HAMBURG, Germany -- The best soccer stories can frequently be best described as happy accidents.
Hamburg SV manager Merlin Polzin grew up in the bustling port of Hamburg, where his team will host its first Bundesliga game in seven years on Friday, in the mid-2000s. He performed enthusiastically on the pitch but without particular fanfare for his local club, Bramfelder SV, in the fifth and sixth tiers of the game. By 2011, Polzin had retired at age 20. Instead of scrapping it out on the pitch, he joined the HSV youth academy as one of many assistant coaches.
In the same year, the Hamburger Stadtderby between HSV and St. Pauli was played on the Bundesliga stage. As it turned out, that was the last one for more than a decade, until its dramatic return Friday in a standalone game set to capture imaginations across the Bundesrepublik, and perhaps the wider soccer world.
Polzin's winding and understated route to the post of HSV coach makes his story all the more interesting. A move to Osnabrück to study to become a teacher of German and sport didn't indicate someone on the fast track to top-level coaching success. It was with VfL Osnabrück that Polzin assisted Daniel Thioune, who later became HSV coach. Polzin returned home to stay as part of the coaching staff under various different bigger names charged with guiding der Dino (the dinosaur) back to the Bundesliga after demotion in 2018.
Witnessing firsthand how not to get over the line as HSV became the team destined to snatch disappointment from the jaws of promotion, narrowly missing out on a return to the Bundesliga for six straight seasons, Polzin was determined to get it right when handed the job just before Christmas in 2024. It was be disingenuous to say there weren't Rückrunde (second half of the season) wobbles as the promised land neared -- even on the final day, when relegated Ulm scored first before succumbing 6-1. But Polzin ultimately succeeded where six permanent predecessors failed, and more than 100,000 celebrated at the town hall.
That HSV's first top-flight home game in seven years is a match, as one says here in Hamburg, um die Stadtmeisterschaft (for the city championship), only adds to the spice of the occasion. Hamburg SV and St. Pauli are distinctly different and by no means co-equals in the sense of size and scope. HSV are still the juggernaut that most in the city and wider region grow up reflexively following. One of only three German clubs to be crowned European champions, they enjoyed their glory era in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when such stars as Kevin Keegan, Horst Hrubesch and Manni Kaltz lit up the old Volksparkstadion with its vast sprawling terraces. These days, the stadium is plusher in appearance but still has that powder keg quality. As Polzin pointed out this week, this will not be 11 vs. 11, since 50,000 inside will be for die Rothosen (the red shorts). HSV represents to him the city, even the entire north of Germany.
That of course does leave 7,000 in the Gästeblock (away section) supporting St. Pauli. The Kiezkicker, unlike HSV, would never claim to be a team for all of Hamburg, but instead represent the underdog, based in the inner city neighborhood near the infamous Reeperbahn and the docks. And you would be an unlikely St. Pauli fan were you not attracted by social causes in the Kiez.
This clash of cultures in a Stadtderby likely to be full of fire, brimstone and vigor adds to its appeal. Werder Bremen might be HSV's ultimate Nordderby foes, but this is not some sorry of warm and fuzzy meeting of two teams who share the same city and whose fans will later laugh about it all over a beer.
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While it has been missing from the Bundesliga menu since a Gerald Asamoah header secured victory for St. Pauli in 2011, the Stadtderby has been a staple in the 2. Bundesliga these past few years. That was until St. Pauli in 2024 beat HSV to promotion, causing even more soul-searching in the HSV camp.
For a fixture with such a tempestuous reputation, it's fascinating that there have only been 28 league meetings of the two prominent clubs on the Alster and Elbe rivers: 16 in the Bundesliga and 12 between 2018 and 2024 in the 2. Bundesliga. But there's every reason to anticipate a big eye-catching Spektakel along the lines of the 4-3 HSV win in 2022-23 that swayed constantly between the boxes. Or the 2-2 draw at the Millerntor the following season, which featured one of the most bizarre own goals you'll ever see from Hamburg keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes. He'll start this week also.
After a set of disappointing preseason results, HSV achieved a respectable outcome in their first match of the season, 0-0 away to Borussia Monchengladbach last week. Polzin, in tandem with sporting chiefs Stefan Kuntz and Claus Costa, has emphasized shoring up the center of the pitch, particularly central midfield.
St. Pauli, coached by Alexander Blessin, are well set up for the Umschaltspiel (transitional game) knowing that in this Hexenkessel (cauldron), Hamburg can't sit back the way they did at the Borussia Park. St. Pauli sporting CEO Andreas Bornemann often chooses the path less well trodden when it comes to signing players, scouring lower divisions in England and more obscure countries such as Estonia. There is evidence that he has added quality in midfield and attack with Joel Chima Fujita and Andreas Hountondji, for example.
This is a game far away from the modern football obsession with individuals, however. Instead, it is mostly about collectives and losing oneself in wider community. The likable Polzin is often seen riding on the U-Bahn or other forms of public transit in this charismatic city. His profile has been only enhanced by a starring role in the documentary series "Always Hamburg," chronicling HSV's lows and highs en route to promotion. Victory in the derby would only see Polzin's legend grow, but St. Pauli arguably start as marginal favorites with the more established squad.
Hut ab (kudos) to the Bundesliga schedulers for placing the Hamburger Stadtderby on this early part of the calendar and heightening the excitement.