YB want to give Aston Villa a leg up in the opening game of the reformed Champions League. A look at the past shows that the English don't always get on well with Swiss footballers.
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- In the Champions League, YB will face Aston Villa on Tuesday at 6.45 pm (live on blue Sport).
- The English have not always got on well with Swiss footballers in their history.
- This is shown by the example of the St.Gallen Bellón twins, who moved to Aston Villa in 2006 at the age of 16.
- They failed to make the grade at the traditional English club and had to make do with smaller clubs for the rest of their careers.
Aston Villa and Swiss football, that's possible. Philippe Senderos (2014-16), Benjamin Siegrist (2013-16) and, most recently, Alisha Lehmann (2021-24) have already proven this. The fact that the symbiosis does not always work out is shown by an example that is likely to be remembered particularly well in Eastern Switzerland.
In 2006, the traditional English club showered FC St.Gallen with a transfer hammer and signed two of the most promising Espen talents: The Goldach twins Yago and Damian Bellón.
Chauffeured around in a Rolls-Royce
The two stand out so much in the FCSG youth department that they are attracting attention throughout Europe. They quit their apprenticeships and put everything on the football card. The then 16-year-old midfielders were still part of the St.Gallen U18 team when they took the big step abroad. Despite offers from other clubs, including PSV Eindhoven, the Bellón brothers chose Aston Villa.
While they were only bench players under former coach Heinz Peischl in St.Gallen, they were "chauffeured around in a Rolls-Royce" during their visit to Birmingham, they told the Sonntagsblick newspaper. But the dream of a big career move quickly vanishes into thin air.
Neither of them were able to establish themselves in English football, never played for the first team and terminated their three-year contract one year before the end. Yago returned to FC St.Gallen, switched to Wil six months later and then climbed down to the lower leagues via Gossau, Kreuzlingen and Tägerwilen, ending his career in 2014.
After playing for Aston Villa, his brother Damian played briefly for FC Vaduz in the Super League before finally ending up in the Thai league via teams in Greece. He ended his career in 2016 due to injuries and worked as a coach in Thailand until summer 2024.
