FC Thun is about to climb – President Gerber in the interview

Andres Gerber is faced with FC Thun before promotion to the Super League.Bild: keystone

Interview

FC Thun stands on the threshold of Super League. Already on Friday, the Bernese Oberländer can make the return to the upper house perfect after five years in the Challenge League.

Before the game against Aarau, President Andres Gerber talks to the news agency Keystone-Sda about dangers that he still sees despite the comfortable starting point for FC Thun, he explains the role of investor Beat Fahrni and what an increase in the club would change-and the 52-year-old says what it takes so that the Thuner does not become a lift team. Because the Belper does not want to experience a descent again.

Andres Gerber, what is your program for Saturday?
Andres Gerber: Of course, I hope that the program is only irrelevant and that we can simply enjoy with a huge satisfaction.

On Friday, FC Thun can make the promotion to the Super League perfect with a home win against Aarau. Are you ready?
As far as you can be ready, we are. But we don’t want to talk too much, but first make our duty on the pitch.

Twice missed Thun 2021 against Sion and last season against the Grasshoppers the promotion over the barrage. Now they are four rounds before the end with eight points ahead. This is a much more comfortable situation.
But it also harbors a certain danger. I don’t want to be pessimistic at all, I just want to stay calm and realistic. There were always very crazy stories in football. I am very confident that we pack it. But if it didn’t work on Friday now, it would probably spoil the mood a bit. It is important that we simply do our work.

FC Thun has been playing in the Challenge League since 2020.Bild: keystone

Do you have any doubts?
No, I don’t doubt. I just want to do the work first. The fact that Aarau has not lost 19 times in a row is also a fact. So it is not exactly a matter of course to conquer them. We are in the flow, we have a lot of confidence, we deserve the confidence. But let’s not think too much about it. First the work.

Even if there is a lot of euphoria around them. The stadium has been sold out for weeks.
That is very nice. The environment is somewhat impatient. All of them would be best to be on Friday evening and we would have made it. But this anticipation and this tingling are something beautiful. It is like waiting for an exam result or the birth of a child. You have to endure this uncertainty.

At the end of March, Thun lost 0: 3 at Lausanne-Ochy and Aarau took over the top position. Now there are eight points between you. Is that surprising?
A little, but not because of us. Aarau seemed unstoppable for a long time and almost played like Leverkusen in the Bundesliga last year when they were still doing many games very late. But it also shows that it is not so easy to be the first and then pull it through.

With a victory against Aarau, the Bernese Oberländer could secure the early promotion.Bild: keystone

Why is FC Thun at the top?
We are not the first thing because we deliver a huge spectacle. We win with solidarity, organization, structure and mentality. And that’s mega cool. No player scored more than seven goals. This is remarkable as a leader. We could be chalking, but I am happy because it reflects what is important to us as a philosophy and what coach Mauro Lustrinelli demands so strongly. The team concept.

It was certainly important last season when Thun set up a club record with 76 points, but in the end it was not enough against Sion.
Maybe we needed this additional year. The experiences you have in a year are incredibly valuable for everyone in the club. But after five years of challenge League it is time. If we didn’t make it again, it would be a huge challenge to get the attitude back and to attack again. But I don’t want to think about that.

What changes the climb for the club?
In our ten years up to the descent, we have gained a lot of experience in the Super League. Nobody is afraid of it, but we have respect. There are other opponents on the pitch, but also next to it. There are more fans, and interest is also greater in the media. You are much more in the shop window. The players are more valuable if they play in the Super League. Many factors would change, but the work that the audience perceives remains exactly the same.

According to Gerber at FC Thun, some factors would change in the event of an ascent. Bild: keystone

FC Thun has always had money worries in the past. Would an ascent automatically put the club on healthier legs?
Not automatically. But it’s also about the feeling of being part of the Super League again. As a club, you are automatically perceived differently. You become more interesting at all levels. For sponsors, but also for the audience. And the television money is also higher.

