September 15, 2020
History
The Finnish Championship was first competed for in 1908,
initially as a knock-out competition before becoming a league competition in
1930. The league became known as the Veikkausliiga in 1990, named after the
national betting agency.
HJK from Helsinki have been the dominant club over the
history of the league, winning 29 titles and being runner-up 14 times. FC Haka
from Valkeakoski have won the championship 9 times.
The Veikkausliiga is currently ranked 43rd by
UEFA, below Moldova and the Republic of Ireland but above Georgia and Malta.
The
National Side
Prior to
the recent Nations League matches the national side were 58th in the
FIFA world rankings, making them 31st best in Europe, below
Scotland, Hungary and Greece, but above Bulgaria, Montenegro and Slovenia.
However, the narrow 0-1 loss to Wales and the 1-0 victory over the Republic of
Ireland should see Finland rise in the rankings.
In
the Euro 2020 qualifiers Finland had their best ever campaign, qualifying for
the finals of a major tournament for the first time in their history after
finishing second in their group behind Italy. Despite losing 4 matches ( to
Italy twice, to Greece 1-2 and Bosnia 1-4 ), six victories were enough to see
Finland 4 points clear of Greece in second place in the final table. Home wins
over Greece ( 1-0 ), Bosnia ( 2-0 ) plus doing the double over Armenia ( 3-0,
2-0 ) and Lichtenstein ( 3-0, 2-0 ) were sufficient to create history, with
Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki scoring 10 goals.
The squad for the September Nations League matches
contained only three players playing their club football in Finland, Daniel
O’Shaughnessy and Nikolai Alho from HJK and Ilmari Niskanen from KuPS. Three of
the starting line-up for the win over Ireland play in the Bundesliga, keeper
Lukas Hradecky and forward Joel Johjanpalo at Bayer Leverkusen, whilst the goal
scorer Frederik Jansen is at Augsburg. Captain Tim Sparv plays for Larissa in
Greece, whilst fellow midfielders Glen Kamara and Robert Taylor are with
Rangers and SK Brann respectively. Four of the squad are with Swedish clubs
whilst two play in Denmark. In addition to Pukki, two other players are based
in England. Third choice goal keeper Anssi Jaakkola is at Bristol Rovers while
Nicholas Hamalainen plays for QPR.
Despite never having previously qualified for a major
finals, Finland has produced several outstanding footballers, the most
illustrious of whom is Jari Litmanen ( ex Ajax, Barcelona and Liverpool ) who
scored a record 32 goals in 137 appearances for the national team. Liverpool
centre back Sami Hyppia earned 105 caps whilst other names who should be
familiar in the UK include Mikael Forssell ( ex Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leeds
and Birmingham ), Joonas Kolkka ( ex Crystal Palace ), Mixu Paatelainen ( ex
Dundee United, Aberdeen, Bolton, Wolves and Hibernian amongst others ), Shefki
Kuqi ( ex Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich and Crystal Palace to name a few ) and Antti
Niemi ( ex Southampton, Fulham, Hearts and Rangers ). In total, 17 Finns have
played in the Premier League.
League
Structure
Due to the harsh winter climate in Finland the
Veikkausliiga is typically played between April and November and consists of 12
sides who play each other twice. At this point the top half form the Champion
Series whilst the bottom half make up the Challenger Series for an additional 5
matches for a 27 game season.
The winners qualify for the first qualifying round of
the UEFA Champions League with the runners-up and the winner of the Finnish Cup
qualifying for the UEFA Conference League. The final UEFA Conference League
place will be determined via a series of play-offs, first between the winner of
the Challenger Series and the sides finishing 4th, 5th
and 6th in the Champions Series. The winner of that competition then
plays-off over two legs against the side that finishes 3rd in the
Champions Series.
The side finishing bottom of the Challenger Series is
automatically relegated, whilst the 11th placed team has a
two-legged play-off against the winner of the Second Division play-offs between
the sides that finish 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
The Second Division is known as Ykkonen ( Number One )
and this season consists of 12 teams and has an identical format to the Veikkausliiga
for a 27 match season. The bottom three
sides of the Relegation round are relegated to the third level of football.
