Fans of German left-wing club St. Pauli have become part-owners of its stadium

BERLIN AP Fans of German soccer unit St Pauli have taken over as majority owners of their club s stadium The Bundesliga club announced on Thursday that a fan cooperative raised chosen million euros million by offering shares to become part-owners of Millerntor Stadium This means the heart of the club now officially belongs to the cooperative and thus to its members St Pauli announced in a report With the takeover of the stadium company a crucial step has been taken to secure the future of the Millerntor permanently in the hands of the FCSP area St Pauli is a part of Hamburg that includes its famous red light district The soccer club of the same name is known for its left-wing fans The pirate skull-and-crossbones synonymous with the club was popularized by supporters who identified as punks The club mentioned more than people took part in the fan cooperative action It reported in April that more than members joined the fundraising initiative after its near five-month subscription period ended though members could still join if they missed the deadline We have proven that a different kind of football and a different financing model are accomplishable St Pauli president Oke G ttlich noted A cooperative and sustainable approach to business is also realizable in professional football as is the participation of several people who take on shared responsibility Each member spent euros for every share they bought with euros of that going on fees and contributions Every purchase entered the buyer in a draw for prizes including a dinner with squad captain Jackson Irvine VIP packages and signed jerseys Bayern Munich powerbroker Uli Hoene who organized a benefit event for St Pauli in when the club was in financial difficulty was among the new stakeholders We are delighted by the tremendous help for the cooperative for the idea of a different kind of football and a different way of doing business Andreas Borcherding the cooperative CEO commented on Thursday We are very pleased to have now taken this step St Pauli financial chief Wilken Engelbracht revealed it means the club can invest using its own guidance including in the expansion of the performance center Engelbracht was to present concrete figures at a meeting of cooperative members on Nov St Pauli was promoted to the Bundesliga last season but it has been struggling on the field with six straight defeats before faceing Freiburg away on Sunday AP soccer https apnews com hub soccer Source