A cult figure at Germany's cult club: Australia international midfielder Jackson Irvine has told bundesliga.com what makes St. Pauli such a special team ahead of their long-awaited return to the top-flight stage after 13 seasons in Bundesliga 2.

bundesliga.com: Let's first talk about promotion last year. It's some weeks ago that you celebrated at the Millerntor, but let's go back to that moment. Maybe you can tell us what your feelings and your thoughts were in the very specific moment when you realised, 'Oh, we're promoted'?

Jackson Irvine: "When the third goal went in and when we were - I think it was 3-0 up - against Osnabrück and then it was around the 78th, towards the end of the game. The game was comfortable for us and then you started to notice the fans climbing over the barrier to wait around the side of the pitch. I think that was actually the moment when it's like, 'Oh my God, it's going to happen now.' This is the moment, kind of thing. And then, yeah, that was kind of the first moment that I actually really realised that it was kind of in the game. There's still a little bit of time to go, but we knew that it was over, that it was done. And yeah, that was pretty special then to kind of see it on everyone's faces, knowing that was going to be the day."

bundesliga.com: They stormed on the field, and is there maybe a special moment from celebrating with the fans that's still in your mind?

Irvine: "Yeah, obviously the shock and everything of just when everyone was running at us from the middle, it was pretty crazy. But then, yeah, I was kind of in the middle and it was kind of chaos and getting thrown around. It was actually one of my neighbours, who's a friend of mine who lives upstairs from me was one of the ones who got to me and he put me on his shoulders. And then a couple of other friends of mine kind of fought their way through all the way to the middle and we were kind of celebrating together. So I got to see some familiar faces even amongst all of that, which was very nice."

Watch: St. Pauli - Return of the Cult Club

bundesliga.com: How was it to celebrate this special moment with the fans? And maybe you could in this case describe a little how your connection to your fans is?

Irvine: "Yeah, in this moment, it's just everyone together. This was obviously kind of what everyone was hoping for in the season, and you feel that expectation, and week by week when we got a little bit closer and a little bit closer. You could feel how much the fans wanted this and how obviously we wanted it as a team. It was our end goal, but it wasn't until those final weeks of the season when you speak to people on the street, fans after the game, and you could really feel how important it was and how much they wanted it. And then there's just like this explosion of emotion, you know, at the end. As I said, it was like - it's a little bit scary, you know, because just with the way that people are running with such intensity and such, you know, force. It was really like, oh my God, you know, full on. But just unbelievable. And then, just few - it felt like hours being on the pitch amongst all of this and on the shoulders and lifted. I reckon in total it was like four minutes, like it was nothing. But in the moment it felt like hours, which was the craziest part for me when you realise afterwards that it was such a short time before we kind of made our way out, but it felt like forever."

bundesliga.com: To what extent would you say that St. Pauli deserved promotion? Maybe you can also explain what makes your team so good.

Irvine: "I think we definitely deserved that moment. We deserved the season that we had. The work that everybody did was unlike anything I've experienced in football. I've been in the game, been lucky to be a part of some good teams, some great teams. But the team we had last season in terms of achieving that particular goal, we were just singularly motivated and driven. When you have a group of people, staff, players, club, everybody who are pushing in the same direction, who all want the same thing, then you're very difficult to stop, and even in the tough moments we were able to always kind of come back to that centre of what it was that we wanted to achieve. We believed that we had all the tools that we needed and, you know, it was an incredible, incredible season. As I said, I think every single person played their role, whether they played for five minutes or played for every minute of the season. Every player played their role in pushing us to that achievement. So it was very much a united group, and that's something we're going to carry forward in the environment, the culture of this dressing room of this changing room. That's what you have to be to be successful."

Irvine is entering his fourth season as a Pauli player, but first in the Bundesliga. - IMAGO/Oliver Ruhnke/IMAGO/Oliver Ruhnke

About the players

7

Jackson Alexander

Irvine

FC St. Pauli

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bundesliga.com: What does this promotion mean to you and also for your career?