Only five sides in the Veikkausliiga play on natural
grass surfaces - FC Honka, FC Ilves, Inter Turku, FC Lahti and TPS. The FC
Lahti, RoPS and IFK Mariehamn stadiums have an athletics track around the
pitch.
Last
Season
The 2019 Veikkausliiga was won KuPS from Kuopio, who
won the title for the 6th time by finishing 5 points ahead of FC
Inter from Turku. Ilves from Tampere finished in fourth place but beat IFK
Mariehamn in the Cup Final to clinch their place in the Europa League. The
final Europa League slot was taken by FC Honka, who won the play-off
competition after finishing third in the Champions Series. Both FC Honka and
Ilves had finished a point behind Inter Turku. HJK finished a disappointing, by their standards, 5th place.
FC Haka were promoted as Ykkonen champions whilst TPS
of Turku were promoted after beating TPV of Kokkola in the relegation play-off.
In the first qualifying round of the 2020/21 Champions
League, KupS were thrashed 0-5 at Norwegian Champions Molde in what was
described on Twitter as the Student Kitchen derby ! KuPS now face a home tie
against Slovan Bratislava, who were eliminated from the Champions League after
being unable to play their tie in the Faroes after an outbreak of Covid-19 in
their camp. Should KuPS get through this tie they have a visit to Moldovan
Champions Sheriff Tiraspol.
In the first qualifying round of the 2020/21 Europa
league all Finnish entrants were eliminated. Inter Turku went down 1-2 after
extra time to Hungarians Honved. Inter had missed several good chances before
going behind in the 89th minute, but dramatically equalized two
minutes later to force extra time. However, a desperate sliding tackle resulted
in an unlucky own goal to settle the tie in favour of Honved.
FC Ilves were perhaps even more unfortunate, twice
leading in Dublin against Shamrock Rovers before losing 11-12 in a dramatic
penalty shoot-out.
FC Honka were beaten 2-5 by AGF in Aarhus. The Danes
exploited an appearant weakness in the air to score from two corners and win a
penalty following a handball in the confusion from a long throw. However, Honka
had got back to 2-3 as the match approached 90 minutes but were caught on the
break as they pressed for an equaliser, and then conceded another on the break
straight after to give the final score line an unflattering look.
Attendances
When football resumed after the COVID suspension, spectators
were allowed but with restrictions of 500 people in each sector of the stadium.
So far three matches have attracted crowds of over 3,000, with 3,300 watching
TPS vs Inter Turku ( the Turku derby ), 3,260 attending Ilves vs KuPS and 3,021
at TPS vs KuPS. The average for the season is currently 1,415, led by SJK Seinajoki
with 1,918
In 2019 the regular season league average was 2,650,
with HJK the best supported side with an average of 5,422 whilst IFK Mariehamn with
1,192 had the lowest average.
How To
Watch
All Veikkausliiga matches are streamed live on Bet365.
Highlights of all matches are posted on the Veikkausliiga
website ( http://www.veikkausliiga.com
) in the Videot section on the home page. However, if you wish to watch a match
from more than a few days ago you need to scroll through all the pages of
videos until you find it !
Eight of the sides post highlights of league games on
their YouTube channels, namely Ilves, Haka, TPS, SJK Seinajoki, HJK, KuPS, Honka and
Lahti.
The Season So Far
The season was due to start on April 3rd
but was delayed due to Covid-19 and instead commenced on July 1st. Rounds
of mid-week matches are being played in order to catch-up and finish the season
on schedule before the dark winter nights arrive.
The Cup Final will be played between HJK and Inter
Turku on October 3rd, with the match being played at the Veritas Stadion
in Turku.
Although Round 14 has now been completed, the two
matches from Round 18 involving the Cup finalists have already been played,
with the remainder scheduled for October 2nd. As a result, HJK are
currently at the top of the table, although KuPS would overtake them should
they win their game in hand. During the week HJK had lost a dramatic Helsinki
derby against HIFK, coming back from 1-3 to level the match, only for HIFK grab
another goal in the 89th minute for a 4-3 win. HJK bounced back from
that set back with 2-1 win at Ilves, which was more comfortable than the score
line suggests with only a combination of poor finishing and inspired
goalkeeping from Riikonen preventing a rout, before a late goal for Ilves meant
a slightly nervy end to the game for HJK.
