Wild scenes as thousands of St Pauli fans storm pitch as Germany’s cult club seal promotion to Bundesliga
There were incredible scenes in Hamburg on Sunday as Germany’s cult club St Pauli were promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in 13 years.
Flare-wielding and skull and crossbones-bearing fans were seen lining the streets in their thousands ahead of the match, and then flooded onto the pitch within seconds of the final whistle that signalled their return to the top flight.
While it’s a significant event in German football, there is some English interest too, with London-born winger Dapo Afolayan scoring two goals in the 3-1 win over VfL Osnabruck at the Millerntor Stadion to secure promotion.
Afolayan spent time in the Chelsea academy before his family relocated to Canada as a young boy, but he was later signed by West Ham upon their return to the UK, making just one appearance for the Hammers - in the FA Cup, where he also scored a goal - before joining Bolton and then being signed by St Pauli in January 2023.
The 26-year-old has enjoyed a superb season in the second tier of the German pyramid, with a record of ten goals and three assists in 33 games in all competitions, and will now find himself playing top-level league football next term for the first time in his career.
But the party started well before he had even set foot on the pitch on Sunday, as around 5000 fans gathered on the streets leading to the stadium before kick-off.
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Flags and banners were waved, smoke was billowing from lit flares and the sound of thousands of voices joining together for chants of ‘St Pauli’ were heard in spine-tingling scenes in the district of Hamburg, while they jumped up and down in unison in a Poznan-style dance.
Given they were up against a side that was rock-bottom of the table and already relegated, with Osnabruck having won just five games all season, St Pauli fans were quite confident of at least getting the point they needed to secure promotion.
And the party atmosphere quickly spread from the streets to the stands, with supporters heard in fine voice throughout.
But it really kicked off as the referee gave his whistle one final blast, as thousands of fans rushed into the pitch from all four sides of the stadium, filling it in seconds, as they celebrated with their players who secured the team’s return to the Bundesliga for the first time since 2011.
And there was a cause of extra celebration, too, having managed to get back to the top flight before their arch rivals Hamburg.
The three-time Bundesliga champions and former European Cup winners have suffered a calamitous fall from grace and were relegated in 2019.
They currently sit fourth in Bundesliga 2 with one game remaining, but are unable to catch third place and a spot in the promotion play-offs, meaning they have been resigned to another season of second tier football.
The 2024/25 campaign will be St Pauli's ninth at Germany's top table, with their promotion coming after back-to-back fifth-placed finishes in Bundesliga 2.
Fabian Hurzeler's side have sat in the top-two since matchday seven and also went a division record-equalling 25 games unbeaten during the campaign.
St Pauli have been promoted to the Bundesliga five times before, but never as champions, and they can secure their first ever Bundesliga 2 title if they match or better rival club Holstein Kiel's result on the final day of the season.
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Their return to the top flight good news for Bolton Wanderers, too, with manager Ian Evatt confirming earlier this year the League One club will bank a 'substantial' payment as part of the £500,000 deal that took Afolayan from Lancashire to Germany in January 2023.