Your budget is around CHF 10 million. It was about five million higher in the Super League. Will you move again in this context?
Approximately. But it is not the case that we simply have five million more income. Of course there are also additional editions. In the infrastructure, security – and the team inevitably becomes more expensive. But the players also become more interesting because they are in the larger shop window. This is a very important factor for transfer proceeds.

Coach Mauro Lustrinelli has extended his contract by three years. After three years with him you can climb, where do you see Thun in three years?
You have to ask God. An ascent releases a lot of energy, but I believe that nobody is so naive and thinks we stay in the Super League with combat spirit and solidarity. We have to put a shovel on it.

Mauro Lustrinelli has been on the sidelines for the Bernese Oberländer for three years. Bild: keystone

How do you mean that?
The Super League has changed compared to the 10 seasons we played there. There are many more investors in the clubs, and it has become normal for clubs to spend several million for a transfer. In the past, it was Basel and YB who were financially leading and were most able to spend on transfers. Today there are several clubs with potent investors with Lausanne, Lugano, GC and Yverdon. St. Gallen and Lucerne have stabilized. The only club that is currently comparable to us is Winterthur. The others have more options, and accordingly we would have to make optimizations, but not turn everything upside down.

How do you manage that FC Thun does not become a lift team and descends again?
First and foremost, we have to make good transfers. Which does not mean as many as possible. Good squad planning is crucial. Of course, the whole thing is also important, but if we assume that it stays the same, something has to go on the pitch.

So you have to reinforce the squad, which in turn needs money. Will you burden investor Beat Fahrni’s wallet in the Super League?
The goal is not to spend more and more money from Beat Fahrni. And we logically also have other sources (sponsors, spectators, investors, TV money etc.) at FC Thun, it should and must be. But of course it is extremely important to know that he is there and committed to us. However, we are still very conscious to optimize our entire structure and continue to spend the money very consciously.

Five years ago, Gerber was elected President of FC Thun.Bild: keystone

Do you not go to FC Thun in a dependency?
In retrospect for my five years as President, I can say that Beat gets something of the best that I succeeded. There is always a certain risk of lump. Other clubs have that too. But rather a lump risk than that the club no longer exists. You just have to be grateful for that. There are a lot of people who support FC Thun, but of course Beat has already risen decisively. It is also his goal that the club is broadly supported and does not fold together when it is no longer.

What are you most looking forward to in the Super League?
That is a good question. I haven’t considered that yet. But the classic answer would now be the derbies against YB, and that is probably not entirely wrong. When the hut is full, it is something of the most beautiful. When people come to the stadium and you see what the club moves in humans and you don’t just hear everywhere that everyone finds FC Thun cool and personable, but you also see it on site, we see that our work is valued and makes sense that we can be role models by being as we are. And that makes you feel good.

Did you experience your last descent in 2020?
I hope so. It was a very formative moment, almost like someone dies. My son cried for hours at the time. That torn my heart. I will probably not forget that until my death. And even now when I talk about it, I’ll be emotionally again. The mood was incredibly depressing after the descent. Then the resignation of President Markus Lüthi, and privately I had a death in the family a year later during the barrage. So this descent is not simply associated with emotions for me. It goes much deeper. And I hope that I never have to experience something like this again. At the same time it was so formative, these five years since then, I could learn so much. That couldn’t have been a degree.

In 2020, the Thuners descended from the Super League.Bild: keystone

Now they are facing the end. What happens when the referee whistles and FC Thun is actually determined as a promoted one?
I don’t know what will go in me. Maybe I’ll just go home or walk into the forest alone.

Secure?
I don’t know it. It will be very emotional. Logically, we want to share the joy with everyone. But we have worked towards this success for years. That’s why I would like to share this moment with my closest companions, first cuddle Mauro and Domi (head of sports Dominik Albrecht).

So when the fans storm the space and raise them in the air, do you have no pleasure?
It’s like the birth of a child. This is a magical moment. You want to share it with your closest companions. That also has to do with respect. We suffered a lot for years and had to take a lot of criticism. When it is done, this moment belongs only to you and your closest companion. But yes, we have to deliver now, then we can still get the champagne out. (riz/sda)