St. Pauli FC are a cult club, with football fans around the world supporting the club thanks to their politics. Dispute their popularity, St. Pauli have spent the last 13 campaigns in the 2. Bundesliga.
However, St. Pauli’s time in the 2. Bundesliga may be about to end. The Buccaneers will begin round No. 17 atop the league, level on points with Holstein Kiel, but ahead of their rivals thanks to goal difference.
Intensive Vorbereitung aufs letzte Spiel des Jahres. 💪#fcsp #fcspsvww pic.twitter.com/j4inHLSk5B— FC St. Pauli (@fcstpauli) December 13, 2023
Intensive Vorbereitung aufs letzte Spiel des Jahres. 💪#fcsp #fcspsvww pic.twitter.com/j4inHLSk5B
With 16 matches played, St. Pauli are yet to lose a game in the German second tier. The club has a record of 8W-8D-0L. No other team in the 2. Bundesliga has fewer than four defeats.
Coach Fabian Hürzeler has built a team dedicated to strong defence. St. Pauli conceded just 14 goals in their 16 matches.
The Buccaneers kept five clean sheets although in their three recent matches, opposing teams were able to breach the rearguard.
While St. Pauli don’t lead the league in goalscoring, they are in the top four with 30 goals tallied. Ten of St. Pauli’s 16 matches saw them score 2.0 goals or more.
Striker Marcel Hartel leads St. Pauli in goals with seven. He tallied 23% of St. Pauli’s goals this term. But Hartel isn’t the only player knocking in the goals for St. Pauli.
Teammate Johannes Eggestein has added six goals to the cause. However, Hartel has been the undisputed leader for St. Pauli in attack. Not only does he have seven goals, but Hartel has seven assists.
The German has contributed to 14 goals for the club, which is 47% of the Buccaneers' goals.
There is every chance that Hartel will cool off in the final third. However, coach Hürzeler will hope the 27-year-old can continue to create and score goals.
St. Pauli will wrap up the first half of the season on Saturday against Wehen.
They could go into Christmas as the winter champions of the 2. Bundesliga, an extremely positive sign before the start of the second half of the season.
The 21st century hasn’t been kind to St. Pauli in terms of top flight football. They played just two seasons in the Bundesliga since the year 2000. It has now been 13 years since the Buccaneers played in the Bundesliga.
Each time the club played in the Bundesliga, they were relegated. For now, Hürzeler and company are just aiming to get back into the top flight.
Having had a strong first half of the season, the Buccaneers could set themselves up for promotion in the second half of the campaign.