St. Pauli buoyed by success of stadium cooperative

German Bundesliga club St. Pauli has hailed the success of its landmark cooperative venture which intends to grant members majority ownership of the Millerntor-Stadion, with a late flurry of activity pushing it towards an initial target of €30m (£25.1m/$32.5m).

The venture launched on November 10, with St. Pauli calling it the first of its kind in world football. Football Cooperative Sankt Pauli 2024 (FCSP) was open to other parties outside of fans and members, with each share costing €850 – €750 for the share itself, plus €32 in management fees and €68 for reserves for the co-op.

After a quick take-up, which saw €13m raised after only three days, and €15m after a week, progress slowed somewhat, leading to an announcement on January 8 that the subscription period would be extended by two months until the end of March.

At that point, the funds raised stood at approximately €18.4m. St. Pauli last month announced it had passed the €20m threshold needed for fans and members to secure majority ownership of the Millerntor.

The subscription period officially ended at 11:59pm local time on Monday, with St. Pauli stating that well over 21,000 people have become FCSP members, subscribing for shares with a total value of more than €27m.

These are preliminary figures, however, with a late surge of interest requiring the club to verify these requests. In addition to processing outstanding orders, the FCSP’s board of directors must review all figures and prepare the next steps.

Specifically, this involves acquiring a majority stake in the Millerntor. There will also be a waiting list for interested parties to participate in the cooperative’s next project or, if necessary, to acquire shares from other members.

The FCSP board intends to present the final results of the subscription phase, and the next steps, to members, whose number include Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeneß, in early May. The first general meeting of the FCSP cooperative is scheduled for June.

Oke Göttlich, president of FC St. Pauli, said: “We are stunned and infinitely grateful for this tremendous outpouring of support from our community. The people who hold FC St. Pauli in their hearts or who sympathise with our path have sent a clear message: a different financing approach in professional football is possible.”

Wilken Engelbracht, commercial director of St. Pauli, added: “The cooperative will open up new possibilities for FC St. Pauli. By acquiring a majority stake in the stadium, the club will be able to reduce its financial liabilities much faster than planned and therefore be able to invest in new projects.”

In February 2020, St. Pauli secured its long-term future at the Millerntor through a new usage agreement that will potentially mean it can celebrate its 200-year anniversary at the stadium.

The club, which has a wide following outside of Germany due to its political leanings and social culture, has played at the 29,500-capacity Millerntor since 1963. A new long-term contract was agreed between stadium operator Millerntorstadion Betriebs (MSB) and Hamburg authorities.

In the wake of St. Pauli’s move, Schalke 04 in January also launched a cooperative venture which, as a first priority, intends to shore up the 2. Bundesliga club’s financial situation as well as offer control of Veltins Arena.

Meanwhile, Union Berlin in February reported that it had sold over 49,000 new shares in Stadionbetriebs AG, a holding company set up by the Bundesliga club to support the redevelopment of the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

St. Pauli was promoted back to the Bundesliga as 2. Bundesliga champion last season and is currently three points clear of the relegation zone with seven rounds remaining.

Göttlich added: “We now want to use the momentum from the subscription phase to work together toward our next big goal, and therefore, through a courageous collective struggle, achieve survival in the Bundesliga.”

In other news, St. Pauli has announced that it will be the first club to offer dedicated entrances at its stadium for FLINTA* people.

The acronym FLINTA* is commonly used in Germany and stands for: female, lesbian, inter, non-binary, trans and agender people. The * highlights all gender and non-gender. For Sunday’s home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach three additional FLINTA* queues will be offered at the Millerntor.

The trial will initially run until the end of the current season, after which the club will determine whether it can be continued long-term.

St. Pauli said: “We would like to emphasise that gender-sensitive controls are not privileges or special rights, but rather a necessary step to enable FLINTA* people to have an equal stadium experience.”