Located just outside Hamburg’s notorious red-light district known as the Reeperbahn, FC St Pauli are not your average football club.
While they create plenty of noise via fan activism both during and away from matches – with Che Guevara flags and communist slogans aplenty – St Pauli are not exactly used to the limelight on the pitch.
After previously sitting in the second tier of German football for over a decade, they are now the only club from their area currently in the Bundesliga, with their historically far more successful arch-rivals Hamburg still in the division below.
Despite their current success, they have come in for heavy criticism from some quarters for being too much of a so-called hipster’s club, while also facing accusations that they are not staying true to their left-wing roots by making the most of added commercial opportunities that come with increased success.
Indeed, their decision in November 2024 to leave X, formerly Twitter – where top clubs engage millions of fans with news, updates and live scores – took many people by surprise.
Releasing a statement at the time, the club said it chose to withdraw from the site due to Elon Musk turning it into ‘a hate machine’ since he purchased the social media platform.
FC St Pauli are not your average football club when it comes to owners and fans
The Hamburg-based outfit attracted attention around the world when they united with Borussia Dortmund to unveil a banner reading ‘refugees welcome’ before the two sides played a friendly match in 2015
While they create plenty of noise via fan activism both during and away from matches, St Pauli are not exactly used to the limelight on the pitch
St Pauli, the former employers of Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler, also highlighted Musk being ‘a major backer of the Trump campaign’ and his intention to use X to generate support for the current US president’s election.
They have also had fun poked at them and been branded as ‘woke’ for acts such as delivering bratwurst on trains direct to fans’ seats.
While St Pauli no longer engage in that particular initiative, a resurfaced post on X from Football Away Days saw the delivery service blasted as being ‘woke nonsense’.
The Hamburg-based outfit further attracted attention around the world when they united with Borussia Dortmund to unveil a banner reading ‘refugees welcome’ before the two sides played a friendly match in 2015.
This was in the wake of that year’s refugee influx, which saw around 1.3million people arrive in Germany after fleeing war in countries including Syria and Afghanistan.
The club’s stance remains pertinent to this day, with the German election to come on Sunday following the collapse of the country’s coalition government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Germany’s far-right Alternative Fur Deutschland (AfD) party has called for borders to be closed and for the right of family reunification to be removed for asylum seekers.
A number of other parties have also called for stricter measures on migration, following incidents that resulted in attacks on crows in public spaces.
Despite previously sitting in the second tier of German football for over a decade, they are now the only club from Hamburg currently in the Bundesliga
One such example came in December, when a psychiatrist born in Saudi Arabia drove into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing five people.
Unbothered by the criticism levelled at St Pauli, Die Kiezkicker have opted against selling the naming rights for their stadium and are no longer accepting money from betting companies.
There are plans for the roof of the Millerntor-Stadion to be covered with solar panels with a view to the club being an entirely sustainable operation.
But if you are not able to generate income via a naming-rights deal for your stadium, how else can it be done?
In November, St Pauli opted to sell stadium shares to its members and fans, with each individual share priced at €850 (£700) and saw the club describe the initiative as being ‘grassroots-driven, democratic, sustainable and crisis-proof’.
This is amidst the backdrop of having to compete in a division that may lack the blockbuster commercial deals of the Premier League – but has numerous wealthy owners to make up for that.
Bayer Leverkusen have been helped to success through the backing of eponymous pharmaceuticals company Bayer, Wolfsburg are owned by automobile manufacturer Volkswagen and RB Leipzig having the backing of Austrian soft drinks giant Red Bull.
In November, St Pauli opted to sell stadium shares to its members and fans, with each individual share priced at €850 (£700)
Hoffenheim were even able to rise from the ashes of the fifth division under SAP owner Dietmar Hopp – although he did return the club to the fan-led 50+1 model in November 2023.
They have performed admirably in their first season in the top flight since 2011-12, sitting seven points clear of the relegation places with 12 games left to play.
The team look likely to be rewarded in due course, with the prospect of a derby in Germany’s top division to come as Hamburg are currently in the automatic promotion spots of the 2. Bundesliga.
In the landscape of modern football, where money so often talks to the point of chewing one’s ear off, St Pauli are intent on achieving success in their own way, every step of the way.
