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January 2013

CONTACT US: Twitter Facebook YorkshireStPauli.com

IN THIS ISSUE:

Fabian Boll, Der Übersteiger, the new Gegengerade, English

ticket prices, a look at the season so far, the 1910 Museum

plans and a look at the increasing right-wing element at Borussia

Dortmund (and some more, too).

Weisse Rose - Arguably Yorkshire’s second best export, after Yorkshire Puddings.

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A RIGHT PUNKY YORKSHIRE PARTY

3 YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE

4 THE ÜBERSTEIGER ROARS ON!

5 MILLERNTOR - MY MEMORIES AND HOPES

7 THE SEASON SO FAR

8 CAPTAIN AND COP.

11 TICKET PRICES? THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG.

13 1910 MUSEUM

14 BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE SÜDTRIBÜNE

16 KIBERA CELTIC

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Contents Click the numbers to go to a particular page

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Community – that’s what YSP is all about for me. Everybody chipping in as much as they can to make the club more worthwhile. And we’ve got some great members here in Yorkshire, a fact perfectly illustrated by our Christmas Party

(or Pre-Winter Break Party, if you prefer). We took a bit of a risk in organising something that would hurt us financially if nobody turned up. But by charging just £3 for the game against Aue, plus two great punk bands, I’m pleased to

say that we made a small profit from the day, which will be donated to the Fanladen. I have

to admit I was slack in my doorman duties and didn’t count people as I stamped their hands with my daughter’s love heart stamp, but during the game I counted 40+ people in the room, which is a pretty good attendance….for a delayed internet stream…of a German 2nd Division game!!

The game was, of course, forgetful in the extreme and the stream was of unusually poor quality (our apologies!), but the afternoon will

live long in the memory. 12 minutes of silence, followed by a hurricane of ticker tape, balloons, party poppers, till rolls, etc, from the YSP

faithful. Rounds of “Scheiß DFB!” and “Aux Armes” (at this point I’d like to hand over “capo duty” to a younger YSP member, as a middle aged man leading chants is not cool!) were followed by indoor fireworks from the YSP Ultras (erm, Scott, Dom and Luke) and for a

few minutes we let go of our dour and curmudgeonly Yorkshireness! The YSP Goole Branch brought the best vegan cakes ever consumed at Wharf Chambers, Mick helped

decorate the room in his usual creative style,

and everyone chipped in to make a truly memorable day. You also tend to forget the tireless work that goes on behind the scenes to organise such an event, from Vanessa, Dom, Scott, Luke, Mick, et al. Thank you. I am proud to be involved with such lovely people.

I have to give an extra special thank you to the bands who contributed so much to making the day what it was. Bear Trade (including YSP member Lloyd) and The Dauntless Elite

(including one of YSP’s founding members, Steve) were amazing and I have to pinch myself to believe that, 18 months since our

first meeting, we have bands of this quality entertaining us. Check out Bear Trade’s Facebook page for further details of what they are up to, and also www.thedauntlesselite.com for Steve’s gang’s whereabouts! With members like these, nothing is impossible!

YNWA. Rob.

A RIGHT PUNKY YORKSHIRE PARTY

EDITOR’S NOTE

It is back, at last! After 7 weeks, the 2.Bundesliga returns on Sunday at the Millerntor, where we host Energie Cottbus. I made the trip to Cottbus earlier in the season,

and it was possibly the worst St. Pauli performance I have witnessed. Let’s hope we can make amends for that on Sunday.

Nothing ever goes completely according to plan at YSP. To prove that point, I recently upgraded my laptop to Windows 8. Big

mistake. Windows 8 gets rid of the usual “start” menu, putting everything in tabs on a ridiculous scroll screen. After 3 weeks of struggling to cope with it, I decided to abandon ship and revert back to Windows 7. I backed up my laptop and changed the settings

back. Unfortunately, I had backed up everything except for the ‘my documents’ folder, which included amongst other things

our members list. Think I might just go back to a pen and paper in future! Onto the Fanzine. This month we had the

pleasure of arranging an interview with St. Pauli legend and captain Fabian Boll. A huge thanks for Fabian for taking the time out to answer our questions, and also a special

thanks to Hauke Brückner at the club for arranging the interview for us. In addition to that, we have had some excellent

contributions from our members, and the wider St. Pauli community. Without your support, this would simply be the rants and thoughts of a couple of Yorkshire people - thankfully it’s developed into a lot more!

As always, I hope you enjoy the fanzine. Scott

UPCOMING STREAMS

Sunday 3rd Feb from 4.30pm

- FCSP v Cottbus

Sunday 10th Feb from 3pm -

Sandhausen v FCSP

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We received this message from the Fanclubsprecherrat and wanted to share it with you all, as St. Pauli prepares for the opening of the new Gegengerade, which will increase the Millerntor capacity

to 29,063.

273 days after bidding farewell to the old, our new terrace will finally be filled on Sunday 3 Feb against Energie Cottbus. A great moment!

On the St Pauli Forum it has been discussed how to use this moment.

Over the weeks the idea was developed and is

supported by the fan committee. Before Hell's Bells we will instigate a loud YNWA with thousands of raised scarves, flags, banners, etc:

for the return home of the fans from the seating areas, who have waited 9 months to return;

to greet the new fans and returning fans, who

for years couldn't get hold of a season ticket;

to the memory of the last 25 years and the many moments when we had to carry on and not give up;

as a signal of a newly opened standing terrace in an era of undifferentiated discussions on

violence and the fantasy of banning standing areas, and for an active and multifaceted fan culture in the stadium;

as a thank you to the members of Stadionbau AG, who have taken into account fans'

interests in an excellent way, and who are hugely responsible for making the terrace what it is;

as a thank you to all the builders and various helpers who have worked on this project, in

wind and rain, early, late and nights;

as a thank you to everyone at the club who supported the terrace and made its

construction possible;

as a thank you to everyone who posted photos and reports of the progress on the forum for the benefit of those fans not living close to the

stadium;

as a sign of solidarity with everybody who at this moment can't be in the stadium, but would like to be there;

as a sign that it pays (for example, in the last big discussion of the rebuilding of the Gegengerade-museum, not police station) not

to give in and to carry on regardless.

You'll never walk alone!

Never before were so many people on this terrace and never before was it fully roofed. Let it be unbelievably loud and colourful! The song will be sung in the classic Gerry & the Pacemakers style until the first refrain.

We are looking forward to an unforgettable moment and any form of support - of course, from the other part of the ground as well!

