FC St. Pauli

The time has come to say goodbye. After seven years together, the Boys in Brown and Daniel Buballa are going separate ways. It's hard to imagine a St. Pauli squad without the left-back, who was a first-team regular and mainstay of the team for almost the entirety of his time at the Millerntor. Buballa did not have the playing time he would have wanted in the second half of the season just ended but did start at Jahn Regensburg on the final day to make his 198^th competitive appearance for the club. To be sent off for the first time ever in his last game, of all games, was not the ending he deserved.

Buballa demonstrated his determination to give his all for St. Pauli from his first day at the club. He always gave 100 percent and more, whether in training or in a game. Equipped with more than his fair share of ambition, the No15 stayed behind after almost every training session. Another 50 crosses here, a hundred or so passes there, or another quick run – Buballa regularly put in another shift.

The motto 'satisfaction is standstill' characterised the scorer of two goals for the club (the first in a 4-0 defeat of Düsseldorf in April 2015, the second in a 2-2 draw with Nürnberg in October 2020) during his seven years at the Millerntor and that will doubtless remain the case in future. The news that some interval runs or a shuttle-run test had been lined up in pre-season may have filled some of his teammates with dread, but Buballa, who was always full of running and had the best stamina, seemed to thrive on it.

That will come as no surprise to anyone who popped by the training ground in recent years. No matter what the weather, the wearer of the No15 shirt, whose 198 games for the club also put him 15^th in the all-time list of St. Pauli appearance-makers, always seemed to have a smile on his face. And he usually came to training on his bike rather than taking the car. It remains to be seen whose shirt he will wear and which training ground he will bike to in future.

What we can say is that we wish you all the best for your professional and personal future, Daniel! Many thanks for the last seven years, seven years in which you never let your head drop, always got the most out of yourself and were never satisfied with what you had achieved! You will always be welcome at St. Pauli!

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE, BUBA!!!

Photos: Witters