Eight years since making his professional debut with New York City FC, it’s safe to say that James Sands has relished the opportunity of taking key steps forward in his career.
From becoming a consistent starter in MLS to featuring in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League with Scottish club Rangers to earning Bundesliga experiences in 2025, the veteran midfielder has continued to make the most of his situations.
After fighting his way back from a fractured fibula and torn MCL last February, Sands looks back to his best again as he tries to help St. Pauli escape the Bundesliga’s relegation zone and surge up the league standings.
“It’s nice to be back on the pitch now,” Sands told SBI in an interview. “I had a bad injury in the first half of the year so being able to start with the full team in preseason and then getting a good run of games, I’m happy with it. I think my performances have been pretty good. It’s my first full season here in the Bundesliga, so there’s obviously a bit of a learning curve and an adjustment period, but I would say, overall, I’m happy with how things are going and it would be nice in the coming weeks and months to start picking up more points.
“It was quite a serious injury that I suffered in February and people who suffer similar injuries take a while to come back,” he added. “There were times early in the preseason that I was back playing, but I still didn’t feel 100% like myself. I’m happy that I’ve kind of gotten over that phase and I feel good now. I’ve played a lot of minutes, and I think it gives me confidence that the coaches have a lot of belief in me. Each game I go out and try to repay that confidence and it’s important that I keep putting in good performances and keep working hard.”
St. Pauli’s 2025-26 season started on a positive note with the club advancing past Eintracht Norderstedt in the German Cup, earning a home draw against Borussia Dortmund and claiming a 2-0 derby victory over rivals Hamburg. They also defeated Augsburg 2-1 on September 14, starting the league schedule with seven points earned out of nine available.
Being able to feature in the Hamburg derby for the first time was a treat for Sands, who compared the matchup to his past involvements in Old Firm Derbies in Scotland and in U.S-Mexico clashes on the international level.
“Those are the coolest matches to be part of and it was nice that we were able to win that one and play really well,” Sands said about the Hamburg-St. Pauli rivalry. “There’s really no better feeling than that, but it’s cool to see the big Derby matches and how much they mean to the fans here. In that sense it’s very similar to the Rangers-Celtic Derby and playing in a U.S.-Mexico match. You just know going into it that those matches have a little bit of a different feeling. A lot of the time, it’s not the most beautiful football that wins the game but it’s more about intensity, effort and who can handle the moment in the best way. Being a part of those games helps you gain experience and it helps you going forward.”
However, the road got rocky for Sands and St. Pauli starting in mid-September, with the club losing their next nine league fixtures and being outscored 20-3 over that span, dropping them into the Bundesliga’s bottom-two places.
Things have improved for Alexander Blessin’s squad over the past nine days though, with St. Pauli claiming a 2-1 road cup victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach and using a 94th-minute equalizer to draw FC Koln 1-1 on Saturday. Sands has seen the performances improve for St. Pauli over the last few weeks, something he hopes can carry over to the final two matches of 2025 and into the second half of the season.
“We had a very good start to the season,” Sands said. “Having a draw against Dortmund and then a result in the derby were good. We had a stretch of games that were below our expectations as a group, but I think on a positive note in recent weeks we’ve kind of gotten back to what our strengths are as a team. When you look at this past week, we pushed Bayern to the very end, we got a good result in the Cup against a good Gladbach team, and we got a result away in Cologne, which is a tough place to go and play. I think things are starting to look better for our group and now it’s about putting in good performances along with results. We know we’re going to have to start picking up points soon and I have a lot of belief that this group is capable of that.
“I think it shows we’re capable of beating anyone in the league and it doesn’t matter if it’s home or away,” Sands added about how the Gladbach win could serve as momentum in league play. I think we do take a lot of confidence from that and as I said it’s now about stringing good performances together back-to-back. We have a big game coming up on Saturday (against 16th-placed Heidenheim) and then the following weekend after that is another big one (against 18th-place Mainz) against two teams that are in and around us in the table. I think there’s a big chance for us to build up a lot of good momentum going into the second half of the season.”
St. Pauli is only in its second season back in Germany’s top-flight after being in the 2. Bundesliga for the prior 13 years. While Hamburg has received many of the plaudits in the city after winning six league titles and one Champions League crown, St. Pauli has done well to get back to the bright lights of the Bundesliga and stay competitive since its 2024 promotion.
Sands praised the impact of the continuous fan support that St. Pauli receives every week, regardless of the weekend result or their current place in the standings.
“I’ve quickly realized being here what a unique club this is,” Sands said. “I think that starts with the fans. Even in the tough moments we’ve had this season, they have not once turned away from us. They support us 90 minutes every match and I think especially in today’s day and age, that’s pretty rare. I think that part of it really makes this club stand out. They have a very long and rich history, and I’m still learning more about it every day, but it feels cool to even be a small part of that.”
The life of a professional footballer is filled with many hours at the stadium, in the gym, or on the training grounds, but it’s not just that. Between club duties, interviews, video sessions, and community events, there’s little time for athletes to enjoy time for themselves and have a mental break from the hectic day-to-day schedule.
Sands has spent ample time in New York and Glasgow during his career, two of the largest areas in their respective countries. Now after living in Hamburg for an ample period of time, the 25-year-old reflected on the town itself and how he wanted to test himself in a different European league and country.