Irvine: "Yeah, it's without doubt the proudest moment of my career as a domestic footballer, as a part of my club, and to captain a team that I have such a strong connection to and this group of players and amongst I've got a lot of close friends and people here in the city that I've ment so much to, and it's ultimately what I've always worked for in my career. I've spent most of my career playing in second leagues in the Championship in England and in Bundesliga 2, and I've just been craving that opportunity to have that year where you can then test yourself with the next level, and now this season is the reward for that and you have to go and prove it. Prove that you are capable of competing at that next level."

bundesliga.com: What would you say your opponents need to focus on when they play against you?

Irvine: "We want to be that team that we know we can be in terms of intensity and workrate and, of course, quality. We want to bring all those parts of this identity of this team and especially, you know, in our home games, we know how important that will be. We need to bring that, yeah, just that, that ferociousness that we can show. To be ruthless, defensively and, obviously, with the ball, and we want to be a tough team to play against. I think that's got to be our ultimate, you know, our first priority in terms of the way opponents see us."

bundesliga.com: Let's focus a little more on the DNA of St. Pauli. St. Pauli stands for specific values and is famous for having different values and more to them. Maybe you can describe them from your point of view.

Irvine: "I think the values of the club are probably clear to most. It's a club that prioritises social values and care and community. We want football, in particular, to be a driving force for good to promote positive change in our community and values in people's lives. I think, ultimately, it's the fans who carry that. Of course, the club has its messaging, but I think as much as anything, it's more lived and breathed in the community and around the people around the club. They're the ones that, you know, carry that message outward and that sort of makes the real difference."

bundesliga.com: Maybe if you would need to explain that to somebody who has never heard of St. Pauli, how do the club and the fans promote these values? And is there's something that comes to your mind when you think about it?

Irvine: "Well, of course, it's important that these messages are seen. I think a lot of times in football and in sport, and in a lot of parts of society maybe, the messaging can get lost amongst other things, but in terms of this club, it's written on our stadium, it's worn by the players, it's there for everybody to see the values that we carry, and I think that visibility is such an important part of the things that we try to stand for."

bundesliga.com: Would you say this part of St. Pauli's DNA is also reflected on the pitch and in the way you play?

Irvine: "I think to a degree, yeah. I think that togetherness, that that real sense of unity is a big part of the identity of the team and I think it does have a link to the way that the club is and that is something we try to push to the players and particularly the new players when they first come. You really need to feel that everyone here is a part of something and that carries and definitely translates to on-field performance as well as, you know, away from the field."

Watch: Who are St. Pauli?

bundesliga.com: Before you talk about the relationship between the team and the events, maybe you can tell us about the relationship between the club and the fans.

Irvine: "I think, first of all, the respect is the most important thing and the fact that the fans feel that they have a voice and that that voice is heard by the club. I think that is in the foundation of any positive relationship, whether it is in football or anything. When people feel like they're being represented accurately, then I think that builds a strong bond straight away and I think that's what definitely is the foundation of why the relationship here is so strong."

bundesliga.com: Just to put the focus on it, maybe again, what role do the fans play in shaping and maintaining those values?

Irvine: "I think it's the most important. I think football clubs can put out whatever messaging they want. You can wear anything you want on a T-shirt, but if the people who represent that don't, as I say, promote and live and breathe them, then the message is just empty and doesn't achieve anything, but when you have people that want to actively contribute to making their community and society better than that's the most important way."

bundesliga.com: Was there a moment where you remembered or that is still in your head where you remembered that St. Pauli is a very special club?

Irvine: "Yeah, there's been different moments, but there is a weird kind of moment that I always remember. It was my first season and we'd had a fantastic start to the season and the games had been going well. I remember we went away to Darmstadt early in the season, it was maybe my fourth or fifth game and we got absolutely pumped. I think we were 4-0 down at half time. We played terrible. I'll just never forget the feeling of going over to the fans - and I played in the UK a lot and I know how that normally would go when you go over to give the fans a little clap at the end of the game - and I just remember the feeling of the positivity and the real... I don't know, there was no animosity in their body language or anything, and I just really felt like, wow, they just really want us to do well and they know we've been on – it has been a disappointing day. It was really just kind of shocking to me to have that first reaction. It was early in my time, and obviously there's been other moments since but that one, for some reason, sticks in my memory because we were so disappointed and we were angry with the way we played but then you know you have this positive energy coming in and you're able to switch back and regroup. It’s something different."

bundesliga.com: What makes the stadium special? How do you experience the atmosphere in the Millerntor?

