The Reference Council

FC St. Pauli

In between all of this the St. Pauli Football Club stands. All the changes the neighbourhood has gone through the club has gone through also. From a small time, somewhat provincial club it has become a cultural institution. St. Pauli opens its home matches with AC/DC’s Hells’ Bells and the 20`000 plus fans in the stadium know the song well. I hear it often sitting in my kitchen when a game is on.

It was in the mid-’80s that St. Pauli’s transition from a traditional club into a “Cult” club began, perpendicular to the anarchist take over of parts of St.Pauli as previously mentioned.  The club was also able to turn the location of its stadium near Hamburg’s famous Reeperbahn to its advantage. An alternative fan scene emerged built around left-leaning politics and the party atmosphere of the club’s matches. Supporters adopted the skull and crossbones as their own unofficial emblem. Importantly, St. Pauli became the first team in Germany to officially ban rightwing, nationalist activities and displays in its stadium in an era when fascist inspired football hooliganism threatened the game across Europe. The club always had a strong and independent female fan base and it scorned advertisers such as Maxim by not accepting their offers due to the inherent sexism in it’s magazine.

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