When Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought FC Lausanne-Sport, the club were on the verge of the European places in the Swiss Super League and his investment promised an even brighter future.
However, just six months after the takeover was signed off the club were relegated, which saw unsavoury scenes of supporters wearing balaclavas storming the pitch.
Lausanne were 2-0 down to FC Thun in the penultimate game of the season, which confirmed their relegation, and tensions boiled over between the home and away fans. It was a dark blemish in the club's history and a brutal reality check for Ratcliffe and INEOS' ownership.
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Alex Weaver was in charge of Lausanne that day. "FC Thun were involved in the relegation battle, so it was a big game and I remember turning around and a section of ultras had emptied," he told the Manchester Evening News from his home in Switzerland.
"I was concentrating on the game and didn't think much of it, then all of a sudden these guys in black T-shirts and balaclavas came through the gates on the other side of the pitch.
"They confronted the FC Thun fans and it was just an absolute mess, so the referee took all the players off and I remember just observing because I was fascinated by it.
"I wasn't scared because they were directing their anger towards FC Thun and I'm from Stoke, which means I've seen derbies against Port Vale and they're not the nicest experiences."
Weaver was the de facto manager of Lausanne for their final six games of the 2017/18 season because he possessed a UEFA Pro Licence and Ilija Borenovic did not.
Borenovic had been manager of Lausanne Under-21s and Weaver had been his assistant,
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