Liverpool midfielder Dominic Corness is one of the few English players to play in the Swiss Super League and he helped write history on Sunday.
Corness made the bold decision this summer to leave Liverpool on loan and join newly promoted Yverdon Sport in the Swiss top flight.
It was the 20-year-old’s first chance to play senior football, having spent the previous 15 years of his career as part of the Reds’ academy.
His debut came on the bench in a 2-0 defeat at FC Zurich in July, before coming on as an unused substitute for one afternoon in a 2-2 draw with Young Boys.
Sunday brought another cameo, as Yverdon Sport came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory over rivals FC Lausanne-Sport in the Vaud derby.
In this way, he helped make history when English players first faced each other in the Swiss Super League, formed in 2003.
Lausanne-Sport’s squad included left-back Archie Brown, ex -Derby, who played the 90 minutes. while Corness came on for Yverdon Sport’s Hugo Fargues in the final 19 minutes.
Former Arsenal winger Trae Coyle was an unused substitute for Lausanne-Sport while Jamie Roche – half English, half Swedish – was replaced.
Corness was brought in to level the score but Evans Maurin scored in the 93rd minute to give Yverdon Sport their first win of the season.
Wearing the number 10 shirt, the young midfielder has so far made sure to keep things simple as he prepares for his full debut.
That could happen later this month when Yverdon Sport’s next two games are against Lugano in the league (August 13) and Haute-Gruyere in the Swiss Cup first round (August 20).
The latter is his most likely starting opportunity as the lower division Haute-Gruyere offers coach Marco Schallibaum the opportunity to revamp his squad.
Although they made Swiss Super League history on Sunday, Brown and Corness are not the first English players to ply their trade in Switzerland.
David Fairclough is one of those who managed to do so even before the formation of the top flight, when the super substitute moved from Liverpool to FC Luzern in 1983.