From a group of FC St Pauli fans.

YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE

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When I was a child I had a vague interest in German football, which was mainly due to the transfer of a curly haired cretin from a neighbouring mining town from Liverpool FC to the Hamburger Sportverein. Keegan was at

that time a world star and I seem to recall he was followed by the likes of Tony Woodcock to 1FC Köln and even “big” Dave Watson, a former central defender of my beloved

Rotherham United, who made a disastrous and short-lived move to SV Werder Bremen.

At that time (and for a short time only!) the Bundesliga felt like the best league in the world, with teams you could barely pronounce dominating the then meaningful European competitions...but FC St. Pauli was never on my radar. That changed, however, in late

1990, when, as a German Studies student at Leeds Uni, I was spending part of my ample free time picking through the fanzines at Jumbo Records, an independent record shop that still exists and has barely changed over the

decades.

In amongst the Grorty Dicks (West Brom fanzine), the Flashing Blades (Sheff Utd) and the occasional Windy and Dusty but definitely not Merry (Rotherham United!) was a weird A4 fanzine in German. I handed over 50p for my

first copy of the Millerntor Roar! and started to read about the fan culture of FC St Pauli. Back then this included events such as the Radio Party against Hertha BSC, when fans boycotted the game that was to be played at the Volksparkstadion and 1,500 came to the

Millerntor instead, following the game being

played elsewhere under floodlights and with a live radio commentary.

Millerntor Roar! was at that time unique in German football - a magazine from fans for

fans, politically and socially engaged, and an important part of the development of fan culture at the magical FC. MR!’s long-term successor is the Übersteiger, which now has an amazing and proud 20 year history. We at YSP are chuffed to bits to have secured an interview with

Maik from Übersteiger.

Rob

Maik, I encountered St Pauli for the first time when I happened upon the pioneering Millerntor Roar! fanzine in a Leeds record shop. I still have those MR!

editions (from 1990/91). When did MR! finish and Übersteiger start?

The first issue of the MR! was published in July 1989, the last one in 1993. The first issue of

the Übersteiger was published on the 28.August 1993, followed by a 3-0 win against Stuttgarter Kickers in front of 15.100 supporters with goals from Martin Driller (2) and Holger Stanislawski.

Millerntor Roar! turned into two fanzines – Unhaltbar and Übersteiger. Without going too much into the politics of the situation, why the split?

This was long before I joined the ÜS, but Sven Brux, who was part of the MR and afterwards the ÜS told once in a german newspaper, that it was a friendly split with the “Unhaltbar” being the more theoretical part with discussions and the Übersteiger being more pragmatic and

within the heart of the fans.

But again: Both editorial staffs were working friendly together, when it was necessary to help each other.

The Übersteiger roars on!

The front cover of the first edition of Der

Übersteiger. You can see the covers of other

issues here: http://www.uebersteiger.de/

projekte/archiv/titelseiten.html

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How many people currently work on the

Übersteiger? It is very professionally done, as you would expect for a fanzine with a 20 year history!

Well, let’s say that it at least looks from outside, that it is very professionally done. And of course, that’s what it should be. If you’d take a look inside, of course it’s much more chaotic than you might expect.

At the moment we have twenty people named in our flag and we meet twice a month in person, with an average of five to eight people attending.

In the past we sometimes made it up to six issues per season, at the moment we are happy to create four issues. We all become older and priorities change due to families and jobs, so of course our internal communication switched more and more from that weekly

meetings to the internet.

And what is your role?

I write as “Frodo” the column on the middle page, which is (since the first issue) the one that is about the current game and opponent

and really focuses on football itself. I also write about actual topics within club politics or fan related things.

In addition I try to fulfill our Blog and the Twitter page on my own and I’m one of three guys who serve the Facebook page at the moment. Last but not least, I care about the subscriptions of our fanzine.

How did you get involved in Übersteiger?

I was a reader since the first issue, but I lived

in Bremen at that time.

When I finally moved to Hamburg in 2001 I went to the first editorial staff meeting and really liked to join that crazy team. At that time, we met every single Thursday, so I got

involved very quickly.

Which piece of work gave you most pleasure and why?

Everytime when we receive the new issue from our printer, it really is a magic moment. We meet in the Fanladen and put approx. 400 magazines in envelopes for our subscribers,

this is of course hard work but also a lot of fun.

And I really like to stand in front of the Millerntor and sell the Übersteiger. It’s so much fun to talk to the people who buy us, even when it’s cold and raining like last time

against Aue, when we published our issue #109.

And how did you come to be standing

here as a fan of the magical FC?

I was born in Bremen and played for Werder

from my 6th to the 18th birthday. But in 1993 I went with two friends of mine to some St.Pauli games and got more and more impressed by the passion of the fans and also their political attitude. My personal magic moment, when the FC St.Pauli got a fixed place in my heart was the game in April 1994

at VfL Bochum (1:1), when 2.500 away fans really rocked the whole stadium, even 30 minutes after the games when the shower on the lawn was already turned on, singing and

celebrating with the whole team on the pitch.

So to say: In the beginning, I was more or less a fan of the St.Pauli Fans… and to be honest, I am still!

What was you biggest disappointment as

a fan?

Well, as a St.Pauli supporter your life of course is full of disappointments, but I choose the following:

It was a 4-0 victory against MSV Duisburg in

May 2003. We were relegated from the Bundesliga and played a horrible season in Bundesliga 2. And in the end, we were relegated again to third division… and when

this was finally fixed after a 1:1 in Karlsruhe on Match Day 32, they played like champions against Duisburg, leading 3-0 after 13 minutes.

I was really disappointed, because going down to Division 3 was nearly the end of the club and it was a totally weird situation, with so many fans just celebrating this senseless

victory.

And your favourite St Pauli moment…

No discussion: 16th February 2011, 1-0 victory against hsv! I remember so many discussions about not going to that game, because people

didn’t wanted to spend so much money to our rivals. And I always refused to stay away from that game, because I endlessly repeated: “I would regret for a lifetime, when we win and I am not there!”

So, that’s it. “Derbysieger”, for two years

already!

Editor’s Note - A huge thanks to Maik for answering our questions and telling us all

about the Übersteiger. Make sure you pick up a copy of the Übersteiger if you visit the Millerntor!

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As the reconstruction of the Millerntor

continues, Craig looks back at his

memories of the old Millerntor stands,

and forward with his hopes for the

future.