Irvine: "I think the stadium is always special in a certain way and I think a lot of that comes back to the messaging and the way that everything is imprinted on the stadium. It's a part of... it is in the fabric of what actually physically makes up the stadium. I think that's special in its own way and there's no real... I have never experienced any other place like that. There are certain stadiums that you can feel the history and the football and achievement and everything, but here it's more of like, I don't know, there's something else that's kind of in the bones of the stadium, I guess. You really feel it when you're in there and every matchday it's like a party in its own way, and every home game is a special experience. And anyone who I've had come from Australia or the UK who have come here have said they have never quite experienced anything like it. It's very unique and that's the way we like it."

bundesliga.com: To what extent did the club's environment and culture influence you outside of football?

Irvine: "I think they go hand in hand. I don't think one influences more than the other. They are kind of intrinsically linked. I think it's such a central part of the community here, whether you are a football fan or not a football fan. I think the club itself, even for people who are not football lovers, is still a kind of centre point of the community in a lot of ways, and that's such a nice thing. So in that way, I think they kind of... you can't really have one without the other, so I think they obviously do directly influence each other in that way."

bundesliga.com: Can you describe how it is in the neighbourhood and how do you get along with the people?

Irvine: "Yeah, it's great. During the week... I have always said there's kind of two sides to living in St. Pauli as a player, and that's during the week and of course, people occasionally say hello. You know, my guy at the local EDEKA, that says, 'Morning, captain' every day when I go to get my shopping. It's nice, it's chilled. Then there's the weekend. The weekend is a bit more wild, and that's when I'm not Jackson who lives down the street, I am Jackson who plays for St. Pauli, and then it's a bit more chaotic, but this is also part of life and living in the area. If I ever felt that it was too intense or not realistic, then I wouldn't do it. I love being able to kind of live both sides of that life."

bundesliga.com: Very few people in the football business travel to training by public transport. You would have other ways of getting to the training ground. Why do you travel by bus and train?

Irvine: "It's started when I first arrived here, and I just didn't have a car when I first came, coming from the UK, and I had to come from the hotel I was staying at to the training ground, and the transport was so easy and I just thought, 'Ah, well'. I just kind of went with it, and the longer I spent in Hamburg, I realised how easy it is to live without a car, and you always have the option to use the car sharing when you need them. It just never felt like something that was essential to kind of life in the city for me and it's nice to be... I find it quite therapeutic in the morning, like I can read the news or catch up on my email or do whatever I need to do in the morning, on my way into training. I find it kind of relaxing."

bundesliga.com: But as a status symbol? Have you thought about that?

Irvine: "Oh, no, I don't ever think about it like that at all. Again, I don't think it's... I think, at 8.30 in the morning on a Monday, no one cares who's on the train with you. It's just everybody on their way doing their own things, so it's calm. But actually, a few of the boys come by bicycle and other ways as well. It's kind of obviously centered on me a lot because it's a bit more public, but it's actually something quite common at the club that people come with transport or by bike or other things, which I think is nice as well."

bundesliga.com: Most celebrities and football stars in Hamburg tend to live in a neighbourhood like Blankenese or on the Alster. What made you decide to live in St. Pauli?

Irvine: "Mostly just because everything that we were already doing in the city was there, especially music, such a huge part of my life, and I'm constantly trying to go to live music or, you know, be around that part of the city and everything that... Most of what I like to do is centered around there. We had some friends that already lived in the area and it just made sense. Of course, we had to consider the aspect of, you know, what that would mean from a footballing side of things, but I think for us it was an easy choice once we had the chance."

About the clubs

FC St. Pauli

Millerntor-Stadion