KuPS scrapped home at FC Lahti, needing an 89th
minute winner from Saxman to register their fifth consecutive victory and to avoid
slipping further behind HJK. FC Lahti dominated the first 60 minutes of the
match, taking a 9th minute lead when Zeqiri was on hand to knee home
the loose ball after keeper Virtanen was beaten in the air.
Zeqiri quickly turned from hero to villain though when he missed an open goal from 6 yards. Early in the second half Assehnoun ran through the KuPS defence but rather than square the ball to the unmarked Klinga for an easy tap-in he decided to shoot straight at the advancing keeper. This let-off seemed to wake-up KuPS and with 30 minutes remaining Nissila fired home left footed from just inside the area. After this, there looked like being only one winner, and Purje, Saxman and Udo all had great chances for KuPS before Saxman turned home a low cross.
Zeqiri quickly turned from hero to villain though when he missed an open goal from 6 yards. Early in the second half Assehnoun ran through the KuPS defence but rather than square the ball to the unmarked Klinga for an easy tap-in he decided to shoot straight at the advancing keeper. This let-off seemed to wake-up KuPS and with 30 minutes remaining Nissila fired home left footed from just inside the area. After this, there looked like being only one winner, and Purje, Saxman and Udo all had great chances for KuPS before Saxman turned home a low cross.
Inter Turku earned a 0-0 at HIFK to stay in third, but are now 6 points behind HJK, whilst HIFK stay in 5th. HIFK had the two best chances to settle the game. In first half injury time Mattsson failed to make connect to a corner from 2 yards out when any contact would have resulted in a goal, and with 3 minutes remaining substitute Halme turned and shot over from around 12 yards. For Inter the most noteworthy contributions came from captain Timo Furuholm, not all for good reasons ! When a clearance struck his foot he hobbled off and collapsed in pain on the side-lines. Miraculously, he stopped writhing in agony, crawled back onto the pitch and collapsed again. At least it made the linesman laugh. The veteran forward had a chance to break the deadlock for Inter but he blazed over from 6 yards. In his follow through he collided with HIFK keeper Origi and collapsed again holding his ankle, although the contact had mainly been in the chest area. Maybe he has brittle bones………
Honka’s routine 3-1 win at winless RoPS consolidated
their position in 4th place.
The defeats for Ilves and Lahti enabled IFK Mariehamn
move into the final Champions Series place with their 1-1 draw at lowly TPS,
although it was looking better until Tehe’s late equalizer for TPS, for whom it
was their first draw of the season. Ukrainian Dmytro Bilanoh had given Mariehamn
the lead.
SJK Seinajoki’s emphatic 4-1 win at Haka was their
third consecutive victory, and moves them to just 2 points of 6th
place. SJK had 4 different scorers, Ledezma, Oliinyk, Hetemaj and Atakayi.
