FC Sankt Pauli, the standard-bearer of football’s left despite a tarnished reputation, is making its return to the German elite

“To be the president of St. Pauli is to be the president of your people.” This is how Oke Göttlich, head of the “only fan-run club playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues”describes his role at the time of rediscovering the Bundesliga, thirteen years after the Hamburgers’ last adventure in the elite of German football.

FC Sankt Pauli has become the emblem of the international football left, claiming its anti-fascist, anti-capitalist values, for the reception of refugees and the rights of LGBT+ people. Fan clubs have sprung up all over the world, united around a conviction that runs through the discourse of both supporters and leaders: “Football is political.” Even if the desire to reconcile these values ​​and the high level crystallizes criticism and sometimes slows down sporting ambitions.

You don’t have to look far to find concrete evidence of FC Sankt Pauli’s commitments: from the creation of FC Lampedusa, a football club for refugees arriving in Hamburg, to the LGBT+ flag flying on the roof of its stadium, to the accommodation of 200 anti-G20 protesters in 2017.

Although the club is 114 years old, its political identity is much more recent. “In the museum, the 1980s are called ‘the second birth of FC Sankt Pauli’. Until then, the club was quite normal.”says Nils Margner, a social worker at FC Sankt Pauli Fanladen, the supporters’ association that organises community life. “We were born from the scene of squatters who occupied houses in 1985 and who discovered the stadiumrecalls Oke Göttlich, a club ultra before being elected president by the supporters ten years ago. The fight against the establishment is the identity of FC Sankt Pauli.”

Many of the faithful have passed through the stands of rivals Hamburg SV before finding refuge in the club in the “red light district”, now largely gentrified. “I arrived in Hamburg twenty-five years ago and, before being a Sankt Pauli supporter, I went to see the other club hererecalls Nils Margner, who mischievously avoids saying the name. I never felt like I fit in, with my eccentric style and long hair. The district of St. Pauli fascinated me, there is a special atmosphere here with the bars. I found the right crowds there, or the wrong ones depending on your point of view.…”

“Most of the time, you don’t choose your favorite club. Sankt Pauli is special because many of its supporters chose it for its political values.”

Nils Margner, social worker in the club association

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A power of attraction that goes beyond German borders, with fan clubs flourishing from Toronto (Canada) to Warsaw (Poland) via France. Florian, originally from Toulouse, has become an avid follower “since 2008-2009, following a trip to Hamburg”co-founded the French-speaking St. Pauli supporters group. “It is, first of all, a political bond that brings us together”he assumes. The almost 30,000 seats of the Millerntor Stadion are almost always sold out and French supporters rarely go there, so they are developing alternatives: “Everyone comes from different regions, so we operate a lot through social networks. Since 2019, we meet on Zoom to watch every game together.”

Like the club, supporters’ organisations strive to apply internally the principles they advocate. “Every year, we sell fan club merchandise and donate 80% of the profits to an associationexplains Florian. We keep 20% for the following year’s costs.” In 2023, fans chose L’Auberge des Migrants, which helps people in exile in Calais and the north of France.

These values ​​force all club employees, including players, to be exemplary. “We rejected proposals, but we also fired some”says President Oke Göttlich, citing the example of Cenk Sahin, a Turkish player who openly supported his country’s war in Syria, “contrary to principles” from Saint Pauli – which counts, moreover, an active Kurdish community among its supporters.

On the contrary, some players specifically choose the club for its principles. Despite his status as a key player in the Australian national team (69 caps), Jackson Irvine decided in 2021 to join the second division team from Celtic Glasgow, seduced by the atmosphere and values ​​displayed at the Millerntor Stadion after a friendly match in Hamburg.

“This is the type of person we like and are looking for.”testifies its president, praising the personal commitments of the one who now wears the captain’s armband. President of the Australian Professional Players’ Union, he actively campaigns for the freedom of speech of LGBT+ people in football, and initiated the publication of a collective statement protesting against the non-respect of human rights in Qatar, before the 2022 World Cup.

“HAS “Each match there is a banner to raise awareness of a cause, pay tribute to victims or spread a humanitarian message”says Nils Margner, who has been involved in the Sankt Pauli community since his teenage years and now works for Fanladen. This association employs the fan representative, who is usually paid by the clubs, and independently ensures the connection between the fans and FC Sankt Pauli.

“We manage travel and ticketing for members, both at home and away. The club also consults us when it is necessary to sanction supporters, for example,” explains Nils Margner. All while looking after around sixty young people of all ages, as a community centre would do, since its creation more than thirty years ago. “Before working there, I grew up in Fanladen, social workers took care of me for a long time”confides with a smile the one who has now moved to the side of the wise.

Like him, everyone who holds responsibilities in the community life, the supporters’ groups, the administration or the management of the club, first learned their trade among the fans.

“Sankt Pauli is a club owned by the community and its members, who elect their representatives. I am the chairman of the board of directors, where there are five of us elected, but I am only one of the representatives of Sankt Pauli.”

Oke Göttlich, president of FC Sankt Pauli

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The club is not immune to criticism, however, often targeting its “bobo” image and its tendency to capitalize on its popularity, particularly through merchandise. Oke Göttlich acknowledges that the club’s political positioning “helps strengthen our brand”but certifies that “It was never a strategy” because “everything was set up by the members”. Supporters are also aware of certain contradictions, deemed necessary to survive in professional sport. “The club is not popular for its sporting success, but playing in the first division will increase its visibility and more people will be able to be interested in our actions, our ideas”says Nils Margner happily.

But since October 7, 2023, the icon has been damaged. Since A club statement condemning Hamas’ deadly attack on Israelexactly. About ten foreign supporters’ clubs published a joint reaction, associating themselves with this condemnation, but saying that “saddened that the club has not taken a position on the situation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which has been under blockade for fourteen years”The resurgence of the conflict has only served to reawaken deep disagreements between the traditionally pro-Israeli German left (known as “antideutsch”), and those of other European countries, more supportive of the Palestinian cause. This divide is found between local supporters of Sankt Pauli and those based abroad, to the point that three fan clubs voted to dissolve themselves, in Athens, Bilbao and Glasgow, supported by the French-speaking fan club.

Local supporters, for their part, are mostly aligned with their club’s position. “Hapoel Tel Aviv fans died. I knew one, who came to Hamburg three months ago for a friendly match”regrets Nils Margner. The Israeli club is a historic ally of Sankt Pauli. “The largest fan group, Ultras Sankt Pauli, has declared its solidarity with Hapoel fans, which does not mean that they are choosing a camp”says Nils Margner.

The fact remains that these positions, considered too complacent with Israel’s occupation policy and the war waged in Gaza, have notably earned Sankt Pauli the rupture of its historic friendship with the Celtic Glasgow ultras. President Oke Göttlich admits that“There is a German view on anti-Semitism, which is due to our history, according to which we defend the Israeli people and the country of Israel” but says the club opposes the policies “anti-human” And “far right” by Benjamin Netanyahu.

He also explains that Sankt Pauli “helps the people of Gaza by donating to humanitarian programs” and goes so far as to confide: “If I were a politician, I would fight for a two-state solution, but I am not the one who decides and that is where we reach our limits. Sometimes we can only be a football club.” A club that will continue to fly the pirate flag with the skull and crossbones, a symbol of rebellion and independence, and to bring to life the neighborhood that made John Lennon say: “I may have been born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg.”