One of the best & worst things about being a long distance fan is that your memories are more potent. Those fleeting contacts you do

have mean so much more so that everything is so much more vivid, they aren’t dulled by the familiarity of your fortnightly visit to the same pubs, same people moaning about the same things, same players making the same mistakes.

My HH experience is in need of a bit of a reboot,

it’s been several years since I last visited Millerntor, so much so that I realised the other day that the entire rebuild has taken place since I last attended a game and my memories are of a ground that pretty much has ceased to exist.

My first visit was an August Friday evening in

the 2 Liga. The Dom was in full tilt on the adjacent field and as we walked up from the U Bahn station one of my earliest recollections was a fan laden down with a case of beer approaching his mates, all of whom seemed to have their own case of beer. The local police didn’t seem that bothered., first impression was

what a club!!!

I think my heart was lost forever by stepping into the club house, that brilliant stained glass recreation of the various crests in an environment of cracking music and happy fans

made the whole experience for me, and was the venue for many a happy visit in the future. As

always we were on the gegengerade terrace, and as always I tried to better my view by sneaking into the seats, a feat I never achieved. The rickety seating section always amazed me, and made me compare with English stadia and challenged my preconceptions.

I have many trips to Millerntor since that first game (a fairly drab 0-0) usually involving the nostalgic treat of standing on a terrace. One of my favourites was arriving at 1pm to attempt to blag a ticket to the first game back in 1 Liga v

Hertha Berlin, a 5pm Sunday kick off. We had a sign in terrible German asking for help, and

eventually my mate and I both were taken into the care of fans with spares, who bought us beers, passed round their food and showed that football is a language all of its own. At the end of the game we were taken to various pubs in the area and, as the Rough guide to European Football suggested, woke up with a hangover

worth having.

We’ve enjoyed pre Christmas games with the sparklers, Summer and Spring games always feeling amongst friends and extremely welcome. The terracing, the tiny main stand, the Jack Daniels signs and the totenkopf, Hells

Bells and Astra made a visit to Millerntor a unique experience. Having not seen the gradual evolution of the ground I now wonder what is still in place, and what has been consigned to

my personal nostalgic reverie.

Having visited the website I have looked at the mock ups, seen the plans etc but this doesn’t

include the feel of the place. How has the experience and atmosphere transferred into the new Millerntor? What has happened to all those parts of my visit that made St Pauli unique? Is the stone crest still in place (I have countless photos taken there), are those stained glass crests still there, is the club house still there? Is

the shiny new St Pauli experience still as welcoming, and does my fan with his case of beer still fit in.

Maybe my memories of Millerntor need consigning to the museum that will hopefully evolve under the new gegengerade, this sounds like an excellent innovation which will allow

supporters like me to remain in touch with their memories and experiences whilst continuing to remind everyone what the St Pauli experience is all about. As new long distance supporters are drawn to the concept of ‘not established’ and embrace the fan culture that the DFB would like

to see watered down hopefully the 1910 museum will allow them some idea of the Millerntor I first visited and the club whole stole

a little piece of my heart.

I need to go and find out. But for now I hope my memories are intact, in some form or another.

Written by Craig. You can follow Craig on Twitter @vshapedbadge

Craig also writes for “Where were you at the Shay?”. In late 80's, and for several seasons, Where were you at the Shay? was Bury FC's premier fanzine. Always slightly surreal, and

written with the sure knowledge that life as a Bury fan is a life sentence, the contributors gave their views on the myriad happenings at Gigg Lane, and beyond in the wider footballing world. Bringing you regulars like the Bradley Hardacre column and Gigg Lane rock lyrics,

characters such as Winky Wanderer and Jason Bandwagon and always guiding the loyal readership sensibly through the choppy waters of Bury fandom. Well it's back, as a blog. You can read it here.

MILLERNTOR - MY MEMORIES AND HOPES

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Just incase you have forgotten what happened before the winter break, here is our comprehensive review of the season so far.

Summer isn’t the traditional season for a pantomime performance, but St. Pauli held theirs during the days following the end of last season. Manager André Schubert had taken the club to 4th place in the final standings of the

2.Bundesliga in the 2011/12 campaign, having taken on the unenviable task of replacing

Millerntor legend Holger ‘Stani’ Stanislawski.

In the end Schubert’s team had struggled towards the end of the season, and missed out on the playoff place on goal difference. It

wasn’t just the disappointment of missing out on the chance of promotion though that had raised doubts over Schubert, media rumours had circulated saying he had upset several members of the squad with his abrupt style of man management. It looked almost certain that Schubert would be sacked, but for whatever

reason the board seemed to change their minds at the last minute and decide to stick, rather than twist.

Schubert sought to stamp his mark on a side he had largely inherited from Stani, bringing in

Mohr and Gonther from his old side Paderborn. St. Pauli lost Max Kruse during the summer, the attacking midfielder earning a deserved move to the Bundesliga with Freiburg after a great 11/12 campaign.

In addition to the loss of Kruse, Carlos Zambrano was sold to Eintracht Frankfurt,

Lasse Sobiech returned to Dortmund after his loan spell and Moritz Volz left on a free transfer to join 1860 Munich. But Schubert managed to acquire a number of loan signings, with young

wingers Akaki Gogia (Wolfsburg) and Joseph Gyau (Hoffenheim) joining alongside Daniel Ginczek (Dortmund) and Christophere Avevor (Hannover).

AUGUST

The season didn’t start well though for Schubert. The manager changed the style of

play and formation for the team, lining up with a 4-4-2 and an emphasis on attacking, but a 0-

0 draw away at Aue was followed up by a slow performance at home, where St. Pauli were held 1-1 by Ingolstadt. A 3-0 cup victory over Offenburger in 40c heat did nothing to cool the pressure on Schubert, and questions were raised when the club then travelled to Energie

Cottbus and were outplayed in every department. The 2-0 scoreline didn’t tell the story of an unacceptable performance.

SEPTEMBER

The team responded from the poor defeat in

Cottbus, with their first victory coming at home to Sandhausen in a decent 2-1 victory. After the international break, St. Pauli then travelled to Köln, who had also struggled in the opening weeks of the season under the familiar face of Holger Stanislawski. St. Pauli were solid enough in Köln but were struggling to create chances

going forward and ended up settling for a 0-0 draw. Schubert had talked about his strike-force and scoring plenty of goals during pre-season, but the team looked unorganised and disjointed in the opening weeks, with very little

attacking chances created.

The last week of September brought about ‘English week’ in the Bundesliga, named such because it is a rare occurance of 3 games in a week. Schubert started the week, but following defeat at FSV Frankfurt and a dismal 1-0 defeat

at home to newly promoted Aalen, he was sacked and didn’t even make it to the end of English week.

