James McPake is expecting a passionate crowd and a committed performance from St Pauli when they visit Dunfermline this summer.
The Pars this week confirmed that the Bundesliga 2 side will visit East End Park for a preseason friendly on June 23.
Dunfermline have a connection to St Pauli through director Thomas Meggle who played coached and managed at the German club.
McPake remembers his own experience of taking on a second-tier team in Germany.
Back in 2012 the Pars boss captained Hibernian in a preseason fixture against Union Berlin – now battling it out at the top of the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Even then they proved tough opposition, defeating the Edinburgh outfit 2-0.
“We turned up thinking it was a preseason friendly, it was mayhem – the place was full,” recalled McPake. “They were at us.
“It wasn’t the Union Berlin as they are now, fighting at the top of the Bundesliga, they were in Bundesliga 2, but it was competitive.”
Now in the dugout, the Dunfermline manager will have the chance to test himself against a side currently sitting eighth in Germany’s second tier.
‘Exciting’
“It’s an exciting one,” added McPake, “one I’ve known about for a wee while and I had been hoping it got done.
“We all know about their fans.
“It’s great. It’s different, for a start. There’s the connections with the ownership here.
“They’re going to come with quality, they’re going to come with good players.
“It’s a bit too far ahead to be concerned with it, if I’m honest, but it’s one that I’m sure every Dunfermline fan and every Dunfermline players will be looking at it today and thinking ‘that’s one that excites us’.”
The Pars have a League One campaign to finish before attention turns to the close season, starting with Queen of the South this weekend.
McPake has a full squad to choose from and added to his midfield this week with the signing of Paul McGowan on loan from Dundee.
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