27 January 2010

ST. PAULI PARTY


Thanks for all the support we've received from Albionites and others following the release of TSLR016.  Villa was a great day out for all, and Stockport last night was ... well, not a great day out, but the less said about that the better.

A bit of news from our friends in Hamburg, FC St. Pauli are celebrating their 100 year anniversary with a friendly against Celtic (yawn) but more excitedly against FC United.

For those who don't know St. Pauli, they are the most fun football club in the world, and a visit is a must for any fan of off-kilter football.  I still don't completely understand their link with Celtic and fans we spoke to told us that they are not so happy with the link either anymore.  St. Pauli have been moving towards an anti-nationalist stance in recent years, so were offended when Celtic bought tricolours a plenty to a match a few years ago.  Also, while I know many Rangers fans are a bit unsavoury (some ex-squaddies I met on the train the other day came out with some pretty weird stuff), its naive to think that Celtic do not have an equally biggoted side.  St. Pauli are really anti all of that stuff, so it effects my support of FCSP when they do stuff like this.

FC United on the other hand is a very nice link.  We have of course met with FC in the past and had a great time at Gigg Lane.  There was an air of arrogance about their projections and attitude sometimes, but they are, let's not forget, Manchester United fans above all else so arrogance is in their blood!  However, the game and pre-match fun was great, and they welcomed TSLR with open arms, buying fanzines and talking to us about all sorts.  We were drawn into the cammoraderie of it all, and their plans are based on football ethics that we should all aspire to follow.

FC St. Pauli are only playing an XI against FCUM, but hopefully we'll be able to get over there on May 15th and join the party, and believe us, it'll be quite a party!

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