Schubert left the Millerntor with the club languishing in the relegation zone and fans

starting to worry about the threat of

relegation. The gamble by the board hadn’t worked, and Schubert’s reshuffle of the squad and reforming of the tactics hadn’t either.

Thomas Meggle was placed in temporary charge for the final game of “English week”, a Friday evening trip to Jahn Regensburg. Meggle immediately changed the formation back to a 4-5-1 formation, but it was to no avail. St. Pauli were poor, and the newly promoted side were deserved 3-0 winners.

THE SEASON SO FAR

The Jolly Rouge flying against Aalen. Picture

courtesy of http://kleinertod.wordpress.com

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OCTOBER

The club’s board and sporting director Rachid

Azzouzi stepped up the search for a new manager, desperate to halt the decline. Michael Frontzeck, who had previously managed Aachen, Bielefeld and Monchengladbach was appointed within days. It was decided though that Meggle would again take charge for the upcoming game

against Union Berlin, with Frontzeck taking a back seat and giving him more time to work with the players during the impending international break.

Frontzeck watched from the stands as his new

side were unlucky to only gain a point against the side from the capital. The team put in the best performance of the season so far, but two incredible goals from Union’s Mattuschka gave the away side a point.

Frontzeck then officially became manager, giving him two weeks and a couple of friendly matches to work with the squad during the international break. The team won both friendly games against Greuther Fürth and SC Wiener Viktoria, so went into the away trip to Paderborn with

renewed confidence under the new coach.

Unfortunately, an old face came back to haunt St. Pauli in Frontzeck’s first game in charge at Paderborn. Frontzeck opted with a 4-5-1

formation, with Daniel Ginczek named as the lone striker. St. Pauli were the better side, and had the better of the chances. Ginczek gave them the lead just after half-time, but then sat back on their lead and were punished by a great finish from substitute Deniz Naki. It should have been an away win, with St. Pauli having plenty

of chances to win the game late on, but failing to find the winner.

Next up was the visit of Dynamo Dresden to the Millerntor for Frontzeck’s home debut. St. Pauli

were losing 2-0 after 30 minutes, and looked down and out. But a Fabian Boll goal on the stroke of half time gave the side a bit of optimism, and they came out for the second half fighting. The impressive Avevor got the equaliser shortly after half-time, and the come-back was completed minutes later with Ginczek finding the

net again. St. Pauli could have had more and were deserved 3-2 winners, their first victory in almost 2 months.

After good performances against Union Berlin

and Paderborn, and victory against Dresden, the

side then travelled for a 3rd round cup tie against Stuttgart, who were also experiencing an upturn in form following a poor start to the season. Stuttgart’s class showed, and they were comfortable 3-0 winners. The away end was rocking though despite the score, with a jovial

atmosphere before, during and after the game.

NOVEMBER

St. Pauli’s main concern though was the league,

and despite 5 points from 3 games, they were still in a precarious position. A trip to 1860 Munich wasn’t the easiest fixture to face at the end of a busy week, particularly with a number of injuries and suspensions hampering the squad. Frontzeck made six changes, but it didn’t

matter. St. Pauli were dominant, looking like a completely different side to the one that had suffered defeats against Aalen and Regensburg a month ago. St. Pauli were 2-0 winners, with Boll and then Ginczek again finding the net.

Struggling Bochum were the next team to visit the Millerntor, and gained a point rather fortuitously. Daniel Ginczek was on the score sheet for the 4th successive game since the arrival of Frontzeck, but St. Pauli couldn’t take their chances to extend their lead and were

punished. A Bochum free-kick resulted in a goal for the away side, the ball hitting the back of Dabrowski and deflected in at the near post. Although the unbeaten run continued, two points had been dropped.

The biggest test of Frontzeck’s reign came a

week later, with a Monday evening trip to 2nd placed Hertha Berlin. The game was a tight affair, with St. Pauli happy to sit back and try to hit Hertha on the counter. Tschauner in the St. Pauli goal was in superb form, making several top quality saves to deny Hertha and the game

looked to be heading for a goalless draw. But five minutes from the end, the home side made the break through. St. Pauli were again unlucky not to get a point though, on 88 minutes a corner was met by Schachten and seemed destined for the net, but Hertha defender

Pekarik got his knees in the away and deflected the ball onto the post and out. 1-0, and the first

league defeat for Frontzeck.

St. Pauli got over the disappointment of the defeat in Berlin with a comprehensive victory

against Duisburg, who had been rocked by an injury crisis on the pitch and a financial crisis off it. Ginczek had given St. Pauli the lead, but Duisburg equalised in bizarre fashion right on half time. A seemingly hopeless cross bounced inside the box, and Kringe and Tschauner left it

to each other to clear. Neither did, and it bounced straight into the goal. But St. Pauli were inspired by Fin Bartels who scored twice in

the second half, and Mahir Saglik finished the game off late-on in a 4-1 victory.

November ended with another difficult away tie. A midweek trip to leaders Eintracht Braunschweig. St. Paul were missing leading scorer Ginczek, and early pressure from Braunschweig gave them an early lead after a good finish from Kumbela. It went from bad to

worse for St. Pauli soon after, with Fin Bartels receiving a very harsh red-card for a seemingly hard but fair tackle. Without Ginczek the side

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didn’t really threaten going forward, but could

have taken a point from the game after Gyau had a goal ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper. Avevor had gone for a 50-50 ball in the air with the goalkeeper, which the

referee adjudged to have been a foul. It looked harsh, and was another example of a refereeing decision going against the boys in brown.

DECEMBER

The fixture list didn’t get any easier for St. Pauli, with unbeaten Kaiserslautern next up at

the Millerntor. For once, the luck was with St. Pauli. Kaiserslautern were denied on several

occasions by a combination of the defence, Tschauner and the post. They could have had 2 or 3 goals in the first half, with St. Pauli barely threatening, but the game was 0-0 at half time. In the second half, the home side were much better, and made the break-through with a fortunate goal by Ginczek. A

cross found him unmarked with an open goal to tap the ball in from four yards, but he sliced his shot and it hit the past – only to bounce straight back to him for him to finish it at the second attempt. The goal deflated the away

side, and they were defeated for the first time this season.

