St. Pauli captain Jackson Irvine is finally back on the pitch for his Bundesliga club since undergoing major foot surgery last spring. The 32-year-old – who also doubles up as the Australian national team captain – has appeared as a late match substitute in Pauli’s last two league fixtures.

The veteran’s long-term status with the club remains uncertain. Irvine stands little chance of displacing the locked in midfield duo of James Sands and Joel Chima Fujita. It may prove the case that, after five seasons with the Kiezkicker, Irvine will be moving on after the season. 

While the recuperating Aussie hasn’t had time to accomplish much on the pitch, Irvine’s social media activities have been attracting attention. Whilst injured, Irvine posted his views on the Middle East conflict and promoted his wife’s fashion brand. 

Irvine’s posts haven’t necessarily sat well with either the club or its supporters. St. Pauli, like most German clubs, treads exceedingly carefully when it comes to matters regarding Israel. St. Pauli fans, meanwhile, remain vehemently opposed to commercialization. 

Head coach Alexander Blessin has repeatedly stated Irvine’s value to the team, but the club bosses have thus far refrained from publicly backing the squad captain. An action by Irvine’s wife has now compelled the club council to at least weigh in on some of the abuse Irvine has received online. 

A FSCSP board member, René Born, responded to one of Irvine wife’s posts promoting his her fashion apparel with a spiteful comment that read:

“No one is bigger than the club. This is our club, not yours. You’ll be gone in a few months, playing somewhere else for one euro more. We will always be here, while you are nothing more than a footnote.”

Irvine’s wife took the matter to the club council and demanded Born be sanctioned. The club confirmed on Friday, without mentioning Born’s name, that Born had been identified as the source of the remark. Born will be fined in accordance with club rules. 

“After a thorough investigation, the FC St. Pauli honorary council has decided that a member of the supervisory board has shown behavior damaging to the club through comments on social media made by a player’s wife,” Friday’s statement read. “A fine will be imposed. The proceeds will be donated to the Awareness Training program in the youth academy.“

How exactly the St. Pauli fans will respond to this is unclear. One expects, at the very least, a banner or two at the club’s next home fixture at the Millerntor. The phrase “No one is bigger than the club” is an almost sacred principle among German football ultras. 

Anytime a player or executive is accused of violating this principle, the “Niemand ist Größer als der Verein” typically pops up in the stands.