Alexander Blessin will return to FC St. Pauli as the head coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 53-year-old was officially unveiled as Gladbach's new manager on Wednesday, signing a two-year contract.

His first reunion with the Millerntor crowd is already scheduled: on 3 October at 15:30, Gladbach will play a friendly against FC St. Pauli. The match will consist of two 45-minute halves. Blessin was St. Pauli's coach last season and left the club following their relegation from the Bundesliga.

Blessin looks ahead

In his presentation at Gladbach, Blessin avoided dwelling on the past. "You will never experience me talking badly about anything in the past," he said. He gave a measured assessment of his time in Hamburg: "The first year was super successful, the second not quite as great. We had highs and lows, two positive phases, two negative phases."

While Blessin begins his new job, FC St. Pauli are preparing for the season's resumption. After the international break, the club sits eighth in the 2. Bundesliga with seven points from six matches. Their last five games yielded one win, two draws, and two defeats (DWDLL).

The next league matchday is on 10 October, when 14th-placed Karlsruher SC visit the Millerntor for a home game. The full schedule for matchdays 7 to 13 was released on Thursday. Aside from the clash with KSC, it includes away trips to Hannover 96 and SV Darmstadt 96, plus further home games against 1. FC Nürnberg and VfL Bochum.

Further club news

Alongside these sporting dates, the club announced on Monday that it has joined the Union of European Clubs (UEC). FC St. Pauli is the first German professional club to join this association, which aims to give a stronger voice to small and medium-sized clubs in European football politics.

There has been further squad movement. Long-serving midfielder Jackson Irvine moved to Cerezo Osaka in the summer. The Australian spoke in an interview about his enduring connection to the club. Jannik Robatsch, who joined from Klagenfurt last season and made 16 appearances for the U23s in the Regionalliga Nord, has been loaned to Belgian side SK Beveren for this campaign.

Sporting director Andreas Bornemann stated in a podcast the ambitious aim of playing at least three seasons in the Bundesliga within the next five years. Meanwhile, a former player has returned to the 2. Bundesliga: Marcel Hartel moved from St. Louis City SC to Hannover 96, agreeing to a three-year contract there.

A setback concerns new signing Gísli Thórdarson. The 21-year-old Icelander, who was signed by FC St. Pauli just days before the season started, suffered a serious thigh injury in training before the first league match against Greuther Fürth. The required surgery was scheduled for Wednesday in cooperation with his parent club Lech Poznań. His return date is not yet known.

So in just over three weeks, FC St. Pauli will face not only their old coach but also a former teammate when Hannover 96, with Marcel Hartel, visit for an away match on 17 October.

First reported at TAG24