FC St. Pauli tickets at the Millerntor-Stadion

FC St. Pauli tickets: more than a football club

St. Pauli are not defined by trophies. They are defined by identity, attitude and culture. The skull and crossbones on the flags began in the 1980s as a joke and became the symbol of a club whose supporters brought politics into the stands long before anyone else did. People travel from across Europe for a match at the Millerntor, and the season-ticket waiting list runs into the thousands.

Founded in 1910, the club has known plenty of highs and lows. The supporters stayed through all of them — Bundesliga or fourth tier, they fill the Millerntor.

The Millerntor experience — raw and authentic

The stadium holds 29,546 and sits in the middle of the St. Pauli district, a few hundred metres from the Reeperbahn and the Schanzenviertel with its bars, clubs and street life. On matchday, football does not take over the neighbourhood — it emerges from it. A compact urban ground, supporters standing close to the pitch, singing from first whistle to last, and a crowd driven by values as much as by results.

The team that beat the world champions

On 6 February 2002, the newly crowned Intercontinental Cup holders Bayern Munich travelled to face the bottom club in the Bundesliga on a cold Wednesday night. St. Pauli won 2-1 — and have worn the self-awarded title "Weltpokalsiegerbesieger", conquerors of the world champions, with visible pleasure ever since.

How the supporters saved their club

Through the worst of the financial years, the fans kept the club afloat themselves, buying season tickets and the famous "Retter" (rescuer) shirts. The real turning point came in 2006, when St. Pauli reached the DFB-Pokal semi-final as a fourth-tier side, going out only to Bayern Munich. That run cleared the club's debts almost overnight.

St. Pauli or Hamburger SV?

Hamburg offers two very different football experiences. Hamburger SV play at the large Volksparkstadion, known for tradition, sell-out crowds and a classic matchday. FC St. Pauli offer a compact, urban ground and a football culture shaped by music, identity and social values. Both represent Hamburg, in completely different ways — and when they meet, the city has its fixture of the year.

Football culture before, during and after the match

A trip here is not limited to ninety minutes. The streets around the ground fill hours before kick-off, and bars, pubs and music venues become part of the day. The Landungsbrücken, the Elbphilharmonie, the Sunday morning fish market and the Speicherstadt warehouse district are all within walking distance or a short U-Bahn ride. Hamburg airport is 25 minutes from the centre, and direct trains run from Copenhagen, Berlin and the Ruhr.

Tickets and hotels

• Tickets for home fixtures at the Millerntor — one of the hardest tickets in German football
• Hotels in St. Pauli and around the harbour, most of them within walking distance
• A hotel-and-ticket package, or a ticket combined with a sightseeing element such as a harbour cruise
• Larger groups can be seated in the function rooms of the main and south stands; two tickets are always together

Enquire as early as you can

Home matches at the Millerntor sell out regularly and capacity is limited. If you have a date in mind, send it to us with your travel dates and the number of tickets as early as possible — we will check tickets and hotel and come back with a firm offer.

More destinations: 2. Bundesliga and Bundesliga.