FC St. Pauli host Karlsruher SC this Saturday for their first home game of the season at the Millerntor-Stadion. The matchday seven fixture follows the international break and holds special significance for head coach Marcel Rapp.
The new St. Pauli boss is from Pforzheim and made eight of his nine 2. Bundesliga appearances for KSC back in the year 2000. After roles at TSG Hoffenheim, Holstein Kiel and FC Nöttingen, he led Kiel to a second-place finish and their first-ever Bundesliga promotion last season. Now he is tasked with guiding a reshaped St. Pauli side forward following relegation.
The team currently sits eighth in the 2. Bundesliga table with seven points from six matches. Their recent form includes a draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach and a previous stalemate at Energie Cottbus.
The Millerntor as a home fortress
The stadium at Heiligengeistfeld holds 29,546 spectators following renovations completed in 2015. The club actively implements measures against racist and fascist chants in the ground and offers vegetarian and vegan food options. The site also houses the 'Piraten-Nest' daycare centre, run by the Pestalozzi-Stiftung Hamburg, providing around 100 childcare places.
A historic moment for the club was the first live television broadcast of a football match in Germany on 25 December 1952. Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk aired the replayed DFB-Pokal tie against SV Hamborn 07, which ended in a 3-4 defeat. 4,500 television sets were registered for the broadcast at the time.
Another legendary chapter was written with the 2-1 home win over FC Bayern Munich on 6 February 2002. As Bayern had previously won the Intercontinental Cup, St. Pauli coined the term 'Weltpokalsiegerbesieger' (World Cup winner beaters). T-shirts bearing the slogan sold over 100,000 units in the following decade according to club figures.
Against Karlsruher SC, who currently sit 14th, Marcel Rapp's side will look to build on their home record. The match kicks off at 13:00 on Saturday.
First reported at Karlsruher SC
