Rapp feels “like it’s his birthday,” and Albrecht is looking forward to spending time with his family

The Swiss champion announced on Tuesday that the change in sports director came at Albrecht's request. Rapp has been gradually prepared for his new role since the spring of 2026 and will now assume operational responsibility.

“Over the past few months, I’ve realized that I can trust Simone with this task. He’s multilingual and gets along well with the players and everyone else,” Albrecht explained to blue Sport regarding his decision to step down. “On top of that, there was my personal situation. Once again, my three children’s summer vacation came to an end—and it felt like I hadn’t really seen them at all.”

However, Albrecht will not be leaving the club. After taking some time off this fall, he is set to join the FC Thun executive board and assume the newly created position of Director of Sports. In this role, he will primarily focus on strategic and conceptual issues and be responsible for the further development of the entire sports organization.

Gerber will support Rapp

With championship-winning coach Mauro Lustrinelli and several key players having already left Thun, Albrecht’s resignation as sporting director is yet another blow for FCT. President Andres Gerber, however, is not panicking. “Apart from the coach, everyone else on the staff is still here. That gives me a lot of confidence,” said Gerber.

Rapp, who played as a forward for FC Thun during his playing career from 2015 to 2018 and from 2019 to 2020, admits that he’s a little nervous now that he’s taking on this new role: “I feel a bit like I did during my first game as a professional soccer player. Now everything is happening a little sooner than planned, but that’s just how it is. It’s an awesome challenge.”

FC Thun's former and current sports director: Dominik Albrecht (left) and his successor, Simone Rapp.

KEYSTONE

Gerber—who served as sporting director at FC Thun from 2009 to 2020—reveals that he will support Rapp at the start. “He’ll definitely need me. I certainly don’t want him to be burned out right away or make any glaring mistakes. For now, I’ll definitely be working more closely with the team, and then we’ll see how everything develops.”

Rapp thinks that jumping right in might be exactly the right thing to do in order to learn as much as possible. “I’m really excited. It feels like it’s my birthday.” Albrecht is also looking forward to the coming days: “I have an appointment at the travel agency first thing tomorrow morning. Then I’ll book the fall break with my family.”