The successor to promotion coach Fabian Hürzeler has been found. Alexander Blessin is taking over the Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli. Nothing has been announced at this time about the duration of the contract.
Bundesliga football club FC St. Pauli has found a successor for promotion coach Fabian Hürzeler: The Hamburg club has signed Alexander Blessin. The 51-year-old was under contract with Belgian cup winners and runners-up Royal Union St. Gilloise last season. Blessin is to be presented at a press conference this afternoon.
FC St. Pauli’s preparations for the new season start on July 8th. “With Alexander Blessin we have been able to gain an internationally experienced coach for FC St. Pauli. He brings a lot of tactical knowledge and has already worked in the top division in Belgium and Italy as well as internationally,” St. Pauli’s sporting director Andreas Bornemann was quoted as saying in a press release from the club. There was initially no information about the transfer terms or the term of the contract.
The new coach is looking forward to his job with the Kiezkickers: “FC St. Pauli has an incredible appeal in Germany, but also internationally. The club stands for clear values and ambitious work in professional sport. It is therefore a great task to coach the club in the Bundesliga after a long time in the second division.”
Past in Stuttgart, Leipzig and Regensburg
After the departure of successful coach Hürzeler to Brighton & Hove Albion in the English Premier League, FC St. Pauli was looking for a new head coach to lead the team into its first Bundesliga season in 13 years. Since Blessin still had a contract with the Belgians until 2025, FC St. Pauli will most likely have to pay a transfer fee. The club also received money for Hürzeler’s transfer.
Blessin played as a player for VfB and Kickers in his hometown of Stuttgart, and he also scored goals as a striker for Jahn Regensburg, VfB Leipzig and Sportfreunde Siegen, as well as Antalyaspor in Turkey. He worked as a coach in the youth division at RB Leipzig from 2012 to 2020. He came to St. Gilloise in 2023 via KV Oostende and Genoa CFC. FC St. Pauli is his first head coaching position in German professional football.
Blessing wants to approach Hamburg’s first Bundesliga season after 13 years in the second division “with unity in the team and the entire club”: “I am incredibly excited to challenge the really big clubs in the Bundesliga at Millerntor.”
Source: Stern
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