Play(ing) a key role at FC Thun (from left): President Andres Gerber, head coach Mauro Lustrinelli and assistant coach Nelson Ferreira
Image: Keystone
The trio are emblematic of continuity in the Bernese Oberland
Image: Keystone
20 years ago, they caused a sensation in the Champions League as players with the small club
Image: Keystone
Promoted to the Super League in the summer
Image: Keystone
Under Lustrinelli's direction, the promoted team leads the league by a large margin after 13 rounds
Image: Keystone
Before the national team break, a last-minute win in Geneva - the sixth full victory in a row
Image: Keystone
Play(ing) a key role at FC Thun (from left): President Andres Gerber, head coach Mauro Lustrinelli and assistant coach Nelson Ferreira
Image: Keystone
The trio are emblematic of continuity in the Bernese Oberland
Image: Keystone
20 years ago, they caused a sensation in the Champions League as players with the small club
Image: Keystone
Promoted to the Super League in the summer
Image: Keystone
Under Lustrinelli's direction, the promoted team leads the league by a large margin after 13 rounds
Image: Keystone
Before the national team break, a last-minute win in Geneva - the sixth full victory in a row
Image: Keystone
Thun lead the Super League by nine points after 13 rounds. The promoted team is not making big noises, but neither is it making itself look smaller than it is. Parallels to the team of 2005.
22.11.2025, 05:01
22.11.2025, 09:08
SDA
Nelson Ferreira takes the ball. He is actually not in the best position, almost on the edge of the penalty area and with his back to goal. But that doesn't matter to the 23-year-old. The ball bounces once off the neatly cut turf, then Ferreira lifts it over Manuel Almunia and into the goal. While the players in the white shirts cheer the goal, the venerable Highbury, Arsenal's stadium, is as quiet as a mouse. Little FC Thun causes a sensation in the Champions League.
20 years later, the club from the Bernese Oberland is shaking up the Super League. After 13 games, the promoted club already has 31 points to its name, ten more than in the most successful season in the club's history to date, which was rewarded with second place in the summer of 2005 and resulted in qualification for the Champions League.
Andres Gerber, Nelson Ferreira and Mauro Lustrinelli were part of the team that achieved historic results back then. The trio are still there, or back again - and are writing a new success story in different roles. Former captain Gerber is now president of the club, former goalscorer Lustrinelli led the team to promotion as coach, former winger Ferreira is an assistant coach and a link to the youth academy. Now the three club legends are sitting in the lounge of the Stockhorn Arena and looking back on the glorious Champions League nights with the Keystone-SDA news agency, drawing parallels with today's team and explaining the path they are on with FC Thun.
Six wins in a row recently, nine points ahead of the competition, and that as a promoted team: do you sometimes have to pinch yourself?
Mauro Lustrinelli: "It's fantastic, sensational, historic. We are aware of that. At the same time, it's a snapshot in time. It's great that we've been able to spark a sense of euphoria. But the focus remains on the day-to-day work."
What is the secret of FC Thun?
Andres Gerber: "You wouldn't have asked that a year ago. There is no secret in that sense. There are various pieces of the puzzle that fit together. We have great continuity at the club, which means we can work in peace. The head of sport has been here for 15 years, we have long-serving fitness and goalkeeping coaches, I've been at the club for over 20 years, Nelson and Mauro are also veterans here. We trust each other and don't get nervous so quickly, we don't have to prove anything to each other."
Lustrinelli: "An important word for me is resilience. When situations arise in which things don't run smoothly, we have to stay calm and get out of them as a team. That's a process. We've put in 13 good performances so far. We've also played well in the defeats. The team has remained calm and hungry. We want to play our game on the pitch, not just chug along somehow."
Where can this lead?
Gerber: "Every now and then the question of the championship title comes up. Dreaming is the last thing you can take away from a person. I'd be lying if I didn't dream about it. It's already a goal, a vision. We go to work every day and to the pitch every weekend because we want to win. The bottom line is that if you always win, you'll end up on top. When you're that far ahead after 13 games, it would be false modesty to say you don't believe it or that it's completely unrealistic. We're not aloof or naive, we know exactly that it depends on the competition. We can do our job perfectly, but if the others do it perfectly too, it will be difficult."
Would you sign for 2nd place at the end of the season today?
Lustrinelli: "If you already know the future, you lose all your curiosity. I like the process, the path we're taking. I want to enjoy that. Why should I sign that? I wouldn't."
And the president?
Gerber: "We could end up second and still be unhappy. Äuä we'd be happy with second place, but you don't know how it's going to go. That's why I agree with Mauro: don't sign!" (laughs)
Let's step into the time machine and fly back 20 years: How did it feel to play in the Champions League with little FC Thun?
Nelson Ferreira: "It was a highlight for all of us, an incredible time. Everything fell into place, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to achieve these great successes. That sounds like a cliché, but it really was like that: we were one big family on and off the pitch. That helped us a lot. In hindsight, we didn't enjoy it enough, we were in a tunnel. If I could turn back time, I would enjoy everything more."
Gerber: "The team spirit got us there. The joy was above everything. Tactically, we weren't that good. Resilience: people didn't even know the word back then (laughs). We had ambition. And yet we were better than we thought. We were carefree, there was no pressure."
So there are certain parallels to today.
Gerber: "It was a very different time back then. As a club, we weren't ready for the Champions League, we were completely out of our depth - and that's not a criticism. FC Thun was never as ready 20 years ago as it is today. We were almost an amateur club, had a makeshift container as our office and two employees. When we qualified for the group stage, we had to find 20 employees from one day to the next - in other words, the club, luckily I was a player (smiles). Then there was the media presence: we had to give interviews every day and were suddenly stars. When the three of us die, people will talk about those nights in the Champions League at the funeral. That went down in history."
Now you could write history again in new roles. What needs to happen for FC Thun to remain at the top of the table at the end of the season?
Ferreira: "We're not looking too far into the future, we're focusing on the next game. We want to continue on our chosen path, working hard and with joy day after day. That's what makes us strong. In the end, there may be a reward for what we invest."
Lustrinelli: "It's nice when you go to Geneva, win the game and it's quiet in the dressing room afterwards, not incredibly euphoric. Job done. The next challenge is coming. Lugano awaits on Saturday. It will be exciting to see what tactics and strategy they use. We have to look for solutions. I'm curious to see how we master this next challenge."
