Football, especially in Britain, is constantly being accused of trying to run away from its modest working-class routes in favour of targeting a corporate customer base.
German football has always been hailed for its measures to keep the common fan involved in the club, implementing rules to make sure that fans will always have a say (although Leipzig are cutting some corners).
And one club that exemplifies the German attitude to football is St. Pauli of Hamburg who have no interest in prawn sandwiches.
For their size, St. Pauli command a much larger support base than they should. They are known as one of the world’s biggest ‘hipster’ clubs with their unusual brown kits, skull and cross bone flags, a stadium situated beside Hamburg’s red light district, and fan values based on left wing politics and social activism.
The bohemian club found itself flirting with relegation to the German third division with seven games left to go, but mustered up an impressive five-game win streak to propel themselves seven points jumping right up to ninth place.
To celebrate their confirmed safety and thank their fans for their support through the bad months their sponsors Astra are inviting their fans to the streets to help drink 1,000 litres of beer.
We fought off relegation together. We'd like to say thank you, so come to the Knust at 1800 CET. #alltogethernow #fcsp #fcspsgf pic.twitter.com/cAAw83Gr7E
— FC St. Pauli English (@fcstpauli_EN) May 14, 2017
A thousand litres probably won’t last too long, but a gesture like that doesn’t happen much in modern football.
The club’s stadium holds 29,000 seats and attracts supporters from all over the world who are welcome to wear their own team’s colours, they’re particularly fond of Celtic with both club’s branding each other “the rebel’s choice”.
Their fans, like Celtic, and Bohemians here, are well known for their tolerance of others, and we’re sure they will show a huge tolerance for beer tonight.
