German Club St. Pauli Badge on UK Anti-Terrorism Guide Under 'Left Wing Signs'
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Soccer is known to have violent fans and this club is no exception, but I think there are far, far worse examples. St. Pauli notoriously has fans that are politically on the left, which is unusual for most soccer clubs. At least you get that impression if you read about violence around the sport.
To be honest, this list seems like the usual ridiculous hysteria of counter-terrorism efforts that certainly caused more damage than a soccer club ever could. Maybe the protesters are onto something.
Though do note that the word "cult" is used often and would not be a stretch to see how an outsider to that culture would run-think in the wrong direction. But like the flag, which probably don't help the ignorant upon their perceptions.
I think it's not helped by Click-Bait Case, which HN seemed to recently start applying to submissions unless you go back and edit them to your original submission, at which point it accepts it.
The following seems much easier to parse, (still not a great title, but that's not HN/submitter's problem) to me anyway:
> German club St Pauli badge on UK anti-terrorism guide under 'Left wing signs'
While I find the classification of hate/terror groups asinie even here (juggalos? Really?) this is clearly a group that ocassionally makes threats. Be lucky this ia just a guide for now. People in the USA have lost their kids because their favorite musical group was associated with asshats.
They're football hooligans, with everything that usually entails. ESPN are just being apologists for them because their violence is accompanied by the correct political ideas.
Right, 20-25 of them will also brawl with choreographers elsewhere in the city.
If you look at German soccer clubs, St.Pauli has no special hooligan problem. Slightly less than most.
Being a fan since my family took me to their games as a kid, I have to admit, this list has some truth to it. The stadium is plastered with stickers bearing most of the adjacent signs. Not every FCSP fan is a left-wing extremist, but left-wing extremists wear their merch, even when not into football at all.
Makes me think though, whether to take my merch with me the next time I travel into the UK.
Hamburg, of which St. Pauli is a nation-wide well-known area often in the media because it's red light district and its most known police station, is also traditionally a hot spot of militant antifa scene.
In 2017 the antifa turned that city into a burning hell looking like civil war area.
If that would not be enough, there is a building squatted since 1989 by far left scene.
So, it is not that counter-intuitive to associate fans of Germany's most violent soccer club with the far left scene of that city...
That's nonsense. St.Pauli isn't a particular violent soccer club. Far from.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gkqL0I20sI
They even visited their fans in the US:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGWzx9TUIo8
According to the New York Times they have the world's coolest Kindergarten:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/sports/soccer/welcome-to-...
> its most known police station
Paul McCartney spent a night there, when the Beatles started their music career in Hamburg St. Pauli.
https://www.beatlesbible.com/1960/11/29/paul-mccartney-pete-...
there is a building squatted
since 1989 by far left scene
Caveat: I was born and grew up in Hamburg.
In 2009, they became the first club in Germany to adopt a set of guiding principles by passing a resolution the club's AGM.
These values include social responsibility and promoting the interests of members, employees, supporters and volunteers beyond the sphere of sport; tolerance and respect and social responsibility. The club is regularly involved in solidarity actions with a wide range of causes.[0]
Such violent, wow.
[0] https://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/st-pauli-hambu... also linked above.
This is a gross misrepresentation of what actually happened. There were over 100k protesters, almost all peaceful, and about 15k police personel. That "burning hell" were just a few dozen burning cars, mosty police cars, and a few burning barricades. As the lawsuits are still ongoing, it isn't clear whether these were started by antifa or by fascists, who were also present, looked identical and have been accused of actual violence against the police. There are also accusations of agents provocateurs of the police itself, which isn't that improbable because the police also used that strategy during the G8 summit 2007.
So the protests where almost completely peaceful. Although there was a bit material damage, it isn't clear who was responsible for it.
The club does a lot of social activism and most fans in Hamburg are pretty normal social democrats. You are not wrong that there is an overlap of St. Pauli fans and the left scene in Hamburg. It's not a stretch that a militant person from Hamburg would also be a fan of this club. That's about it and how it probably ended up on that list.
Also the squatted building you are talking about is now owned by the city that basically allows its current use.
I am far away from accusing either the club or its fans as potential threats.
It's just as you said: There is a visible overlap, this pirate flag ended on that list and that's it. The list we're talking about even puts not ban on that sign. It's just connects it to that milieu and that's it.