The final home game of the season came against Aue, who St. Pauli had struggled against last season both home and away. The ‘bogey side’ had won 3-2 at the Millerntor last

season, and picked up a similarly impressive victory this time. The game was almost called off due to snow on the pitch, and in hindsight perhaps it should have been. Over 300 volunteers helped clear the pitch and the stands from snow, and the game went ahead. The game was rather even during the first half,

but in the second half Aue took their chances, whilst St. Pauli created chances but were unable to find the net. A 0-3 scoreline didn’t really reflect the game, but it was a severe wake-up call for Frontzeck and the coaching staff with the club not yet out of danger of relegation.

The final game of the first half of the season was an away trip to Ingolstadt. Ingolstadt were expected to do well this season having spent money during the summer, but they had

struggled with consistency. St. Pauli were the

better side and had a goal ruled out incorrectly for offside and couldn’t take their chances in the final third. Ingolstadt rarely troubled Tschauner, and would have been the happier of the two sides with the 0-0 full-time score.

St. Pauli therefore head into the winter break in 13th position on 22 points. 6 points ahead of Dynamo Dresden who occupy the play-off relegation place. If St. Pauli can continue their improved form since Frontzeck took over then

they should have no worries about avoiding

relegation, but the team must not get

complacent. We need to improve our attacking options, with only 18 goals in 19 games, we are the only side to average less than a goal per game. We have created more goal-scoring

opportunities than most teams in the league, but have failed to take our chances. Without the impressive form of Ginczek, we would be in deep trouble. Bartels has 4 goals, but Schindler, Gogia, and Buchtmann who have regularly occupied the other attacking options haven’t really looked like providing goals on a

regular basis. This is surely something that Frontzeck will work on during the winter break,

as he tries to make his own mark on the squad. With some improvement going forward we should finish comfortably in mid-table.

Mahir Saglik left the club in the January transfer window, with a move back to his hometown club Paderborn for a nominal fee. Saglik had struggled to force his way into the starting XI since his arrival 18 months ago, and was mainly used as a substitute. Saglik

returns home to Paderborn, for a nominal fee. Saglik was born in Paderborn and made his professional debut there before moving on, but later returned on loan in 2009-10.

The only signing so far in January is that of

Bochum midfielder Marc Rzatkowski, but he will not join until the summer when he’ll sign for St. Pauli on a free transfer. The 22 year old has been given a 3 year contract. Rzatkowski has played 14 games for Bochum this season, scoring 3 goals. He spent last season on loan

at Bielefeld. Talking about his move on the official site, Rzatkowski said “I have not taken this decision lightly. Bochum is my club and Bochum is my home town. I felt comfortable there, but i believe this next step will be good for my personal development. For me, this

maturation process will be an extra boost and i

am happy to play in the summer for FC St. Pauli. “

The current league table.

11

Fabian Boll encompasses the spirit of St. Pauli both on and off the field. At first he was a fan, then an amateur player, and now he is the captain of St. Pauli. In the past

decade he has witnessed many ups and downs at the Millerntor, and he has also combined his combative midfield role with another job—as a police officer in Hamburg.

You have been at St. Pauli for over a decade now, what are you first memories of joining

St. Pauli? My first thoughts about FC St. Pauli were as a fan rather than as a player. In the summer of 2002 I joined the St. Pauli Amateurs and had to wait for my first appearance due to not having

official authorisation to play. After my previous club, Eintracht Norderstedt, was wound up, everything went quickly. Hermann Klauck, the manager of FC St. Pauli Amateurs, phoned me and asked whether I wouldn't mind moving to FC St. Pauli. I didn't have to consider it for long, as

I got the chance to play for my favourite club.

My first game was then against Altona 93, which we won 1-0 in front of more than 1,000 spectators. At the end of the season we became champions. We had lots of fun in the squad and were very successful. What was it like joining the team that you

had supported? After the professional team was relegated there weren't many players left that I had previously spurred on. It was nevertheless very exciting. But one man stayed, Holger Stanislawski - "The

Godfather of St Pauli football". To meet him in person was pretty strange. He phoned me one time and as his name appeared on my telephone, I was out of my mind with excitement. I was immediately impressed with Stani: he knew straight away the names of all the new juniors who had just been thrust into

the team. You wear the number 17 shirt. Was there any particular reason for wearing the number 17?

After Ivan Klasnic left, Alexander Meier (now at

Eintracht Frankfurt) had taken over the number 17. As they both started afresh, I decided on the number 17 prior to the season. I just simply liked the number, also because Ivan and Alex, as juniors, had made the jump into the professional team and it ought to be a good omen for me.

The number 17 became a certain component in my life; I also work at the police comissioner's office number 17.

Over the past 11 years you have seen St. Pauli struggle in the lower divisions, and also earn promotion to the Bundesliga. What are your favourite memories?

There are many many moments. Of course, the absolute highlights remain the most positive in your memory, the two promotions in 2007 and 2010. Also the DFB-Pokal games that we put

together remain unforgettable forever. One highlight was followed by the next. Even when

we lost in the cup semi final against Bayern Munich (0-3), the memory remains that even during the warm-up at the Millerntor it was loud like rarely before. The season in the Bundesliga (2010/11) with the derby victory also can't be overlooked, of course.

In recent seasons you have also scored some good goals. Is the goal in the derby against HSV your best goal ever, though? Absolutely, that's true. I have scored a few goals

though that were also important but more

beautiful. But after the goal in the derby there was such a loud atmosphere in the stadium, the likes of which I had not previously experienced. That was a really special experience. A hurricane of joy blew through the entire district. What was it like to be named captain of St.

Pauli? On the one hand I was pleased with the recognition and honour. When I was 14 or 15 years old, I still stood as a fan in the stadium and then suddenly you are running into the

stadium as captain. Being captain hasn't changed me though. I remain as I was. I'd already had the task over the last few years of steering the ship in the right direction. Now, we must ask about your police work. We find it incredible (in the context of

modern football) that you also work at the police station as well, despite being a footballer for St. Pauli. When did you start working for the police? In 1999, after I finished my A levels and after I

finished school in the May, I began work in the

Police by the October. It was clear to me very quickly that I wanted to go into the Police force. After I wasn't taken on in Schleswig Holstein, fortunately it worked out in Hamburg. From 1999 until 2002 I completed my training, then my exam at Police College. Whether I

remain at the club after my active playing days or just work for the Police....we'll have to wait and see.

CAPTAIN AND COP.

12

How many hours per week do you work for

the police? Officially I have a 20 hour week. I divide it like this - to work 4 or 5 hours every day.

