SWITZERLAND

Our first taste of the Swiss Super League came in late September 2024 when we visited high-flying Lugano, who were looking to become the first champion from the Italian-speaking part of the country since they themselves had won the title back in 1949.

They did not quite manage it in the end - and haven’t since - but the game we witnessed had a happy ending for the home faithful. Despite falling behind to relegation-threatened Winterthur, a quickfire double from super sub Renato Steffen sealed a 2-1 comeback win.

We next went to Switzerland in April 2026 in the hope of witnessing a miracle: promoted Thun were streets ahead as they chased a first-ever national title and were up against Basel in a decisive clash.

Sadly, the match was cancelled due to a fire at Basel’s stadium that destroyed large quantities of equipment. We decided to try our luck at Thun’s stadium to see if we could take some pictures and were met by Gerhard Krebs, one of the friendliest people we have ever met on our travels. We gave up two hours of his time to give us a detailed stadium tour and even had a quick kick-around with us on the pitch.

When Thun eventually won the title, we thought of Gerhard - and the brothers Niels and Lars Hürlimann, who had taken us to watch a local amateur game between FC Dürrenast vs. FC Weissenstein in the Bern regional leagues. Great people!