He has been in office for 1933 days: the eternal Peter Zeidler overtakes Raimondo Ponte

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No, it won’t be enough for Guy Roux anymore. He holds the world record for the coach with the longest tenure. The now 84-year-old was on the sidelines at Auxerre for 38 years, 11 months and 29 days (see box). For Raimondo Ponte, however, it is enough. He was coach of FCZ for 1933 days, Peter Zeidler from St. Gallen will catch up with him on Monday. He is the Super League coach with the second longest tenure in the last 30 years.

Will he also break the record of Christian Gross, who joined FCB shortly before the turn of the millennium and stayed there for ten years? “Let’s see,” Zeidler replies, smiling. In any case, it will not fail because of motivation. Showing no signs of wear and tear on the 61-year-old, Zeidler is still the same bundle of energy who signed for FCSG in the summer of 2018.

The home game against SLO on Saturday will be his 214th competition game in green and white. The best was probably the 4-1 win against YB in the 2021 cup round. “Because the opponent was at the peak of his creativity at that moment,” said Zeidler. The most emotional match also took place against the Bernese. A year ago. When VAR Sandro Schärer repeated Guillaume Hoarau’s penalty – and the Bernese equalized at the last second to make it 3-3.

Corona puts an end to championship dreams

Quite a few say that the FCSG could have become champions if they had won this match. But then Corona came. And the team from St. Gallen, which is carried by the energy of the fans, no longer has a chance against YB in the final sprint in front of empty stadiums. “This is how legends are created,” Zeidler answers when asked whether they would have become champions without Corona. “YB was already very strong at that time.”

And that is still the case. It would therefore be presumptuous to talk about a championship title. Winning the cup was given as a goal for the season, but the reality is: away against promotion team Delémont. One of the bitterest defeats of the Zeidler era. The two lost cup finals also left their mark. “I often think about the fact that our worst performances came in the two finals.” He cannot explain why this is so. But of course pressure plays a role. When an entire region wants nothing more than this trophy. Or at least a European group stage.

Guy Roux succeeded, became champion in 1996 and played in the Champions League against, among others, the rankings. Zeidler met the icon once when he came up as a coach at Auxerre. “He no longer had an official job at the time, but he still hung around the office. Like an eminence grise.”

Will he still hang around Kybunpark after his coaching career ends? ‘Maybe I still live in St. Gallen. And maybe I’ll drop by every now and then. Like Werner Zünd. He was Marcel Koller’s assistant during the championship season and still comes by several times a week for a cup of coffee. That’s good for him. And that’s good for people. And that’s not the worst of it.”

Source : Blick