Sometimes I don't manage the 20 hours, particularly when we are training twice a day. But then I'll spend free days totally in the office. That's how it evens itself out. We also heard that you do work for the ‘Weisse Ring’ association. Can you tell us

about Weisse Ring, and the work that you do with them?

The "Weisse Ring" is a victim protection organisation. The basic concept is to help people who have become victims of crime (e.g. violent robbery) and to take them in hand. This

includes for one psychological/ emotional support through dialogue, but also financial support. It is also valid to pursue the prevention of violence and this is then more my job. The best victim protection is to become effectively preventative and particularly to not let young people have stupid thoughts. We've

developed several projects, like street soccer tournaments, training equipment and camps.

Last year, Hermann Schmidt wrote a biography titled “Fabian Boll: Das Herz von St. Pauli” (The Heart of St. Pauli). What

was it like to have a book written about your time at the club? You feel older than you actually are. A book would usually be written about you towards the end of your life. Hermann asked me back then whether he could write a book about me. For

me the thought was a bit weird at first, but I had the feeling that I had experienced so many things at FC St Pauli that could be written

about. I gave Hermann free rein with the book.

I had very regular conversations with him in

order that he could get the required information. It's a pretty crass feeling to walk past a book shop and see in the window a book with yourself on the cover. It's a bit odd

because I'm actually not the bloke who wants the limelight. But friends say it's really cool to have a book in your hand with one of your best mates on the cover. Finally, In your opinion, why is FC St. Pauli so special?

Earlier, when I began at FC St. Pauli, the

closeness between the team and the fans was even more real. Because of the infrastructure alone. We always had to pass by many fans on our way through the clubhouse to the meeting room. It wasn't rare to stay with the fans longer

than is usual after the games and you would drink a beer or two with them. The club has a special relationship with the district, especially as our Millerntor Stadion is situated in the middle of the district. Many of the new stadia are built outside the city

centre. With us the stadium is in the heart of the city and this gives it a particular English

flair. And to play here at the Millerntor in front of more than 20,000 fans is really something special. Because there's so little resentment here, even when on occasions we play badly.

So we can consider ourselves very lucky. Our fans have always been self- deprecating, creative and non-violent. Compared to lots of German clubs, FC St. Pauli is led in a very informal but also respectable manner. Here you can only feel good about yourself!

A huge thanks to Boller for the excellent answers. Good luck for the rest of the season!

‘Boller’ scores at the Millerntor against HSV. Copyright AP

13

The media in England has finally opened it's eyes to the ridiculous ticket prices in English football. As if they had woken up in the middle of the night with a sudden realisation, the

media have reacted with shock over the £62 ticket price for Man City fans to watch their team at Arsenal this past weekend. This led to Man City fans rejecting the 'opportunity' to attend the game, and sending back 912 of their

3000 tickets. The media picked up on this, how had the champions with the billionaire owners

not sold out their away allocation?

Sky Sports News were particularly surprised at this, and quick to blame the ticket price. The irony was clearly lost on those commentating on the prices, when in fact Sky Sports are one of the main causes behind the increased ticket

prices and decreasing football attendances in this country.

But is the ticket price the main problem in English football? I'd like to argue that it's merely just the tip of the iceberg.

Don't get me wrong, yes the ticket prices in England are scandalous and ought to be

reviewed. The price of a ticket, plus food and drink, means a trip to the football now costs a days wage for the working class fan. For those not familiar with the average cost of attending football in England, have a look at the BBC's report into the price of football, here. Some clubs in England have already taken measures

to try and combat the rising cost, offering incentives such as bringing children for £1. But football clubs, the media and the governing bodies are all missing the point.

Football isn't just about the game, or the final score. Infact, far from it. This is just a small

percentage of why we attend football matches. Yes, we want to see our team win, but as football fans the majority of us have stuck by our teams for years without witnessing them win anything. Home, away, cold Tuesday night defeats in the middle of nowhere, we have all been there and we have all come back again. If

we went for the football score and the quality of football, 99 out of every 100 of us would have stopped going by now.

Football is so much more than the 22 players

kicking a football. It is about social interaction, meeting up with friends and meeting strangers, having a mutual passion, voicing your opinions,

making a vocal support and being allowed to do so. The football and the result is just a good excuse for all of those things. This is where English football has gone wrong.

The biggest offence of the £62 ticket price is not the price itself, it's this story which says that police and stewards removed a flag from a fan who questioned the price. Why? As it may

constitute a "breach of peace", or because it may block the view of fellow supporters? As many fans will have experienced in England over the year, your human rights go out of the window when you are watching your team. The

right to a peaceful protest is clearly one of them.

How many football fans now attend games in this country out of a sense of duty? Not because they enjoy it, but because they feel they ought to. How many enjoy the atmospheres in their football stadiums any more? Even the atmosphere between Man Utd

and Liverpool yesterday, one of the biggest games in English football, was subdued and non-existent at times. Soon, atmospheres will be dead, and ticket prices will become even more irrelevant. How many people are going to turn

up, to stand quietly, watch their team lose and then go home?

The reason we kept coming back before was that atmosphere. The one that makes you forget how much you have paid, how far you have traveled or how bad the performance is. Some of my best footballing memories have been from games where my team has lost, but the atmosphere inside the stadium has been

electric and sharing that with friends has made it worthwhile. I'd rather watch my team lose 3-0 away from home with a good atmosphere, than a 3-0 victory in a silent stadium where people clap once in a while. Likewise, i'd pay

more money to sample a better atmosphere

inside a stadium.

The media this week talked about "value for money", and fans demanding it in the "best league in the world". But what the media and the governing bodies missed is that lower ticket prices doesn't constitute value for money. To speak their language in the hope that they

understand, if the product is rubbish, the cost is irrelevant. Football shouldn't be about "value for money", but it also shouldn't be a crime to stand, sing, drink or protest just because you're a football fan.

The only way English football can be fixed is if ticket prices are affordable, but more

importantly if atmospheres are rekindled and fans are treated like humans.

Scott

TICKET PRICES? the TIP OF THE ICEBERG.

14

"Those who don't know the history of

FCSP cannot understand the club".

True words indeed! FCSP is "more

than just a club". There is no one

FCSP, but the sum of its many parts.

Understanding the past gives a better

understanding of the here and now

and can help to tackle the challenges

of the future.

Up to now, there's been no

coordinated approach to collecting

historical objects and information

about the club and its supporters.

Imagine someone with no long-term

memory trying to tell our story! To

change all this and do much more is

the reason behind the museum.

