On the terraces: What St. Pauli's promotion means for the Bundesliga and how Freiburg bid farewell to Streich

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.

The Bundesliga will have a much more northern German feel to it next season after FC St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel secured promotion – Hamburg's Kiezkicker for the first time since 2011 and die Störche (the storks) for the first time ever. The celebrations in and around the Millerntor in St. Pauli and up on the Baltic coast in Kiel were as wild as you'd expect, and also included a sly dig directed at the region's biggest club, HSV. Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the country, Freiburg fans celebrated the 12-year tenure of Christian Streich and the 120th anniversary of the Sport-Club from the Black Forest with a time-consuming, costly but spectacular choreography.

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This is Matt Ford’s 17th “On the terraces” newsletter. The first newsletter for Gegenpressing was made available for all subscribers so readers can get a good idea of what he’ll be covering in German football this year. If you like what you see, please consider taking out a paid subscription.