FC Thun of Switzerland are on the brink of making history as they look to become the first newly promoted Swiss club to win the top division.
The small town of just 45,000 people currently sit 16 points clear of second place St Gallen with eight games left as they bid to win their first ever Swiss Super League title.
But this impressive achievement has been done before but by who?
These are four teams that have been promoted and won the top division in their first season:
FC Kaiserslautern -1997/98
Having risen from the second division under Otto Rehhagel in 1997- who’s name you may recognise as he also won EURO 2004 with Greece- Kaiserslautern became the only Bundesliga team to win the title after being promoted the previous season. It’s safe to say Rehhagel is a footballing-miracle worker. During the opening day, Kaiserslautern made history by defeating Bayern Munich at their Olympic Stadium 1-0. And this result proved vital as the Die Roten Teufel won the title ahead of the team they beat on their return by two points.
Nottingham Forest – 1977/78
Now this story is much more famous. After finishing third in the second division the season prior, Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest stormed the top division. They beat European Cup winners Liverpool to the title after only losing three games all season. At the heart of this title win was Peter Shilton, who joined five games into the season from Stoke for a big fee of £325,000, and he conceded just 18 goals in the remaining 37 games. Just the 21 clean sheets.
Ipswich – 1961/62
Ipswich beat Burnley to the top division title in the 1961/62 season after winning the second division the year before. Yes you read that right, it was an Ipswich and Burnley title race. The manager of the Tractor Boys was Sir Alf Ramsey, who won England’s only ever World Cup. To add to this impressive feat, it was also Ipswich’s first ever season in the top division of English Football.
Östers IF – 1968
When Östers IF entered the Allsvenskan in 1968, expectations were low outside. After Östers’ second match in the spring round, legendary Swedish footballer Gunnar Gren delivered a now classic quote:
“Östers have no business in the Allsvenskan… The Öster bubble will burst soon. Their thin chain is not up to the task.”
They went onto win the Swedish top division whilst only leading the league once during the entire season, which was in the final round of fixtures to make it even sweeter.
FC Thun – 2025/26?
Can FC Thun be the latest name to this list?
