Red Jolly Rogers and Social Romantics

A Club for All Seasons–Just Not Transfer Season

Perchance many of you scan the transfer rumors sections of more reputable sites or your favored club’s online forums to see if and when that essential striker, replacement defender, or upgraded keeper will be signed. Take a moment to step away from that semi-annual nonsense, though, and spare a thought for FC St. Pauli.

Rather than moving with the pack, supporters of the Hamburg club want it to swim upstream.

Club captain and forward Marius Ebbers suffered an abdominal tear in this weekend’s match against Freiburg and will be unavailable till later this month. Under usual conditions, one would expect St Pauli supporters to be demanding that the club seek out some emergency transfer—seeing as the club is only two points above relegation and is the lowest-scoring club in the league.

Surely, the club could tap the credit line it acquired when getting promoted to the 1.Bundesliga this season and seek out a loan for the remainder of the year. Or, as Ebbers is a 33-year-old forward who hasn’t been productive at all this season, forced to deny he needs psychological counseling to overcome his poor form, the Kult Club could look to dip deep into its freshly-lined pockets for a permanent transfer.

We’ve often seen clubs do this to retain top flight status—risk it and spend anticipated euros now to keep larger paydays coming for the next season. St Pauli fans, though, would likely protest that type of move even more than they protested over the weekend.

You see, St Pauli fans were shown in large numbers flying the “Jolly Red” flag this weekend in protest for what they see as the club sliding away from its identity. Close to 4000 fans, dubbed “social romantics,” are demanding that the club back away from a slippery slope of commercialism that sees the Millerntor decked out in even more advertising boards and return to its roots as a Hamburg neighborhood club.

In short, these supporters think St Pauli’s sold out since it was promoted. Apparently, they’ve been seeking a dialogue with club management for a while but didn’t get the desired response. Feeling ignored by a front office that’s trying to keep the club up, these supporters decided to go public with their complaints with the 1.Bundesliga cameras and media present.

Now club management will be establishing official contacts with this supporters group and discuss their concerns. Vice President Gernot Stenger and Co. will need to find a happy medium between these “social romantics” who want to keep the club free of commercial interests whilst leveraging the club’s current business opportunities in 1.Bundesliga to ensure financial security going forward.

This little club from Hamburg’s red light district continues to be a fascinating subject and now it appears to be at a crossroads.  Should it ramp up and obtain more filthy lucre during its time in the top flight? Should it take the gamble and spend some of those advertising euros for player upgrades to secure another 1.Bundesliga season?

Or, should it defer to the wishes of a large supporter base that wants it to stay local and unencumbered commercially, regardless of the cost?

Now is your time Manchester City! With your 11 forwards, surely you can send one or two on a German holiday to the port city of Hamburg to play a little footy. The sheikhs are paying them to not play anyway, why not send a couple to ensure St Pauli stays up without having to sell its soul?