Another football is possible: St. Pauli returns to the Bundesliga
▲ More than a decade later, the shield of the skull crossed by bones returns to the football elite. Photo Afp
Juan Manuel Vazquez
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, May 15, 2024, p. a10
Another football is possible. This is a political statement from the only club that manifests itself as left-wing in sports, Hamburg’s St. Pauli, which returned to the German First Division this Sunday after more than a decade in the second category. A rebellious and anti-system, internationalist and anti-racist group, fighting against discrimination as established by its statutes, in favor of gender diversity and all forms of minorities. In this organization with followers all over the planet, football is understood as an act linked to the community and, therefore, with a strong commitment to solidarity. That is, it insists on the political content of all human activity, including football. This very contrasting identity in a show where the interests of large capital predominate, reinforcing the the state in whichearned him the fame of being the rebellious beacon of the sport.
If the premise is that another football is possible, a week ago, during the city classic against Hamburg SV, a monumental banner waved in the stands of the stadium that read: St. Pauli is the only possibility.
The emblem also breaks with the hegemony of sports heraldry. If the club shields have some monarchical pretension, St. Pauli displays a skull crossed by bones on a black background, an obvious reference to the pirates who caused terror among the kingdoms, because it is the crusade of the poor against the teams. rich, explained Sven Brux, leader of the team’s fans. This icon became a hallmark not only for followers of the group in Hamburg, but also a statement in other subcultures such as punks, squatters and anarchist blocs around the planet.
From Germany to Nezahualcóyotl
The image that alludes to the buccaneers is multiplied on t-shirts and patches that are paraded at concerts of hardcore in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl or in the halls of the Tianguis Cultural del Chopo in Mexico City, it is common at punk or ska concerts in Lima, Buenos Aires or Barcelona. The Mexican group Panteón Rococó was even invited to perform the song The heart of St. Pauli as part of the celebrations for the team’s 109th anniversary.
It is an island in the middle of a spectacle that is managed by clearly right-wing companies and that uphold those values from that capitalist ideological perspective, he tells The Conference Ángel Cappa, former Argentine technical director and analyst who warns about the traps of capitalism to separate politics from football.
“It is a rebellious beacon in a world where the lie spreads that sport does not mix with politics and returns a necessary look to football. The biggest trap is to think that sport should not be contaminated with politics, but for a club like St. Pauli to return to the German First Division, where the powerful Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund – protagonists in this Champions League – play. Europe –, not only is it fresh air, but it reminds us of issues that become more prominent in this great showcase.”
They say that origin is destiny. The St. Pauli neighborhood in Hamburg has deep proletarian roots and social exclusion. The first inhabitants in the 17th century, workers and merchants, mixed with crowds of the excluded, those who the authorities of that time considered undesirable such as the homeless, the sick and sex workers. In that breeding ground, one of the most counter-current clubs in world football emerged. Officially founded in 1910, precisely on a day like today but that year; However, with antecedents that go back several decades to the 19th century and for which the official image of the club says: Not established until 1910.
The solidarity and community essence of the team is developed in the supporters’ association that promotes access to practice sports for free, a project aimed at groups at risk of social exclusion or in unfavorable economic conditions. Also in the sponsorship they exercise with teams made up of migrants. They also have education programs for youth and children in which the values of respect for all minorities, empathy with migration, and against sexism and homophobia are promoted.
heroic losers
Although they have been promoted to the Bundesliga on other occasions, their stay has always been short-lived. There is a romantic allure to a club that promotes the essence of the game and camaraderie over the cult of triumph. That is why they have been called the heroic losers and that also influenced them to become a cult team, as Natxo Parra and Carles Viñas refer to in St. Pauli: Another football is possible, (Captain Swing, 2017). Furthermore, the incidence of autonomous movements such as squatters and punk in the 80s played a determining role in collective identity.
Marcos Roitman, author along with Ángel Cappa of the book Soccer and Politics (Akal, 2022), brings to the table a current and decisive moment for the club’s identity. The absence of a condemnation against the genocide in Gaza by the Israeli Army. Although he assures that he does not attack the symbolic history of the team and above all against the honesty of its international fans, it does place the leadership at a crossroads that contradicts the institution’s discourse.
The St. Pauli board condemned the actions of Hamas on October 7, 2023. However, since then they have not spoken out against the devastation of the Palestinian civilian population, something that the international fans do not forgive them for.
It’s very easy to declare yourself leftist when you don’t have to make an important decision, Roitman tells The Conference Gaza is a turning point for the team’s leadership, because it shows the limits where the progressive discourse moves. It also shows us that this team that is promoted is not the same as the one where the essence of the club was built, the founding ethos of St. Pauli.
Without leaving aside the contradictions, Quique Peinado wrote in his book left-wing footballers, (Off the road, 2022) that St. Pauli was a utopia that tried to change professional football and of that only a myth has remained. The same author, however, also states that being the rebellious beacon of the sport that has done the most to destroy those who go against the current has unquestionable merit. And in the latter there are multitudes that support it.
2024-05-15 11:08:14
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