Coach Hanspeter Latour once led Thun to sporting heights. Psychological tricks also helped, as he reveals in the football talk Heimspiel. Unforgettable: how he took his players to a car wash.
Hanspeter Latour (77) has long since turned his back on the football business. He ended his coaching career in 2009, after which he accompanied the national team as a pundit for SRF radio until 2014. At 68, he is retiring from football and devoting himself to his second great passion: nature and animals. Latour has been a nature observer and ambassador for biodiversity for years. He no longer wishes to comment on current football events.
He is making an exception for the end-of-year edition of "Heimspiel - der Fussball-Talk". The topic of "legendary moments in Swiss football" appeals to him. "As an animal lover, I was of course most looking forward to the marten," says Latour and laughs. The marten that scampered across the pitch during the match between Thun and FCZ in 2013 and kept the players on their toes. Undoubtedly a legendary scene that went around the world.
The most legendary moments in the history of the Super League
In the last show of "Heimspiel - der Fussball-Talk" in 2024, host Stefan Eggli, together with former coaching greats Rolf Fringer and Hanspeter Latour and Michael Wegmann, Head of blue News Sport, shed light on the most legendary moments in the history of the Super League. Those directly involved at the time will also have their say.
Latour himself also provided some unforgettable moments. After a subterranean performance and a defeat with FC Thun, he once dispensed with a video analysis and went for a walk with his players. He led the group through a car wash. Latour remembers: "The atmosphere wasn't good, it was as quiet as a mouse behind me. Then I saw the car wash and thought: 'I'm going to take the whole team through there'. That was a gut decision. When we came out, I got everyone together and said: 'The match is now washed up'. The mood was then a little better."
Latour: "I went to the car wash in my suit"
Big laughter in the studio. Unsurprisingly, Thun won the four games after the wash. "That was rare for FC Thun." Rolf Fringer is not surprised. "You won because you reacted correctly," he says to Latour, "you don't always have to analyze big defeats. Sometimes it can also help if you go for a barbecue together and have a beer or two."
When asked whether he has treated his players to a luxury wash with underbody wash and wax, Latour laughs heartily. "No, the players just got wet." Latour himself later walked through a car wash in a suit. "For a report, I then chose the full program."
It may have become quieter around Latour recently, but the cult coach has lost none of his charisma and entertainment value.
