Thursday, August 25, 2005

FC Thun Striding Confidently Into The Spotlight:
"We are preparing to write a fairytale," FC Thun coach Urs Schoenenburger said after his side's 1-0 first leg victory over Swedish Champions and former European Cup finalists Malmo FF in their third round qualifying match. On the return leg FC Thun, the 2004 Swiss Super League runners-up, turned on the style and cruised to a 3-0 victory and booked their spot in the Champions League group stage for the first time in its 107-year history. The only team from Switzerland other than Grasshoppers Zurich and FC Basel to reach the group stage of the Champions League, FC Thun is living the dream of playing in Europe's elite competition.
Founded in 1898, the small Swiss club from
Bernese Oberland was playing in Switzerland's lower leagues until it gained promotion in 2002. The fairytale began in the second round of qualifying when they defeated 2-time European Cup Winners' Cup winners and 1999 UEFA Champions League semi-finalists Dynamo Kyiv (Kiev) 3-2 on aggregate. Kyiv had failed only once in the past 10 years to reach the group stage of the Champions League.
"This is all so thrilling, so fantastic for us its almost unbelievable" said Thun President Kurt Weder after attending the UEFA Champions League group stages draw in Monaco. FC Thun was drawn with Arsenal FC (England), Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Sparta Prague (Czech Republic). "It is all so new, a new dimension. It is a challenge for us" said Weder, "We have a club owned by the population, by the people you could say, so we don't have any big investors and nobody is in the club with more than 5% of the budget." Its annual budget of £2.4m will be guaranteed a £7.5m financial boost by its qualification in these final stages.
FC Thun begin their quest for European glory on September 14th in London against Arsenal FC at Highbury.

Champions League Group Stage Draw

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