A Bit Of History

The starting point was the centenary exhibition in 2010. This consisted of some containers in

front of the south stand. The following AGM decided to conduct a survey regarding the feasibility of creating a museum for the club. A half-baked paper was compiled, but was not followed up and the project seemed to go dead.

Michael Pahl, one of the authors of the centenary book, and Roger Hasenbein, one of the members of FCSP's supervisory board revived the idea in 2011, and brought the

issue of where to put a museum before a workgroup of supporters, the "AG Stadionbau".

It quickly became clear that the only option would be that area of the new Gegengerade Stand which was reserved for the police station, adding one more reason against having a police station there at all. There's still no definite decision by the

authorities, but in general it's looking quite good and we hope to get a positive decision in the next weeks. Even with a positive decision, there are still problems to solve regarding financing of an external police station, but this

should be feasible.

During the last few months, a non-profit association to promote and help funding the museum was initiated. Work groups have been set up to plan for different aspects of installing a museum. Some of the tasks include writing a business plan, doing PR work and getting a

fundraising campaign off the ground. A couple of events and exhibitions are in preparation, as

are sub-projects that implement parts of the museum that don't rely directly on the space in the Gegengerade Stand. All of that work is done by volunteers and with donations, and supported by FCSP.

"Keine goldenen Pokale..." The punk rock band Slime got to the heart of things in the 90s - "no golden cups, no tenth champions' trophy, just St. Pauli, that shall be our joy". True, there are no titles and shiny

silverware to show, but in many ways our story is far more interesting. Miracles, disasters, promotions and relegations. Tears of pain and tears of joy! We have a story to tell, the unbelievable tale of the small club from a district of Hamburg becoming one of the most well-known in Europe without any big money

or wealthy sponsors. Instead, activism and politics on the terraces that reach further than

the 90 minutes of the match. So the museum cannot be just a boring compilation of dusty shirts and lists of results.

The visitor should get the chance to experience the feeling of the special history of the club and its supporters' culture. The museum should entertain, but at the same time provoke to reflect. We won't leave out the time of the Nazi regime and the role the club played then. Self-criticism must be part of the

stories that we tell. As a well known phrase points out: " St. Pauli always has something to

complain about". Right now ideas and concepts are being gathered and researched. We’re also looking at other football museums. One point is quite

clear however: we should present the whole exhibition in both German and English wherever possible. The museum will be much more than the exhibition anyway …. like the visible part of

1910 Museum

15

an iceberg, the museum should be the brain and

memory of the club. It will collect not just "real" objects, but digital items as well and preserve them for later generations. For the objects to have real value, they should be put into a

context which will require research. The archive and depot of the museum will be available to interested parties for study. The museum will be more than a few rooms in the Gegengerade Stand. With stadium tours, the whole ground will become part of the unfolding

story. Street art in the south and main stands are already examples of that, as is the wider St

Pauli district which has been so formative to FCSP.

Our Museum Won't Walk Alone

Nobody can do it all alone. The museum needs interaction with others and is able to give to others as well. There will be a close relationship to the Fanräume archive and the Fanräume initiative in general. The museum has the full support of the club, the AFM (supporters division of FCSP) and the amateur sports bodies.

Next Steps

The administrative tasks of getting the project off the ground – forming a business plan and

gathering support is just one part of what's going on. There are also other sub-projects: co-operation with the Fanräume archive, a website to display memorabilia, video interviews with members and fans from different generations, and a web archive.

Other events and temporary exhibitions are also planned. One will focus on the plans for the construction of the stadium, going back almost 100 years and featuring different models of

stands. We will try to get ProFans' Freedom For The Terraces exhibition (http://www.profans.de/freedom-for-the-terraces), which compares the

situation of football supporters in more than 30

different countries as well as BAFF's "Tatort

Stadion", documenting discrimination and right wing activities in football culture and associations in Germany.

Supporting The Museum If you think this is a good idea and you are willing to add your support, then become a member of the association. All support is welcome, financial or otherwise.

Translating our website www.1910-museum.de has not been done yet, so email us at info@1910-museum.de if you have any

questions. We have a Facebook account as well (http://www.facebook.com/1910eV) where pictures of the history of FCSP are posted regularly.

16

For the admirers of the German football model, and the clubs that are the make-up of it, North Rhine-Westphalia giant Borussia Dortmund are in the forefront of most footballing brains. Their outstanding

Westfalenstadion has a capacity of 80,645, it provides a wide range of pricing options accommodating fans of all financial variations and social backgrounds, as well as giving supporters the option of sitting or standing. It

is no surprise that they attract such high crowds with the fantastic side Jürgen Klopp

has assembled, enhancing not just entertainment on the pitch but also brilliant atmospherics from the most well-known Südtribüne in the Bundesliga - The Yellow Wall. However, German football's yellow phenomenon in the last year has seen a revival of fan culture's darkest connotations -

neo-Nazis using football as a political vehicle. The symbolic return of right-wing sympathizers was a controversial banner,

which was reported nationwide after Dortmund's opening fixture to the current season against Werder Bremen. The banner

displayed the words 'Solidarity with the NWDO', NWDO being the notorious right-wing activists in the city: National Resistance Dortmund. Although a small-scale display, distant from

the passionate football focused support of The Unity ultras, located in the mid-lower of the Südtribüne it still provides proof of escalating extremes infiltrating the stadium - those exact extremes that sneaked homophobic visual

messages into the stadium during the previous season. The protagonist behind the

banner was a well-known neo-Nazi, who already has a concerning record with the German authorities. With all the glorious spotlight shining on Dortmund's starlets on the pitch, the clubs officials couldn't use it to distract from the

significant matters in the terraces. With many apolitical fan groups, of whom Dortmund were already in contact with, they now began to increase communications surrounding the pressing concerns. However, the clubs effort

to eradicate the controversial minority has

been questioned by many, including Dierk Borstel of Dortmund University of Applied Sciences who stated that the neo-Nazis are able to "expand without being noticed". Such expansion has posed a threat to the aforementioned ultras group 'The Unity', a

group who regularly meet with BVB officials, such as Hans-Joachim Watzke. The apolitical group who put all their efforts into creating

the perfect match day experience have often been harassed by right-wing Dortmund fans, pushing them to join their cause. However, the pressure groups that have popped up recently are under close watch: BVB has

installed €400,000 cameras to hunt down those who are putting the clubs fantastic reputation into jeopardy.

