One of German football’s great cult heroes has left the Bundesliga.
Jackson Irvine has departed St. Pauli for Japanese side Cerezo Osaka.
The Australian midfielder spent the past five years in Germany where he helped Pauli back to the top flight as their captain and kept them there.
An 86-time Australia international, who also played for Scotland’s youth levels, Irvine will become one of Japan’s biggest attractions.
How Jackson Irvine’s St. Pauli story broke down
But it’s a sad story for Pauli, who lose a club legend.
The departure is particularly sorry due to how things went last season.
Irvine publicly supported Palestine on social media, even wearing a shirt online.
However, in October, he received some strange abuse from a club board member.
What made the matter even stranger was that the comments were posted on his wife’s Instagram.
She screenshotted the replies and posted a video claiming they were from René Born.
The first read: “No one is bigger than the club.”
Later, he added: “This is our club, not yours. You’ll be gone in a few months, playing somewhere else for a euro more. We’ll always be here when you’re nothing more than a footnote.”
Posting the comments, Jemilla Pir said: “I just wanted to share this because bullies need to be confronted.
“Especially those like René Born, who are in a position of power and think they can publicly intimidate you and make you feel like they can drive you out of your home.”
St. Pauli responded with a statement, saying: “We urgently appeal to everyone involved to behave in the spirit of respectful and constructive cooperation.”
Irvine later opened up on the incident, commenting: “Receiving such a message from someone in this position was, of course, deeply hurtful. We certainly hope something will be done about it.
“I hope this whole thing can be resolved. It’s not something you want to deal with, especially when you’re coming back from injury.”
Pauli response further raises tensions
However, club president Oke Gottlich may have made the relationship with the captain untenable with his response.
“At our club, a registered association, we always adhere to democratic principles and speak with each other, not about each other,” he said.
“We’ve done that in all cases – with Jacko regarding the T-shirt, with the supervisory board regarding the post.
“We are a registered association and not an Instagram channel.”
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