17 years ago today: when FC St. Pauli dreamed of the “Bokal” final

End of the legendary B series

“We’ll knock on every door and ask, are you coming to the cup final?” rang out on April 12, 2006 from the stands of the Millerntor to the hit tune of “Mendocino”. At that time, the dilapidated stadium in the middle of Hamburg still managed largely without a protective roof, without expensive business seats or hot water in the guest shower. 17 years ago today and in the weeks before that, it was the scene of spectacular duels of the proverbial David against Goliath: The legendary “B- Series” by FC St. Pauli in the DFB Cup. The underdog from the third division always left the field as the winner – until FC Bayern came along.

“Cup final, cup final, we go to the cup final every year” – actually this refrain of Dieter Thomas Kuhn’s hit, which was turned into an ironic chant, was difficult to reconcile with the neighborhood club, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. And yet, in a way, it was true lines that the supporters of the brown-whites smashed in the direction of the harbor and Heiligengeistfeld in the exuberance of an unexpected winning streak, cup round after cup round. Because FC St. Pauli was just playing its grueling third season in what was then the Regionalliga Nord, competed in the Hamburg Amateur Cup every year and indeed reached the cup final there every season.

But who would have dreamed back then, when Wacker Burghausen ran into the half-filled Millerntor in the first round of the DFB Cup, that this song could also be transferred to the national club cup. And even less that four games later, on April 12, 2006, they would still be singing. At that time only the great FC Bayern Munich was able to stop the legendary B series of the “Boys in Brown”. The second division clubs Burghausen and Bochum as well as the then Bundesliga greats Berlin and Bremen had not managed to do that against the ailing cult club before.

1st round: Shubitidze, Tornieporth & Luz to 3:2 against Wacker Burghausen

It suits FC St. Pauli’s crazy B series that one of the narrower victories against what was in retrospect the weakest opponent of the cup season was achieved. Against Wacker Burghausen, the North Germans, who were still a long way from the thought of any cup surprises in front of a half-full Millerntor, had to go into extra time. But one key name of the “Bokal” season has already appeared: Felix Luz. The striker made it 3:2 in the 113th minute and kept appearing in the scorer list in the course of the coming cup rounds.

Khvicha Shubitidze and Dennis Tornieporth put St. Pauli in the lead and triggered initial euphoria among the fans of the then regional league runners-up. But the second division team from Upper Bavaria, with whom St. Pauli had a short-lived friendship at the time, only needed two minutes in the final phase to equalize the result with goals from Michael Wiesinger (79th) and Marek Krejci, who died in a car accident in 2007.

2nd round: Dinzey & Co. to a 4:0 victory against leader Bochum

While the first-round win against Burghausen had brought the first, much-needed income into the coffers of FC St. Pauli, one could certainly not yet speak of a cup sensation despite the class difference. This formulation was approached a few weeks later, however, when a chanceless VfL Bochum – then undefeated second division leader – was shot out of the Millerntor.

The key figures once again included the first-round goalscorers Luz and Shubitidze, who scored again in the unbelievable 4-0 win over Revierklub. Michél Mazingu-Dinzey had prepared the lead on submission by ex-St. Pauli coach Timo Schultz and even the crowd’s favorite (because he was a long-distance runner) Florian Lechner scored his first goal in brown and white.

Round of 16: 0:2 becomes 2:3 becomes 4:3 against Hertha BSC

In the third round, B opponent number three, Hertha BSC from Berlin, came to the Millerntor with well-known personnel. Marko Pantelic, Gilberto and Marcelinho Paraíba all scored for the European contenders but were unable to help the capital club win against the underdogs. If you started a survey for the most emotional and memorable game in recent St. Pauli history, the game against Hertha was probably one of the most frequently mentioned by the fans. An unbelievable fight on uncomfortable regional league ground in the middle of December.

St. Pauli was able to counter the early 0:2 thanks to the second tournament goal from ex-Berliner Mazingu-Dinzey before the break. After the change of sides, it was not until the 86th minute that Luz scored again for the third and last goal of his cup season and sparked a jubilation, the meaning of which for the battered St. Pauli soul is almost lost in view of what happened in extra time followed.

The Berliners around Niko Kovac and Arne Friedrich took the lead again after 100 minutes and demanded another goal from the regional league club from Hamburg from full-back Lechner, who said he was suffering from cramps – his second goal in the “B series” and only one of three goals throughout his 120+ game FCSP career. A few minutes later, a central defender made the sensation perfect: Robert Palikuca netted a pass from Jonny Sulentic to one of the greatest cup successes in the club’s history.

Quarter-finals: 3:1 against angry Bremer – “And, is it the referee!?”

The subsequent quarter-final victory, which made FC St. Pauli’s only semi-final appearance in the cup perfect to date, was marked by unpleasant circumstances. The square at the Millerntor was icy. Referee Felix Brych whistle-blew the whistle and angered Werder Bremen. The star ensemble of the dethroned master around Miroslav Klose lost to the regional list from Hamburg’s trendy district and pushed the bankruptcy onto the pitch. To make matters worse, national striker Klose slipped and injured his shoulder badly in a duel – in the year of the World Cup.

The goal that gave Hamburg the lead came again from Mazingu-Dinzey on the memorable evening before Johan Micoud was able to equalize. The victory went to St. Pauli’s record player of the century, Fabian Boll, and Schultz, who marked the 3-1 final score.

The way in which Bremen grumbled about the conditions meanwhile struck a peg between the actually friendly relationship between Werder and St. Pauli, which was noticeable for a long time afterwards, not least because of simply unfair comments by the then Bremen manager Klaus Allofs in the direction of St. Paulis President Corny Littmann after the game. When his cell phone rang during the interview, Allofs asked: “So, is it the referee!?”

Semifinals: Bayern on the brink of embarrassment – ​​Kahn & Pizarro end the B series

Before FC Bayern was drawn to the underdog from the center of Hamburg, it was President Littmann who exaggerated the image of the “B series” to the point of silly. In this sense, St. Pauli can only expect the next B, regardless of whether it’s Bavaria, Bielefeld or “Bankfurt”. It was the record champion who struggled to the sound of the much-touted “Millerntor-Roar” during an unprecedented game in the stands and against a self-confident third division side.

Time and time again, Oliver Kahn in the Munich goal prevented a goal from falling into Bayern’s goal, while FCB struggled to defend Owen Hargreaves’ early lead. It took until the final phase for the champions, whom St. Pauli had beaten sensationally 2-1 in 2002 as the Bundesliga club and “World Cup Winner” at the time, to prevail. It was Claudio Pizarro who brought FC Bayern salvation in the 84th minute and the decision to make it 3-0 in the 89th minute.

For St. Pauli, which had the final in mind, the B series was over – and yet it didn’t take long before a B came up again in the cup at the Millerntor. It was again FC Bayern, who even fell behind in the first round of the following cup season against St. Pauli with a Schultz goal and were only able to equalize thanks to Lukas Podolski. Only in extra time did an unfortunate own goal by St. Pauli keeper Patrik Borger after a cross from Philipp Lahm seal the end for FCSP, who survived the first round against B. Leverkusen a year later and were eliminated in the second round against Bremen II.

Note d. Red.: This article comes fresh from the TM archive and was first published on April 12, 2021.

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