was at Arsenal<\/a>, and their striker Mauro Lustrinelli remembers it perfectly.<\/p>\n\u201cWe had a magnificent game and were very close to getting a draw but Dennis Bergkamp made it 2-1 in injury time,\u201d he says. \u201cTwo weeks later, we scored late ourselves and beat Sparta Prague. Then I scored against Ajax, and missed a great chance to make it 3-2 at 90 minutes. They scored immediately on the counter and won. Those were amazing times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now Lustrinelli is writing another glorious chapter in Thun\u2019s history as the head coach, while the president, Andres Gerber, was also part of the 2005 squad. \u201cI joined Thun towards the end of my playing career and unexpectedly found myself in the Champions League,\u201d Gerber says. \u201cAn achilles tendon injury forced me to miss some matches, but I had to play at Highbury with painkillers. I wanted to experience that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerber stayed at Thun as sporting director after retiring, and then took charge in 2020 at the most crucial time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were relegated, the previous president Markus L\u00fcthi resigned, and I was the only person who could replace him,\u201d he says. \u201cThe situation was very difficult. We didn\u2019t know if we would survive financially and had to count every euro. Somehow, we found our way until a new investor arrived and we were safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thun were still a mid-table club in the second division when Lustrinelli was hired as coach in 2022. He finished a successful spell at the Swiss under-21 national team and had more lucrative offers, but returned to the club he knew well.<\/p>\n
Gerber says: \u201cI wasn\u2019t in touch with Mauro frequently, but we remained in good relations from our playing days. We went to Mauro\u2019s home, explained the project to him and were delighted that he agreed.\u201d Lustrinelli adds: \u201cAfter talking to Andres, I felt that was the right project for me. I chose with my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had a lot of work to do, as the captain, Marco B\u00fcrki, recalls: \u201cI played for Thun on loan from Young Boys a decade ago, and returned to the club in 2021 because I liked its culture. However, when I arrived it turned out that the work ethics weren\u2019t there any more. We had to change that and take responsibility. When Mauro was appointed, things started to improve gradually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thun finished sixth in the second division in 2023 and learned the lesson. Gerber says: \u201cWe brought a lot of players on loan, and there was no team spirit. Therefore, we chose to build the squad around those who belong to Thun and believe in us. We wanted to promote local footballers.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those local talents is Ethan Meichtry. At the age of 15, he was discarded from the academy during the Covid crisis. \u201cWe had to train alone during the lockdown. I didn\u2019t take it too seriously and wasn\u2019t fit when I came back, so the coach told me to leave,\u201d he says. Meichtry went on to work as a road builder in the town, while playing for the amateur club D\u00fcrrenast. He was spotted there by a youth coach from Thun and was excited to come back in 2023. By 2025, he was part of the lineup that won the promotion.<\/p>\n
Pundits claimed that inexperienced players such as Meichtry weren\u2019t ready for the Super League, but Thun disagreed. \u201cContinuity and spirit are crucial,\u201d Lustrinelli says. \u201cWe have a great group and had to stay together. My mission is to improve the players. They helped Thun to go up, and they got their chance in the top division.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerber adds: \u201cWe made a few signings, but it was easy for them to join the existing squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the season, Gerber and Lustrinelli targeted finishing in the top six, which was considered unrealistic by many. \u201cWe had to be ambitious, even though our budget is second from last in the league,\u201d the president says. Then, during preseason, the feeling was positive. \u201cWe saw that we were at a good level, but obviously nobody thought about challenging at the top,\u201d B\u00fcrki says.<\/p>\n
Thun started the season with four wins \u2013 an unprecedented record for a promoted team \u2013 and never looked back. B\u00fcrki says: \u201cAfter seven or eight games, I remember sitting down with our star midfielder Leonardo Bertone and saying: \u2018Look, we are top of the table.\u2019 That was funny. We have a lot of untested players, and didn\u2019t know how they would react. They all responded brilliantly. We were never nervous, never felt pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
By December, they cautiously thought that finishing in the top three could be possible, and the final fixture of 2025 was fundamental. Lustrinelli says: \u201cWe were trailing 2-0 against Z\u00fcrich at half-time and won 4-2. That is when I understood that this team really has a winning mentality. We knew we can make something special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lustrinelli adds: \u201cA lot of people said that we couldn\u2019t keep it up after the Christmas break, but our performances actually improved. We grew up mentally and truly believed in ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thun went on an incredible run of 10 wins in a row, while all the other clubs, including heavyweights Young Boys and Basel, were wildly inconsistent. By February, their lead became insurmountable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is insane to go from road builder to champion of Switzerland in three years. My friends can\u2019t believe it,\u201d Meichtry says. \u201cIf someone told me that I would be champion after joining Thun, I would say that he was drunk,\u201d B\u00fcrki laughs.<\/p>\n
B\u00fcrki was considered the less talented footballer in the family, as his elder brother Roman played for Borussia Dortmund as a goalkeeper. He is now at St Louis City, and the stopper had a clause in his contract that he could join his brother\u2019s club for free. \u201cI have always dreamed of playing with Roman, but in retrospect I am lucky that those negotiations never materialised,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Gerber says: \u201cOur story proves that there are no impossible things in football. Never say never.\u201d Lustrinelli is delighted when his team is compared to Leicester\u2019s Premier League title in 2016. \u201cWell, both had Italian coaches. I am not Claudio Ranieri, but I am a Swiss Italian,\u201d he smiles.<\/p>\n
Having signed a contract until 2028, he is likely to stay at Thun longer than Ranieri did with Leicester. After sealing the title, Thun will have the chance to try to qualify for the Champions League for the second time. \u201cThat would be a great way to close a circle, but definitely won\u2019t be easy. For now, we just have to enjoy the moment,\u201d Gerber and Lustrinelli agree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The FC Thun heroes do not hide their amusement and amazement when speaking about what has been an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[104,1042,4895,4898,4893,1202,4896,4894,4733,4897,1046],"class_list":{"0":"post-40963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bern","8":"tag-bern","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-daily-news","11":"tag-global-news","12":"tag-inkl","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-news-app","15":"tag-news-headlines","16":"tag-news-today","17":"tag-today-news","18":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116312718850148925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}