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Main Listening Report: Week 6 – FC St Pauli

FC St Pauli

Each week on languagecaster’s podcast we feature a main listening report and on this week’s show we feature one of the most interesting club sides in the world, the Bundesliga‘s St Pauli. You can listen to the report by clicking the link below and can also read the transcript. Explanations of vocabulary in bold appear at the foot of the post. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

Transcript

Introduction

In this week’s predictions we featured many local derby games from around the world including the big Ruhr derby between Schalke and Dortmund. But there is another derby taking place in Germany this weekend that does not happen very often but is no less intensive. Hamburg play FC St Pauli and it is the newly-promoted side that we focus on in this week’s main report.

History

Founded around the turn of the 20th century, the team from Hamburg have only been in the top division in Germany for a total of five years and have only once spent more than one year in this division – in 1995 they managed to survive for one season before being relegated in 1997. This year they are tipped to go down again as they have one of the lowest budgets in the league and little experience of the top flight.

Punk and Progressive Politics

But it is not really the playing side of the club that makes St Pauli so interesting but rather everything else that is attached to it. St Pauli is situated near the red light district of the city and since the 1980s it has attracted the alternative section of society to its games at the Millerntor Stadium with many fans going for the event as much as the football – punk music is often played before and after matches, for instance. These fans were also very progressive in their outlook, being anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-homophobic, this last one in particular is interesting as so few clubs anywhere in the world make any reference to this issue. Fan power has increased over the years leading to such measures as having a big say over who becomes the chairman of the club, having a seat on the board of directors, refusing to sell the name of the stadium for advertising and having advertising of male magazines removed from the stadium as it insulted their large female following.

Outsiders

This sense of being progressive in their politics is reflected in the fact that St Pauli hosted the FIFI World Cup in 2006 – a tournament for non-recognised ‘countries’ such as Tibet and Zanzibar – and participated under the name The Republic of St Pauli. For a club with so little success they have become one of the most popular in Europe with many fans supporting them as their second team – perhaps attracted to this sense of being a rebel or simply having some fun.

Vocabulary

  • no less intensive: Just because it does not happen very often does not mean that it is not important
  • around the turn of the 20th century: The founding date is a little unclear – some say in 1899, others suggest it is 1907 so we can use this expression to suggest approximately.
  • being relegated: To drop down a division, to be so bad that you cannot stay in the top division
  • they are tipped: Many people think …
  • the top flight: The top division, division 1
  • the red light district of the city: The area in a city where prostitution is common
  • anti-homophobic: Taking a stand against anti-homosexual feeling
  • having a big say over: Having quite a lot of power over decisions
  • is reflected in: Is demonstrated in, is shown by

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Learn English Through Football Podcast
Learn English Through Football Podcast
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Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills

Welcome to the website that helps students interested in football improve their English language skills. Soccer fans can enhance these skills with lots of free language resources: a weekly podcast, football phrases, explanations of football vocabulary, football cliches, worksheets, quizzes and much more at languagecaster.com.

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