Fan projects have also been set up to nurture younger fans. Daniels Meyer is one of the Dortmund's bigger project coordinators, the

project receives funding from the city state of North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (German FA). Meyer said that the projects aim was to "support young fans, and to bring those who have fallen by the wayside back to the centre

of society". The project may have learnt and been given a severe wake up call from the path one group took, a group that was previously under their wings, in 1999 - Desperados.

Initially the group was set up by ordinary

young men, under the guidance of one of Dortmund's biggest fan projects. However, they eventually broke off from the fatherly figure of Meyer and his team. They now have more than 150 members and according to Dortmund's Police Chief Detective the group have a "receptive right-wing ideology". The

ultras culture, one of passion and ultimate commitment to supporting your team is unfortunately highly compatible to the dynamics of neo-Nazism.

The Desperados just like any other ultras

group, will have a 'Capo', which derives from Italian Mafia tradition of having a leader or captain. The Capo will direct the organisation and activities of the group, and in the context of right-wing activism it can prove extremely fatal. During last September a trial took place after a group of Dortmund's alternative youth,

who advocate left-wing politics were hunted down by a group of neo-Nazis - one of the defendants was a member of the Desperados.

Beneath the Surface of the Südtribüne

17

Two months prior to the trial, the Desperados made the trip alongside neo-Nazi group Northside to a National Socialist rally in East Westphalia. It has even been reported that some

of Borussia Dortmund's official safety staff are members of the rebellion group, however such high presence is hardly a surprise when considering what goes on outside the turnstiles of the Westfalenstadion, in the city streets of Dortmund.

The Mayor of Dortmund Ulrich Sirau, recently came out and said that his city was a "broken" one. With the evidence supplied, it is hard to

argue with his observation. From January to June in 2012, their was 131 right-wing motivated crimes in Dortmund, the largest of all

of the cities in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the year 2000, a year after Desperados emergence such crime was that severe it resulted in the death of 3 police officers, as infamous neo-Nazi Michael Begler went on a rampage before taking his own life.

Neo-Nazi presence has even began to make a geographical mark on the city. In the former miners' district of Oderdorstfeld, neo-Nazi

skinheads have established their own commune, shutting out other walks of society, in order to preserve their extreme ideology. Its location explains a great deal, the former industrial

hotbed of Dortmund has suffered a demise and an increased unemployment rate - a scenario where nationalist and far-right ideals consequently flourish. The stereotypical neo-Nazi image of the

skinhead cult however is relatively exclusive to Oderdorstfeld. The new crop of the extreme right are harder to single out, they dress like normal German football supporters, they're not

necessarily active football hooligans, many even have season passes purchased through the club, and Watzke himself is aware of them. This new

movement is under the nationwide right-wing understanding of Autonomous Nationalists(AN). A less distinguishable movement that has

influenced the presence of neo-Nazis on Dortmund's terraces. A stark contrast to the right-wing hooligan presence in the 1980s.

'Borussen Front' were a movement present in Westfalen during the time when neo-Nazis were across the whole board of German fan culture, not just Borussia Dortmund. During recent Borussia Dortmund II(reserves) matches in the 3.Liga, many fans have been sighted wearing clothes with the 'Borussen Front' emblem on -

signalling a return of aggressive supporter intent. An issue that Dortmund as a club and local government need to address sooner rather

than later. Some say that politics has no place in sport, and

in our case football. However, when the right-wing decide to latch themselves upon what they deem as the suitable lower class make-up of football support, it is a great concern. Here in Great Britain we have seen similar acts, only a few decades ago groups like the National Front tried to canvass and attract those who they

deemed most suitable to the right - at our very own football stadiums.

In more recent times, the English Defence League a break-off group from the bigoted British National Party have done the same. You can only stay apolitical for so long, the

discriminating right-wing have no place in the game of football. The game that brings people together, regardless of race, gender or social background. One sincerely hopes that Borussia Dortmund and its fantastic following do their utmost to eradicate the reappearing problem.

Article written by Liam Scarth.

Twitter: @LiamScarth You can read more of Liam’s article on his

‘Football Scope’ blog here.

Image courtesy of www.derwesten.de “Together, Nazis Stop. Alliance Dortmund against the right”

18

On 13th January 2013 myself and 27 other volunteers travelled to Kenya on behalf of Celtic Football Club to carry out charity work in the biggest slum in Africa - Kibera, Kenya. The slum is home to over a million

people living in poverty, and is roughly 1 mile by 4 mile big. Our football club was formed in 1888 to help feed the poor people living in poverty in the East End of Glasgow and we're

proud of our charitable roots which is why we are doing trips like this, to help people less fortunate than ourselves.

The reason it was Kenya we went to is because we have a Kenyan international in our team just now - Victor Wanyama, so we had a sort of connection with the country. Also in 2008 a football team was formed in Kibera and they chose the name

Kibera Celtic. Before 2008 there was serious trouble after the Kenyan elections, the country is so corrupt and there were lots of different tribes in Kibera killing and maiming

each other on a daily basis. There was a British filmaker in Kibera at the time who met with two of the most feared gangsters in

Kibera, and he spoke to them about starting a football team to help unite the people of Kibera and stop the fighting. They now have players from lots of different tribes playing in the same team and their motto is Many Tribes - One Team. The team has worked their way

up to the 2nd top division in Kenyan football but they struggle to compete because they have no money whatsoever, they don't pay their players either. The team wear the

Glasgow Celtic strips and do the huddle before every game, just Like our club.

Each volunteer fundraised a minimum of £2000 before going, although most raised much more than that and the money was split between Celtic Charity Fund and Kibera Celtic. The money that went to Kibera Celtic,

they bought supplies like paint, cement etc and when we got there they told us what stuff they wanted us to work on. We split into two groups of 14 and carried out work in two

different schools in the slum. We paid for workmen to plaster the floor and walls as they were covered in holes etc before we arrived,

and we paid to get the school a toilet built as they didn't have one. Then everyday we went in and painted the place, took in supplies for the kids - simple things like pens, pencils, books, sweets, toys, bubbles, balloons, water etc. We made a massive difference to the two schools and gave the kids a much better

learning environment than what they had before we arrived. It really is hard to put into words how bad the

living conditions are for the people in Kibera, and we really only made a small difference but it will help the people so much with the

work we done. The kids absolutely loved us, a large amount of them are orphans as well so even just spending time with them, giving them a cuddle, singing songs with them etc made their day. Hopefully this trip will grow and grow and we can keep working with

Kibera Celtic to try and improve the living conditions in Kibera. Mark Fulton

You can follow Mark on Twitter and see more details and picture of his trip @fultygp

Kibera Celtic