For some, that means turning their back on the big league and watching their local lower league or semi professional team for a more cerebral day out. Others look abroad for their fix, with many eyes focusing on the German Bundesliga, where the tickets are cheap and the atmosphere is electric. Huge crowds in from Munich to Dortmund chant their way through games with hugely colourful displays of support; the impressive fan led choreos. As noted by Nick Davidson in this highly entertaining and intriguing book, “the impressive time, effort and devotion that goes into the choreos…one of the key differences between German supporters and their British counterparts.” Add in beer, bratwurst, safe standing and very cheap tickets and it’s an intoxicating mix.
Similar efforts in Britain are often “small islands of enthusiasm in a sea of apathy. Whether it is because standing is forbidden in the top divisions or because a generation of fans have grown used to being passive consumers, spoon-fed Sky Sports hyperbole, the atmosphere at games in Britain bears no comparison to Germany.”
But one German club has attracted a large international following not for sporting success or for the fan experience alone, but for its beliefs, outlook and alternative view of things; at least of its fans if not always of the club itself. The stereotypical image of FC St Pauli, based next door to Hamburg’s red-light district, is one of the skull and crossbones flag and terraces full of punks, anarchists and all around ne’er-do-wells which attracts stag-do hordes from the nearby Reeperbahn. But in Pirates, Punks & Politics, Nick Davidson shines a light on the real St Pauli, based on his own experiences travelling to Germany for a number of St Pauli matches, home and away, over the course of a few seasons of ups and downs. He ventured to the Millerntor Stadium having fallen out of love with his club and with the game in general, and found an experience and a club which restored his faith and helped him fall back in love with football.
By weaving his own match going experiences with a history of both the club and the area it represents, Davidson has come up with a real gem of a book that opens the door to a new kind of football and a new kind of support. His involvement with the club’s international supporters groups and extensive research of the other fans groups who hold great influence on the largely left wing fan base add colour and realism to this walk through the club’s past and present.
“Football is the vehicle upon which so much of the St Pauli experience hangs, yet once you are here, the football part seems so insignificant. It’s about people giving a toss about each other. About showing that we care, that governments and their policies are wrong…It’s bloody powerful and I’m proud to play a part in it.”
If it’s not encouraging fans to stay hour after the final whistle to enjoy a seeming never ending supply of beer together, or opposing the DFB (German FA) plans for the “safety” of Premier League style all-seater stadia, or showing solidarity with their ideologically opposed rival’s supporters in protesting a ban on away fans, or opposing a police headquarters being set up in amongst the main fan section, then its welcoming more and more foreign supporters who share their outlook, or organising marches to support refugees. There are one or two colourful characters and incidents along the way; the transvestite chairman, the strip club having a corporate box complete with a pole dancing pole, the rise in the 1980s of the alternative support from the nearby squatters blocks, the
Barcelona claims to be “more than a club” and that is true for them in terms of what the club symbolises. But for St Pauli it is truer to a far greater extent certainly in terms of a large section of the support if not always of the club itself. An idea demonstrated by the fact that the author was donating all of his royalties from this book to the fund developing a St Pauli museum aimed at demonstrating just how St Pauli are indeed more than a club, in terms of their following.
This is a terrific book that appealed greatly to me as a self-confessed football hipster, but it should have a wider appeal to many a football fan either frustrated with the Premier League’s particular style of fur coat and no knickers entertainment at times, or interested in learning more about how the game is experienced elsewhere.
A highly recommended read.
- Aidan Williams - http://thesportsbookreview.com
Publisher - Sportsbooks
Date of Publication - 14th February 2014