St. Pauli's Bold Rebuild: From Relegation to Renewal

The party didn’t last long on the Kiez. After the emotional high of staying up in 2024/25 – something St. Pauli hadn’t managed since 1995/96 – the club tumbled straight back down again. Six wins, eight draws, twenty defeats. Bottom of the Bundesliga in 2025/26 and relegated with a thud that echoed all the way around the Millerntor.

The fallout was swift. Head coach Alexander Blessin was dismissed in the weeks after the season, and a raft of key players followed him out of the door. What remains is something between a shell and a fresh canvas.

And yet, walking into the Millerntor this summer, you don’t feel resignation. You feel a reset.

Irvine gone, spine ripped out

The most painful farewell came late. Jackson Irvine, captain, heartbeat, symbol of the club’s recent rise, asked to leave – and got his move to Cerezo Osaka.

He leaves behind 153 appearances, 15 goals, 21 assists, and a legacy that goes far beyond the numbers. Promotion in 2023/24, a title, and a deep bond with the fanbase and the St. Pauli community. For many, he was the face of the project. His transfer, announced less than a week before the first fixture of the new season, landed like a punch to the gut.

He wasn’t alone heading out.

• Goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj, with 167 appearances and 43 clean sheets, joined Al-Diriyah on a free.
• Karol Mets moved to Bochum, also on a free, after 91 games in brown and white.
• Manolis Saliakas left for Olympiacos for €1.3 million, having racked up 120 appearances.
• Hauke Wahl went to Wolfsburg for €2 million after 105 games.
• Daniel Sinani departed to Sampdoria on a free after 70 outings.

This wasn’t a trim. It was a clear-out of an entire era’s backbone.

Hrgota leads the new wave

St. Pauli’s response has been to lean into experience and promotion know-how.

Front and centre: Branimir Hrgota. Signed on a free from Fürth, he arrives as their all-time leading scorer across the top two tiers of German football, with 69 goals and 41 assists in 238 appearances. He dragged Fürth back to the Bundesliga in 2020/21 with 16 goals and 7 assists, writing his name into their history. Now he’s expected to do something similar in Hamburg – provide goals, yes, but also leadership after Irvine’s departure.

It’s a clever piece of business. Proven in the league, still hungry, and free.

At the back, St. Pauli moved for Marcus Mathisen from Magdeburg, another free transfer and a much-needed reinforcement for a defence that has lost both experience and continuity.

The most important arrival, though, stands on the touchline.

Marcel Rapp, 47, comes in from Holstein Kiel. Two years ago, in 2023/24, he took Kiel to their first-ever Bundesliga promotion – in the very same season St. Pauli won the 2. Bundesliga title. Now he inherits a club that has crashed back to earth but still owns one of the strongest squads in the division.

Rapp knows how to build a promotion side. He also knows how quickly momentum can flip in this league.

A pre-season with hints of identity

Pre-season didn’t just offer fitness. It offered clues.

St. Pauli opened with a familiar local duel against Altona 93 and cruised to a 6-2 win, flexing attacking muscle against city opposition. Then came a 3-1 victory over Regionalliga Nord side Kickers Emden – not flawless, but effective.

The third game, away to Babelsberg, carried more than just sporting significance. The fan friendship between the clubs is well known, and on the pitch St. Pauli delivered a 4-1 win. Abdoulie Ceesay stole the show with a first-half hat-trick, a performance that suggested he could become a major weapon in Rapp’s system.

Then came a step up in level and geography. Against Croatian side Gorica, St. Pauli edged a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Louis Oppie and Ricky-Jade Jones. The win, though, came at a cost: Ceesay picked up a capsule-ligament injury in his right ankle, halting his momentum just as he had exploded into form.

The penultimate test was the harshest. Premier League and Europa League participants Bournemouth awaited in Austria, and the difference in quality showed. Kaars opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, but St. Pauli then crumbled, conceding four goals in 27 minutes in a 4-1 defeat – their only loss of the summer, but a sharp reminder of the levels above.

Back at the Millerntor, the final rehearsal brought a taste of Spanish football and late drama. Recently promoted LaLiga side Deportivo de La Coruña shared a 2-2 draw with the hosts. Taichi Hara and Kaars each put St. Pauli ahead, only for an 84th-minute equaliser from the visitors to deny Rapp a statement home win.

Across these games, a pattern emerged: front-foot football, goals in them, vulnerabilities behind them. Classic St. Pauli, with a Rapp imprint still being carved.

Rapp’s blueprint: three at the back, options up front

Tactically, Rapp is expected to stay loyal to a back three.

With Eric Smith’s fitness still uncertain ahead of the opener against Fürth, that structure will likely feature new and flexible faces. Tomoya Ando or Adam Dzwigala could slot into the back line alongside Nemeth and new signing Mathisen, forming the base of the 3-4-2-1.

In midfield, Fujita looks set to anchor the centre. Around him, Rasmussen or Metcalfe should compete to partner him, while Pyrka and Oppie operate on the flanks. Behind them, Lars Ritzka and Erik Ahlstrand offer depth and rotation options, important in a long 2. Bundesliga campaign.

The real intrigue lies in attack.

Hrgota will almost certainly start as one of the two behind the striker or drifting into those half-spaces he loves, with Jones, Hara, or Ceesay (once fit) rotating alongside him. Kaars is tipped to lead the line, offering movement and presence at the top of the shape.

The predicted XI – Voll; Nemeth, Mathisen, Ando; Pyrka, Rasmussen, Fujita, Oppie; Hrgota, Jones; Kaars – underlines the point: a new defensive core, a retooled midfield, and a frontline built around experience and pace.

Given the volume of departures and the injuries, St. Pauli have done well to retain a strong core and assemble a bench that doesn’t collapse at the first suspension or knock.

Promotion talk – curse or catalyst?

History doesn’t offer much comfort. The last time St. Pauli were relegated before this recent drop, in 2010/11, it took 13 years to get back to the Bundesliga. The fastest return in club history? Four years – and that only happened twice, during the 1990s and early 2000s.

So anyone expecting an automatic bounce might want to pause.

And yet this relegation feels different. Not softer, not less painful – just more manageable.

Despite losing Irvine, Vasilj, Mets, Saliakas, Wahl, and Sinani, St. Pauli still boast one of the league’s most valuable squads. In fact, they sit second in 2. Bundesliga squad value, behind only VfL Wolfsburg – though the gap to Wolfsburg is almost €200 million, a reminder of the financial gulf.

The pre-season showed something important: this team can still punch above its weight. They can score, they can hurt teams, and they already look like they understand the broad strokes of Rapp’s ideas.

The problem? The league won’t wait for them to settle.

Wolfsburg, with their budget and depth, are obvious title favourites. Behind them, the race for second and third is shaping up to be a scrap. Hannover are building with intent. Heidenheim, also fresh from relegation, will expect to be right in the mix. Others will fancy their chances if the big names stumble.

For St. Pauli, the margin for error is thin.

On paper, they should finish comfortably in the top six. If the new signings bed in quickly, if Rapp’s three-at-the-back structure stabilises the defence without blunting the attack, a top-three push is absolutely realistic.

The Millerntor has seen enough false dawns to stay wary. But with a proven promotion coach, a seasoned goalscorer in Hrgota, and a squad that still ranks among the best in the division, the question isn’t whether St. Pauli can compete.

It’s whether they dare to turn this reset into another rise – and how long the Kiez is willing to wait.