“I would say Hamburg is a very nice city, and a lot of other German people I know say it’s one of the best places in Germany, so it’s very cool to live here,” Sands said. “It’s nice when my family comes over to visit because we can go around, see the sights, do that whole thing. Off the field I spend quite a bit of time working on my university classes. I’m close to getting my bachelor’s degree in business administration so I’m doing that at the minute. Outside of that, I’m watching TV, going for coffee, that sort of thing.
“One of the things I really try and do in my career is always keeping pushing myself,” he added. “I think you can see by my career trajectory that I’m always trying to take another step forward and challenge myself. I could have stayed in MLS and do that thing, but I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I wanted to go to a new country. I wanted to experience a new type of football and I did that in Scotland. I’m doing that again here, and I think when you’re able to push yourself like that and take those steps, it’s much more rewarding in the end. My career so far has been full of a lot of ups and it’s also had a lot of downs, but as long as I keep pushing myself and trying to get out of my comfort zone, I think everything will work out in the end.”
Sands’ return to St. Pauli this summer has made him one of 15 players between the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga divisions that have ties with the U.S. men’s national team. Between Gio Reyna to Joe Scally to Sands, the list of American players that have tested themselves in Germany has continued to grow with every passing season.
Unlike Sands’ time in Scotland, where he was one of a few American players there, he’s now been able to stay connected to a lot of close teammates and friends in Germany.
“I’m very close with Joe and Gio at Gladbach, especially Joe because we played one-to-two years for the first team in New York,” Sands said when asked about his American connections in Germany. “I speak to him quite often and I would say now being over here and playing in these Bundesliga matches, I have a lot of respect for what he’s done, the appearances he’s made for Gladbach at such a young age. I have a new perspective on that. He’s been helpful in letting me know what to expect and how to manage some of these games. It’s kind of cool to have a close circle of guys that you know from the U.S. but are now playing in Europe.”
Sands’ return to consistent playing time this season has not only led to a consistent role with St. Pauli, but also to USMNT return. Two years since his last USMNT cap, Sands played 64 minutes in Mauricio Pochettino’s starting lineup during an eventual 2-1 friendly win over Australia back in October.
Although Sands was not part of the November roster for matches against Paraguay and Uruguay, he put himself on Pochettino’s radar ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and earned his first chance to work with the Argentine head coach. After previously earning his USMNT caps under former head coach Gregg Berhalter, Sands believes that both Berhalter and Pochettino have left their imprints on the program.
“The National Team is a big goal of mine and I think it was good to just get my name back in the mix,” Sands said. I think the World Cup next summer is going to come down to form and how people are performing with their clubs. I feel good that that if I keep performing well here at St. Pauli, I at least give myself a chance and now it’s not an unknown if he calls me. He’s at least seen me play in one match, he’s seen me in one camp, so I think that really works in my advantage.”
“I think what immediately stands out with Mauricio is just you could tell right away what level he’s worked at in this game,” Sands added. “Whether it was at Tottenham, Chelsea, or PSG, you can tell that he’s worked with the best players in the world. He certainly has a different approach to managing the team than Gregg did, but I think both have their strengths and both have done a really good job with the national team.”
The USMNT recently learned their group stage opponents for next summer’s tournament, being paired with Paraguay, Australia, and a European playoff winner in Group D. Both Paraguay and Australia are two teams that the Americans have familiarity with after defeating them over the past two months.
Either Slovakia, Kosovo, Romania, or Turkey will round out Group D after March’s playoff series, but all four nations are ones that the USMNT either doesn’t have plenty of recent experience with or experience with at all. Sands gave his take on the USMNT’s summer opponents, revealing excitement for a potential showdown with St. Pauli teammates Jackson Irvine and Connot Metcalfe on the world’s biggest stage.
“Firstly, I’m very excited that we got Australia in the group because two of my teammates here are big parts of the Australian team, so it would be cool to play them next summer,” Sands said. “They have a lot of qualities as a team and they’ll be a challenge. Paraguay has a lot of quality, so they’ll be a challenge. The unknown European team does make it a little uncertain. Having said that, it’s the World Cup so regardless of who you play, you’re going to have to bring your best level.”
Sands has plenty of challenges awaiting him as the calendar gets set to flip to 2026. The NYCFC loanee will aim to help St. Pauli avoid a drop back to the second tier, while also forcing his way back into the USMNT picture for March’s friendlies against Portugal and Belgium.
In addition, Sands wants to solidify his club future after heading out on loan for the fourth time while under contract at NYCFC. While his current loan spell ends at the conclusion of the Bundesliga season, a strong second half could potentially lead to a permanent move abroad for the first time in his career.
“My big wish for the rest of the season is that we stay up, we stay in the league and on top of that, I want to be a big part of that,” Sands said. “I’ve started well and played in a lot of matches so far, but we’re only halfway pretty much at this point, so I want to continue that and keep building on each game.
“If I achieve those things and the club stays up, then I think it gives me a shot at making the team next summer because I want to play in a home World Cup.” he added. “I also want to sort out my long-term future. I’ve had a loan in Scotland and now here, I’m interested in finding a home somewhere for the next couple of years.”