Why St. Pauli is more than just a football club
...And why Socceroos star Jackson Irvine is the perfect leader
St. Pauli's last Bundesliga match ended in a 2-1 loss to Thomas Tuchel’s Mainz, a result that sent the winning team into the Europa League and the loser into more than a decade of anonymity.
Until now.
Second in the 2. Bundesliga with five matches remaining, St. Pauli is close to breaking its 11-year Bundesliga drought. Under Fabian Hürzeler, in his first full season at the club, Die Kiezkickers are a team transformed.
It's unfamiliar territory for a team that prides itself on its social and moral conscience as much, if not more, than it values on-field success. In pure performance terms, arguably St Pauli's greatest achievement was the 1977 2. Bundesliga title.
Sitting at the Clubheim, situated in the bowels of the Millerntor Stadium, Tim Ecksteen, founder and CEO of the infamous St Pauli blog MillernTon, explains how the club became the home of left alternatives who wanted to watch football.
“In St. Pauli at the Hafenstraße, there were empty houses and there were people from the left: punks and alternatives who moving into these houses," he says. "Out of this bubble, these people decided to go to St. Pauli. They wanted to go to the football but weren’t able go to Hamburger SV because they had these hooligans and Nazis within their scene.”
St. Pauli has been an outspoken leader on issues of anti-fascism, anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-homophobia. Positions Not necessarily borne of the club itself, but rather the fans who wanted to build a club their way. It’s a club that has rebelled against convention, the skull and crossbones image adopted by its fans a visual representation of their 'anti-establishment' mentality.
“These values that club stands for now and is proud of is made by the fans. The fans brought these values to the club and this what makes the club so strong.” Ecksteen explains.
It’s the interlocking of club values that has often left admiration not only within German football, but, thanks to the presence and influence of captain and Socceroos star Jackson Irvine, and his countryman Conor Metcalfe, Australia.
In St. Pauli’s recent match against Elversberg, the club wore a special kit that the message Kein platz für rassismus: 'no place for racism' in place of the sponsor logo.
For a club more synonymous with social justice than on-field success, to be sitting on the cusp of the Bundesliga is a testament not only to the manager, but Irvine, whose own core values mirror that of the team. In fact it's difficult to imagine a player better-suited to leading St. Pauli than the laid-back Australian.
Not surprisingly, Irvine's own performances this season have mirrored that of his club, the midfielder collecting five goals and seven assists in his 23 2. Bundesliga appearances.
“It’s great to be a part of something bigger than just football," he explains. "When there is more at stake than just winning and losing, when it’s about representation and everything else that comes with being a part of this football club, it heightens your responsibility as being a player while you’re here.”
Of equal interest to local fans is the evolution of Metcalfe, who has established himself on the right side of a Hurzeler's three-man midfield. The once raw Melbourne City prospect has become a staple of the St. Pauli engine room, his pace, passing range and positional versatility making him a key component of a team that has swept almost all before it this season.
With just a handful of games remaining, questions have inevitably turn to what promotion would mean for a club that appears to value a higher purpose than football alone.
For one, playing in the Bundesliga means more exposure, both locally and internationally. It means ore accessibility to an international audience and a greater opportunity to spread your core values.
As St Pauli's players and fans ride the highs and lows of the final push towards promotion, they can rest assure that in Irvine, they are being led by a captain who understands there's far more to life than just winning and losing. If Die Kiezkickers achieve what was unthinkable 18 months ago, Irvine will be the perfect player to lead them into a bold new era.
