Bundesliga - Reports: FC St. Pauli has found a new coach after Hürzeler's departure
Few days before the start of preparation for the first season in the Bundesliga for FC St. Pauli after 13 years, the crucial personnel question has been resolved. According to consistent media reports, the relatively unknown Alexander Blessin is set to become the new coach. The "Hamburger Abendblatt" and "Het Nieuwsblad" from Belgium reported on Wednesday that Blessin had signed a three-year contract with the promoter. The FC St. Pauli initially refused to confirm. The 51-year-old is taking over from Fabian Hürzeler. The 31-year-old had bid farewell just a few weeks after the second league championship and the subsequent promotion to the English Premier League. He now works for Brighton & Hove Albion. He had extended his contract in Hamburg as late as March.
Alexander Blessin was the cup winner in Belgium
With this change, FC St. Pauli received a compensation fee. A portion of this must now be used for the signing of Blessin. The native of Stuttgart had a contract with his previous club Royal Union St. Gilloise until 2025. According to "Abendblatt" and "Nieuwsblad", the compensation fee is in the six-figure range. Interesting: Both Brighton & Hove Albion and Royal Union St. Gilloise have the British investor Tony Bloom as their strongman.Blessin played seven times for VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. Otherwise, he was active from the Oberliga to the 2. Bundesliga. As a professional coach, he has made a name for himself abroad. He worked from 2012 to 2020 in the youth sector at RB Leipzig. He then went to KV Ostende (Belgium) and Genoa CFC (Italy) in 2023 to St. Gilloise.
Important departures at FC St. Pauli
With the team, he won the Belgian Cup in the previous season and finished second in the championship. In the Conference League, he led St. Gilloise past Eintracht Frankfurt. Now, Blessin and sporting director Andreas Bornemann must make the team competitive for the Bundesliga. It won't be easy. In addition to Hürzeler, performance player Marcel Hartel has also left the club for St. Louis. With some new players, there is still reckoning.
Blessin will meet his new team for the first time on July 8 during the preparation. The first mandatory game is the first round match in the DFB-Pokal on August 16 against Hallesche FC.
- Alexander Blessin, who led Royal Union St. Gilloise to a Belgian Cup win in the previous season, has been appointed as the new coach for FC St. Pauli.
- The 51-year-old German coach had been working with St. Gilloise, a club with British investor Tony Bloom, who is also the strongman of Brighton & Hove Albion, Hürzeler's current club.
- Fabian Hürzeler, 31, had extended his contract with FC St. Pauli as late as March, but will now be coaching Brighton & Hove Albion in the English Premier League following the promotion.
- FC St. Pauli received a compensation fee for Hürzeler's departure, a portion of which will be used to sign Blessin.
- Blessin played seven times for VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, and started his coaching career in various German leagues.
- After various coaching roles abroad, Blessin's most recent posts have been in Belgium and Italy, where he led St. Gilloise to a second-place finish in the championship, and defeated Eintracht Frankfurt in the Conference League. He will now be tasked with making FC St. Pauli competitive for the Bundesliga, following the departures of Fabian Hürzeler and performance player Marcel Hartel.
