On the terraces: St. Pauli launch fan cooperative, BVB fans process Klopp shock

In a weekly Newsletter, Matt Ford keeps an eye on the action off the pitch in the Bundesliga and German football, explaining what’s going on from fan protests to finances.

Despite the international break, there's been no shortage of topics in the world of German fan culture – not least the news that a certain former Borussia Dortmund head coach is set to take on a new role at a less-than-popular energy drink company and lifestyle brand. The news has gone down about as well as you'd expect but, fortunately for outraged BVB fans, the visitors to the Westfalenstadion on Friday think they have an answer to the ills of modern football: FC St. Pauli have founded German football's first ever Genossenschaft, a fan-owned cooperative with which they want to finance the club's survival in the Bundesliga. A new model for the future of football finance? Or an idealist dream concocted in the haze of the Reeperbahn? Let us know what you think.

---

Matt Ford's "On the terraces" newsletter will continue to appear every week throughout the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Last season, the newsletter featured exclusive and in-depth coverage of the Bundesliga's private equity plans and the political intrigues at VfB Stuttgart, among other things. If you like what you see, please consider taking out a paid subscription.