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2005: FC Thun celebrates its entry into the group stage of the Champions League. Image: KEYSTONE
When FC Thun shocked Europe, he pocketed millions and chaos ensued
Almost 15 years ago, FC Thun wrote the most amazing chapter in the history of his club. In the exhausted Stade de Suisse, he moves to the Champions League with 3: 0 against Malmö.
Andrés Gerber, the current sports director and later captain of FC Thun, described the qualification for the group stage of the Champions League as “one of the best feelings in European football”.
The Bernese Oberlanders not only came from a relatively small city and had no title to show, but they were also mouse poor on the scale of European football. Hardly any other club should have contested the Champions League group stage sooner or later with a budget of CHF 5.5 million.
At that time, Eldin Jakupovic was difficult to beat. Image: AP
FC Thun fascinated all of Europe with its strong promotion for several weeks: promotion to the NLB in 1997, promotion to the Super League in 2002, runner-up in the 2005 championship and a few months later this fantastic qualification. Thanks to prominent goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, Dynamo Kiev was eliminated and then a possible draw with Malmö.
The Thuners settled into the fact that they took over the established position of the defeated Ukrainians in the lottery pot and were allowed to compete against an unsolved team. Today, after the feat against Dynamo Kiev, the Thuners would again receive a heavyweight.
Not later than 1-0 in Malmö, euphoria seized the Bernese Oberland. There were FC Thun cakes to buy, a big screen was installed in the city, and a free night was awarded. “We are successful with little money but a lot of work. People like that, “said midfielder Silvan Aegerter at the time. 32,000 tickets for the game were sold at the Stade de Suisse. The fact that some places remained free was due to circumstances in the Bernese Oberland.
Premiere at the Stade de Suisse
As the FC Thun players prepared for the match, a torrential rain burst over the region and caused the flood of the century. On August 22, 2005, the day before the game, Lake Thun rose so high that Lachen Stadium, then the royal home of FC Thun, was underwater.
August 2005: Thun Lachen Stadium is underwater. Image: KEYSTONE
The planned broadcast to the big screen was no longer an option, and the free night was also canceled. Some villages in the Bernese Oberland were cut by the storm.
Suisse’s Stade was on match night, it was only Thuners’ 10th appearance in the European Cup, still red and white. 31,243 spectators arrived at the stadium, which had been sold out for the first time since the opening a few weeks earlier. Thanks to the 2-0 lead, the team was already on course at halftime.
Then the SRF looked back at Thun’s euphoria. Video: SRF
After a good hour, Mauro Lustrinelli finished with a wonderful long shot from 35 meters. The path for more highlights at the Stade de Suisse was paved – over 30,000 fans were also at the stadium against Arsenal, Ajax Amsterdam and Sparta Prague in the group stage. As third in the group, Thun even qualified for sixteen semi-finals in the UEFA Cup against Hamburger SV.
Dismissals and exodus
It would be an exaggeration to say that the rise followed the fall. But it is true that FC Thun skated after the Champions League. In February 2006, coach Urs Schönenberger was dismissed between the clearly lost vote for a new stadium and the UEFA Cup match against Hamburg.
Sports director Werner Gerber had been left powerless a good month earlier. The two kept on messing with each other when it came to what should be done with the additional income of more than ten million francs.
Shortly after the European fairy tale, Mauro Lustrinelli left Thun and coach Urs Schönenberger was released. Image: KEYSTONE
“There were only two problems left: money and the media,” said President Kurt Weder almost exactly one year after the European rise. In September 2006, FC Thun was last in the Super League and had only five players on the team who had started against Malmo.
Most of the heroes of the Champions League had gone in all directions: to Moscow (Jakupovic), Bochum (David Pallas), Edinburgh (José Gonçalves) or Prague (Lustrinelli). Only one, Silvan Aegerter, played again in the Champions League after Thun shot himself – 2009 with FC Zurich, when his former club had long since regained its feet on the ground. (abu / sda)
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