Fußball-Club St. Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St. Pauli, is a German sports club based in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg. The football department is part of a larger club that also has Rugby (FC St. Pauli Rugby), American football, baseball, bowling, boxing (BC Barraduca), chess, cycling, handball, skittles, softball and table tennis teams.
It was in the mid-1980s that St. Pauli’s transition from a traditional club into a “Kult” club began. The club was also able to turn the location of its ground in the dock area part of town, near Hamburg’s famous Reeperbahn — centre of the city’s night life and its red-light
district — to its advantage. An alternative fan scene emerged, built around left-leaning politics, social activism and the event and party atmosphere of the club’s matches. Supporters adopted the skull and crossbones as their own unofficial emblem. St. Pauli became the first team in Germany to officially ban right-wing nationalist activities and displays in its stadium in an era when fascist-inspired football hooliganism threatened the game across Europe.[citation needed] In 1981, the team was averaging crowds of only 1,600 spectators: by the late 1990s they were frequently selling out their entire 20,000-capacity ground.
In 2003/04 they dropped down to the Regionalliga, at that time the third football division in Germany and remained there for four years. In 2007, St. Pauli were promoted back to the 2. Bundesliga and in 2010, FC St. Pauli was promoted into the Bundesliga. For the 2013–14 season they are again playing in 2. Bundesliga which is the second highest division in Germany.
FC St. Pauli has a rivalry with Hamburg. While the footballers have enjoyed only modest success on the field, the club is widely recognised
for its unique culture and has a large popular following as one of the country’s “Kult” clubs. FC St. Pauli supporters are highly identified
Short Video Documentary on Fc St. Pauli by The Guardian
with left-wing politics and have a long-standing friendship with the supporters of Celtic Football Club.