Just a few short minutes from Hamburg's infamous red light district, or the Reeperbahn as it's known locally, is the Millerntor Stadion, home to FC St. Pauli of Germany's second tier. Having followed them for a few years, I recently decided to travel to Hamburg to experience this extraordinary club.
Known as Die Freibeuter der Liga, or The Buccaneers of the League due to their adoption of the skull and crossbones as their unofficial logo, St. Pauli's raucous support stands firmly against all forms of discrimination and prides itself on being such a small club - there was a recent outrage when it was announced that Coca Cola owned energy drink Relentless would sponsor the club's brown jerseys.
The club's fans have strong links with Celtic supporters. This is mainly due to shared political beliefs and also because St. Pauli's neighbours Hamburg SV have a link with Celtic's great rivals Rangers.
The fan headquarters are in the Jolly Roger pub, which is a straight road from the Millerntor. Luckily for my father and I, it is next door to our hotel. The Jolly Roger doesn't seem like your average footy bar as ska and punk music blare from its various speakers. It is a small, cramped pub with an overhanging cloud of cigarette smoke. The walls inside the Jolly Roger are plastered with stickers and scarves with various anti-fascist and anti-racist slogans. There are stickers from fans the world over, from Dublin to Minsk and from New York to Australia. One which catches my eye is a rather comical one which features Kermit the Frog, captioned "Love Kermit, Hate Fascism".
On our first evening, a Thursday, we meet many different people in the Jolly Roger, which is late to open at 8pm. We get talking to St. Pauli supporters from Dublin and Manchester and we're amazed at how a second division German side can attract so many people. I speak to Scott and Dom from the Yorkshire St. Pauli who are holding a fund-raiser for various charities, particularly those which help refugees. I also speak briefly with Alan who plays for United Glasgow FC, a club set up in 2011 to combat discrimination and give regular football to those who struggle to afford it.
The following evening we head to the Millerntor for St. Pauli's league encounter against Sandhausen. Outside the ground there is a friendly atmosphere, large groups stand with beers and snacks, though there is no visible drunkenness. We recognise a few Belgians whom we met the previous night in the Jolly Roger and exchange e-mail addresses and the like as they tell us they would like to travel to Glasgow for a Celtic game. They jokingly mock the red-haired member of their group who does a rather funny, though stereotypical Scottish accent.
As kick-off fast approaches, we head into the Gegengerade, which is the large terrace behind the dug-outs. Each gate on the Gegengerade has a different mural, again mostly promoting equality but there are also some light-hearted efforts too, just like the stickers in the Jolly Roger.
The ground begins to fill quickly, so quickly in fact that the Millerntor is filled to capacity some 10 or 15 minutes before kick-off, something that wouldn't happen at any British ground, at least any British ground I can think of. The Gegengerade is now so busy I can barely lift my drink to my mouth, though there's no panic, it somehow feels right to look football in such a fashion.
We hear a loud chime as AC/DC's "Hells Bells" begins to play to welcome the players onto the park. A roar rings around the stadium and confetti rains down on us. My eyes are now fixed on the Südkurve, where the Ultra' Sankt Pauli are based. They have an anti-homophobic banner which reads in English as "Costless Love for all". The rest of the St. Pauli support waves rainbow coloured balloons and I notice a banner opposite us which I presume belongs to the Yorkshire St. Pauli as it bears the words "From Yorkshire With Love".
When the game gets underway we hear what sounds like a firework show but is in fact the numerous balloons being burst around the stadium. The game isn't all that entertaining and I once again find myself mesmerised by the Ultra' Sankt Pauli and at the volume of the support, which is about as loud as Celtic Park on a European night - amazingly St. Pauli are playing a team placed 15th in the league and there is no rivalry involved.
By half-time there is still no score. There are various banners being unfurled on the Südkurve with mottos such as "Refugees Welcome". I'm handed a piece of paper with the words "Kein Mensch ist Illegal" meaning "no one is illegal" and I learn that the St. Pauli support are protesting on behalf of numerous refugees being threatened with deportation by the German government. I am dumbfounded that the St. Pauli support are showing solidarity with both homosexuals (the gay pride flag flies above the Millerntor) and with refugees at the same game rather than on two different occasions.
As the second half commences, St. Pauli push for the opening goal as their Southern counterparts themselves are reluctant to attack, seemingly content with a single point. The hosts struggle to break down the Sandhausen defence and the match ends in stalemate.
After the match we go looking for somewhere to have a drink and decide to avoid the Jolly Roger as it's now so busy that customers are having to stand on the street with their beers. We somehow find ourselves on the Reeperbahn where there is a mass demonstration organised by the St. Pauli faithful regarding the refugee situation. We join in with the march and as I look further ahead of the crowd - which is later estimated to be between 8,000 and 10,000 people - I see someone holding a flare aloft.
We later come across the Millerntor Bar, where we meet fans of St. Pauli who are more local to the area, including Marko, with whom I swap scarves.Just like the Jolly Roger there is a lot of ska and punk music playing on the jukebox and even the occasional Celtic number.
This was essentially the last of our time in St. Pauli as on Saturday we took the train to Hannover to take in their game at home to Hoffenheim. The match finished in a 4-1 victory to the away side following some odd decision making from the whistle blower. On Sunday afternoon, we made our way to the airport and the district seemed much quieter and less rowdy than it had the rest of the weekend.
An opportunity to tick one off the bucket list, after what was a fantastic weekend in Hamburg. The city itself wasn't exactly the most modern I've ever seen though it is home to a football club which is truly like no other...and they aren't particularly well known.
