (2002)
| Address |
Auf dem Heiliggeistfeld, 20359 Hamburg | Phone (040) 317-8740 Colors |
Brown shirts with white trim, brown pants, white socks. The Brownshirts!!!
A rather ironic choice since Hamburg was a left wing strong hold, and many
of it's supporters are students and anarchists. The road uniform varies,
from all white to black and gold.
| Nickname |
No official name. Usually called something unflattering by their
opponents (Due to reputation of their fan decidedly left-wing sympathies).
I always
call them Paulistas,
because it fits my Brazilian ties... | Stadium |
Millerntor. Capacity: 20,725 (5,248 seats) | This is one of Germany's classic stadiums, yet in it's present form, only dates back to 1961. An expansion is underway that will lift it to 30,000 in anticipation of a future elevator ride to the Bundesliga. Some big games were moved to the Volksparkstadion to accomodate larger crowds. From 1969-1999, the stadium was officially known as Wilhelm-Koch-Stadion, although nobody ever called it anything but Millerntor. Koch was St.Pauli president for some 35 years. However, it was revealed that Herr Koch was a member of the NSDAP (Nazi) party. While there is no evidence that he was active, given the sensitivity of St.Pauli's fan base, it was decided to drop the name. Tickets |
Generally hard to come by, given the low capacity of the Millerntor.
Standing room is about 8 euros, but seats are few, and the prices are
outrageous, anywhere up to 83 euros for the best ones - even in the 3rd
division. So much for
"anarchism"!
| Supporters |
Huge. Averaged 17,000 in the 3rd Division! Usually bring thousands on road
trips. Strong support in the neighborhood. St.Pauli fans are known as
"anarchists" by many rival clubs. This reflects their political outlook
rather than unruly behaviour, as generally they are very "mellow". The
supporter flag is a skull-and-crossbones. Books have been written about
St.Pauli fans. The general impression is that many are not "real" soccer
fans, but more interested in the "politics" and the "event".
| The club nagazine is "Viva St.Pauli", available in PDF format on the club website. Friends |
The Greatful Dead :) Seriously, there is a long established
"Fan-Freundschaft" with 1.FC Köln, and oddly enough, with Celtic
Glasgow. Additional contacts have been reported with Duisburg,
Mainz and Boavista Porto. |
Foes |
Obviously local rivals HSV and VfB Lübeck. The serious rivalry
with HSV started as late as the 1980s, when SP followers became more
"political". Hansa Rostock and many eastern
clubs have become "enemies", largely due to a minority of right-wing
hooligan followers of those teams. | Heroes |
3 German internationals. Karl Miller had 8 caps, plus another 4
with Dresden (1941-42).
Volker Ippig, a goal keeper from the 1990s was very popular for his
politics.
| Zeroes |
Stephen Beutel, business manager in the late 1990s is vilified by
fans for almost ruining the club.
| Beer |
You'd expect it to be St. Pauli Girl! On the other
hand, that beer
is actually brewed in Bremen! Of course, the uniform
sponsor at one time was Jack Daniel's, so maybe that's more
appropriate. Most popular among supporters is the Hamburg "Kultbier",
Astra-Pils, which has it's own St.Pauli Fanpage |
The Net |
An official site is
www.fcstpauli.de.
. It has a counter-culture edge that fits the club's image.
Interesting enough, the amateur side also has it's own website, www.stpauliamateure.de , which is
very nicely done.
| |
Recent History: -------------- 1963-64 (II) Regionalliga Nord 1st 1964-65 (II) Regionalliga Nord 2nd 1965-66 (II) Regionalliga Nord 1st 1966-67 (II) Regionalliga Nord 5th 1967-68 (II) Regionalliga Nord 4th 1968-69 (II) Regionalliga Nord 3rd 1969-70 (II) Regionalliga Nord 4th 1970-71 (II) Regionalliga Nord 2nd 1971-72 (II) Regionalliga Nord 1st 1972-73 (II) Regionalliga Nord 1st 1973-74 (II) Regionalliga Nord 2nd 1974-75 (II) 2.Liga Nord 3rd 1974-76 (II) 2.Liga Nord 14th 1974-77 (II) 2.Liga Nord 1st 1977-78 (I) Bundesliga 18th 1978-79 (II) 2.Liga Nord 6th (license revoked) 1979-80 (III) Am.Oberliga Nord 10th 1979-81 (III) Am.Oberliga Nord 1st 1979-82 (III) Am.Oberliga Nord 6th 1979-83 (III) Am.Oberliga Nord 1st 1979-84 (III) Am.Oberliga Nord 2nd 1984-85 (II) 2.Liga 17th 1985-86 (III) Am.Oberliga Nord 1st 1986-87 (II) 2.Liga 3rd 1987-88 (II) 2.Liga 2nd 1988-89 (I) Bundesliga 10th 1989-90 (I) Bundesliga 13th 1990-91 (I) Bundesliga 16th 1991-92 (II) 2.Liga 4th 1992-93 (II) 2.Liga 17th 1993-94 (II) 2.Liga 4th 1994-95 (II) 2.Liga 2nd 1995-96 (I) Bundesliga 15th 1996-97 (I) Bundesliga 18th 1997-98 (II) 2.Liga 4th 1998-99 (II) 2.Liga 9th 1999-00 (II) 2.Liga 14th 2000-01 (II) 2.Liga 3rd 2001-02 (I) Bundesliga 18th 2002-03 (II) 2.Liga 17th 2003-04 (III) Regionalliga Nord 8th 2004-05 (III) Regionalliga Nord 7th 2005-06 (III) Regionalliga Nord 6th 2006-07 (III) Regionalliga Nord 1st 2007-08 (II) 2.Liga 9th 2008-09 (II) 2.Liga 8th 2009-10 (II) 2.Liga 2nd 2010-11 (I) Bundesliga 18th 2011-12 (I) 2.Liga