FC Thun's sensational championship title is moving people. But beware: the example of Leicester City is not the only one that shows how quickly a club can fall after a coup. What does Thun president Andres Gerber have to say?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The championship title is a milestone for FC Thun. But the real work begins now. Dangers lurk in every transfer period and every contract negotiation.
- The examples of Leicester and Kaiserslautern show: Success can be deceptive. Many a club manager has lost his head and suddenly found himself playing in the big league.
- Thun president Andres Gerber is aware of the dangers, but does not believe that expectations in the Bernese Oberland are now skyrocketing. "We're keeping our feet on the ground," he says.
FC Thun has achieved something historic. Mauro Lustrinelli's team won the championship title as promoted teams. Small budget, great team spirit! Tears well up in the eyes of football romantics. A story the likes of which Swiss football has never seen before.
But a look into the past and at some examples shows: The highs can be followed by a deep fall. FC Thun has already experienced this for itself.
1st FC Kaiserslautern
In 1998, the Palatinate club was promoted and, like FC Thun, became champions. Under coach Otto Rehhagel and captain Ciriaco Sforza, the club made football history.
After that, the club wanted to stay at the top. A lot of money was invested. Expensive transfers. High salaries. Players such as French world champion Youri Djorkaeff played for the "red devils". It went well in the short term. Kaiserslautern reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 1999 and the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2001.
But financially, things got tighter and tighter. Expenditure increased. Income did not keep pace. By the turn of the millennium, the structure could no longer be financed. Scandals followed. Taxes in the tens of millions were allegedly evaded by the tax authorities.
In 2000, the Swiss René C. Jäggi took over the helm. He was supposed to save what could still be saved. But the problems were already too big. Debts and chaos caused headaches for the red devil on the Betzenberg.
In 2003, the club was on the verge of insolvency. Only tough cost-cutting measures prevented the collapse. The stadium was sold. The club survived, but with an uncertain future.
Relegation from the Bundesliga followed in 2006. Later, they were relegated to the 3rd division. The 1998 champions became a restructuring case. FC Kaiserslautern now play in the 2nd Bundesliga and appear to be on the road to recovery.
Leicester City
The club surprisingly won the Premier League in 2016. A miracle. Little Leicester showed the Goliaths of the league. Almost relegated the season before, they now literally flew through the Premier League.
But here, too, a gradual decline followed. After the title, the club invested heavily. The aim was to be a permanent member of the big clubs from Manchester, Liverpool and London. However, many transfers did not work out and key players from the championship season such as Mahrez and Kanté were sold. Not to forget, the Swiss Gökhan Inler was also part of this championship-winning team.
In 2018, an accident overshadowed the club's history. Six people were killed in a helicopter crash not far from Leicester City Stadium. Among the victims was the owner of the Premier League club, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha (61).
2021 a final highlight in the club's recent history. Leicester City became FA Cup winners. However, this success belied the alarming situation.
Two years later, the club was relegated from the Premier League. Although they managed to return to the top flight immediately, they only managed six wins in 38 games last season. A return to the second tier followed.
However, the downhill slide was not over yet. Leicester City have now been relegated to the third tier. One of the reasons for this is a points deduction due to financial problems. An independent commission found that Leicester had exceeded a permissible loss limit by almost 21 million pounds. In three seasons, the club recorded losses totaling more than 200 million pounds.
FC Thun
The club from the Bernese Oberland knows exactly what it is like to fly high and then fall low. In 2005, Thun sensationally qualified for the Champions League as runners-up, playing against Arsenal London, Ajax Amsterdam and Sparta Prague.
This brought the small club high revenues and aroused dangerous covetousness. Officials, players, staff members, advisors - everyone wanted a piece of the pie. And expectations rose in the surrounding area.
But as wonderful as the new fame was, the fall back to reality was brutal. In 2007, a sex scandal hit the headlines, with several current and former Thun players alleged to have had sexual relations with an underage woman. A sporting crisis also followed, and in 2008 Thun was finally relegated to the Challenge League. The sudden glory in the Bernese Oberland had disappeared again.
Andres Gerber was still there as a player. "Back then, FC Thun was not yet in such a solid position, the club was almost amateurish," recalls the current club president to blue Sport. "Today we are much further ahead. We've gained a huge amount of experience. I've been with FC Thun for 23 years, (Head of Sport) Dominik Albrecht for 15 years and many people on the staff have also been with the club for a long time."
Gerber therefore does not believe that people in the Bernese Oberland will now become naive again and take success for granted. "We will never tire of making people aware of this and not setting expectations too high."
The President is aware that not everyone may take this the same way. And so Gerber doesn't want to be the party pooper if one or two fans are already dreaming of a return to the Champions League: "We're staying grounded, but at the same time we want to be ambitious and have the confidence to perhaps even write another fairytale."
