/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/larazon/DICWOUNTBBHFDKFRV4NZTDCVEE.jpg "St. Pauli, where pirates, rockers and communists watch football together")
For those less fond of football We could explain that this sport is about scoring one more goal than the rival if you want to win -in most cases-, playing with a round ball and following rules controlled by a referee. Despite this, this simplistic definition cannot make understand even 1% of everything that football represents, The king sport.
Football goes beyond the field of play. On important match days, for example, a climate is generated in the cities involved that is very difficult to explain. In addition, the matches have a multitude of events on the field that are not only focused on the goal. Sometimes even a simple foul in midfield can be an event celebrated by the thousands of souls who are in the stadium.
That being the case, the football it is more than just a match or competition. It is also played off the court. There are even clubs that are more than just a squad of players who play football. Some, for example, are a reference for thousands of people due to having a differentiated character within the scene. In that sense, the St. Pauli It is surely one of the most peculiar teams in all of Europe.
Two dockers as founders
The St Pauli It is a small refuge for all those opposed to modern football and his passion for money. Thus, with around 20 million fans around the world, this club is one of the standards of progressivism. In its statutes, for example, define themselves as anti-fascist, anti-racist or anti-sexistevents that attract an important part of the world of football.
Founded on May 15, 1910 in Hamburg under the name of FC Sankt Pauli by two city port workers the club that established brown as the flaga clear reference to the clothing of the stowaways. Also, thanks to the pirates of the North Sea it was decided that a skull would be the symbol of the club.
During more than 60 years of history, the team passed without penalty or glory through the German categories. It was in 1977 when he managed to access the first class, although only for one year. Even though the team does not have important titles, its vindictive character in recent years has made it a benchmark.
One of the most progressive
Among the milestones that the club holds, it stands out to be the first institution to be led by an openly gay president. Between 2002 and 2010 a militant of the cause, Corny Littmann, theatrical impresario held the highest position of the institution. In addition, within the internal walls of the stadium there is a mural of two men passionately kissing under the slogan “The only thing that matters is love.”
Among other actions carried out by the team, the Sponsorship of FC Lampedusa during the migratory wave that lived in the area. Even one of the flags present in the stadium recalls the motto “Welcome refugees”.
They are also frequent proclamations against the extreme right or racism. The fans, largely from the left, recall on many occasions during the games their total opposition to the evictions.
A Nazi stadium that changed its name
As in most cases in Germany, many of the places kept names related to Adolf Hitler or his party. The stadium of St. Pauli, currently Millerntor Stadium, it was called until 1998 Wilhelm Koch.
This name was in honor of the president of the club between 1931 and 1969although in 1998 it was discovered that he had been a member of the Nazi party. Thus, the team tried to get rid of that past and start expelling the extreme right from the stadium from the 80s and 90s. In that sense, the arrival of the punks to the team helped greatly by packing the field in every game.
Currently, the team has authentic legions of fans. Punks, communists or anarchists They are only three of the most significant examples within the club. Today, moreover, it should be noted thathe famous skull of St. Pauli generates more than one million euros in merchandising thanks to the great worldwide impact of the team.
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