Topics: Switzerland, Football, Liverpool, Preston North End
A surprise team is on the verge of winning Switzerland's top division, the Swiss Super League, in what would be the first major honour in their entire 127-year history.
FC Thun, based in a Swiss town with a population of just 45,000 people, won promotion from the Swiss Challenge League last season by winning the division.
They are managed by former player Marco Lustrinelli, who collected 12 caps for Switzerland and whose only other managerial experience is with Switzerland U21 and two previous spells at Thun.
To prepare for their first season back in the top flight, Thun spent around €2 million on transfers - a far smaller amount than Swiss giants Basel, who splashed out €18 million, and Young Boys, who spent around €13 million.
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Their star striker, Elmin Rastoder, hadn't scored a single career goal in the Super League before making the move to Thun in 2024.
Left-back Fabio Fuhr, who has six assists this season, had played just one Super League match before this season, while 20-year-old midfielder Franz-Ethan Meichtry - who has scored nine goals - came through Thun's academy.
And the club broke their transfer record, which had stood since 2006, to sign striker Brighton Lebeau from French second-tier side Guingamp for around €775,000.
What has developed since then has been the beginning of one of the most remarkable stories in recent European football history, with Thun currently sitting 14 points clear at the top of the Super League table.
They have won nine of their last 10 matches, including a 4-1 home win over Young Boys and a 2-1 away victory at Basel.
Their latest victory, a 1-0 win over FC Sion last Saturday, set a new club record of eight consecutive wins.
Should their remarkable form continue, they could have the title wrapped up by the time the Super League splits into two halves, with the top six teams - the Championship Group - playing each other once across the final five matches.
There are still plenty of points left on the table between now and the end of the season, of course - but Thun have put themselves in an ideal position.
There have been comparisons made between Thun's rise up to the top of Switzerland and Leicester City's 2016 Premier League title win.
Like in Leicester's title-winning campaign, many of the top teams have faltered, with Basel and Young Boys in fifth and sixth places respectively.
It is instead St Gallen, who have won one Super League title in the last 122 years, that are Thun's closest challengers at present.
FC Lugano, who were runners-up in 2023/24, are a point further back in third, having drawn four of their last five matches.
Despite Thun's lack of success throughout their history, they have competed in European football on a number of occasions.
They reached the group stages of the Champions League in 2005/06, in which they recorded a famous 1-0 win over Sparta Prague before losing twice to Arsenal.
Their current connection to English football is through former Liverpool and Preston North End striker Layton Stewart, who signed on a permanent deal from the latter club in the summer after a loan spell.
The 23-year-old, though, failed to score in five league appearances this season and was sent out on loan to League One side AFC Wimbledon, where he has yet to play.
During pre-season, with Thun tipped as potential relegation contenders, manager Lustrinelli was asked by blue Sport to name his intentions for the 2025/26 campaign.
"We want to play an important role in the Super League in the next two or three years," he replied.
"FC Thun has also played in Europe with a certain regularity in the past. We want to get back there."
It's fair to say the club have gone above and beyond that prediction already.
