Bundesliga club St Pauli have included one of their media officers in the squad for Saturday’s game against Hanover 96 due to a lack of fit defenders.
Hauke Brueckner, 30, who works as a press officer for the Hamburg club and played for their Under-23 team, received a call from coach Holger Stanislawski who told him to turn up at training “in one hour”.
“Against Hanover we only have four fit defenders so it makes sense to bring in Hauke,” Stanislawski said.
Brueckner, who played 10 games in Germany’s second division in the 2002-03 season, said his new team-mates were surprised to see him.
“When I walked into the changing room with my bag, the boys were staring at me, not really believing it,” Brueckner told the club website.
“They did crack some jokes but I know them well and after that everything was good,” he said.
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