Round 14
Saturday 12th September
FC Haka 1-4 SJK Seinajoki ( att : 1,652 )
RPS 1-3 FC Honka ( att : 1,020 )
Sunday 13th September
Ilves Tampere 1-2 HJK Helsinki ( att : 2,281 )
Monday 14th September
TPS Turku 1-1 IFK Mariehamn ( att : 1,120 )
FC Lahti 1-2 KuPS ( att : 1,458 )
HIFK 0-0 Inter Turku ( att : 1,502 )
Next Fixtures :
Europa League - Thursday 17th
September – 18.30 local/16.30 UK
KuPS vs Slovan Bratislava
Round 15
Thursday 17th September – 18.30
local/16.30 UK
FC Lahti vs TPS
Saturday 19th September – 17.00
local/15.00 UK
Inter Turku vs SJK Seinajoki
HIFK vs IFK Mariehamn
Ilves Tampere vs FC Haka
Sunday 20th September – 13.00
local/11.00 UK
FC Honka vs HJK Helsinki
Sunday 20th September – 18.30
local/16.30 UK
RoPS vs KuPS
A Guide To Each Club :
HJK ( Helsingin
Jalkapalloklubi )
Location : Helsinki
Stadium : Bolt Arena (
capacity 10,770 ) adjacent to the Olympic Stadium
Title Wins : 29
( last one in 2018 )
Cup Wins : 12
Colours : Blue
and White stripes, Blue shorts
Last Season : 5th
Internationals/Key Players : Roope
Riski ( striker – 4 caps ), Riku Riski ( ex Rosenborg and Dundee United winger
– 26 caps ), Tim Vayrynen ( ex Dynamo Dresden and Hansa Rostock forward – 13 caps
), Ferhan Hasani ( Macedonian winger – 38 caps ), Daniel O'Shaughnessy ( ex
Cheltenham defender – 5 caps ), Luis Murillo ( Colombian defender ), Nikolai
Alho ( right back – 2 caps ), Atomu Tanaka ( Japanese midfielder ), Reguero (
ex Inverness and Ross County Spanish goalkeeper ), Lucas Lingman ( midfield ),
Rasmus Schüller ( midfield – 40 caps ), Henri Toivomäki ( defender – 1 cap ),
Ivan Ostojić ( Serbian centre-back ), Valtteri Moren (
Centre-back – 5 caps ), David Browne ( Papua New Guinea midfielder – 3 caps )
Top Scorers : 9
- Roope Riski, 6 - Tim Vayrynen
Comment :
HJK are the only Finnish team to reach the Champions League Group stages. In
1998/99 they beat Benfica at home ( 2-1 ) and drew away ( 2-2 ). They also drew
at home with Kaiserslautern ( 0-0 ). They also reached the 2014/15 Europa
League group stages, where they beat Torino and FC Copenhagen, both 2-1 at
home.
After failing to even qualify for Europe last season,
HJK revamped their squad with the sole intention to regain the title. They are
by far the highest scorers in the division, having scored three or more goals
six times so far this season. Whilst unbeaten at home they have been held to
three draws ( KuPS, Lahti & Honka ), but six away wins out of eight (
including an impressive 3-0 win at KuPS ) means they have the best away record.
They have though lost at Inter and the nominal away match against HIFK.
KuPS ( Kuopion
Palloseura )
Location : Kuopio (
390km north of Helsinki )
Stadium : Savon Sanomat
Areena ( capacity 5,000 )
Title Wins : 6
Cup Wins : 2
Colours : Yellow
Shirts, Black Shorts
Last Season : Champions
Internationals/Key Players : Ilmari
Niskanen ( striker – 1 cap ), Rangel ( Brazilian forward ), Petteri Pennanen (
midfield – 1 cap ), Ats Purje ( Estonian forward – 69 caps ), Saku Savolainen (
forward ), Usman Sale ( Nigerian winger ), Ville Saxman ( midfield ), Otso
Virtanen ( goalkeeper ), Juho Pirttijoki ( centre back – 1 cap ), Urho Nissilä
( midfield ), Igor Tarasov ( Latvian midfielder – 34 caps ), Artur Pikk (
Estonian defender – 34 caps )
Top Scorers : 6
- Ilmari Niskanen
Comment : KuPS
are making a strong bid to retain their title and will go to the top of the
table if they win their game in hand at home to SJK. They have only lost once
this season but that was at home to HJK, the only time so far they have failed
to win a home match. Although unbeaten away in seven matches, they drew four
consecutive matches before winning at Haka and Lahti.
Inter Turku ( Football
Club International Turku )
Location : Turku
( 170km west of Helsinki )
Stadium : Veritas Stadion
( capacity 9,372 )
Title Wins : 1
( in 2008 )
Cup Wins : 2
Colours : Blue/Black
stripes, Black shorts, Change colours All Red
Last Season : 2nd
Internationals/Key Players : Timo
Furuholm ( forward – 10 caps ), Taiki Yagayama ( Japanese forward ), Rick
Ketting ( ex Sparta Dutch centre-back ), Elias Mastokangas ( midfield ), Aleksi
Paananen ( midfield ), Connor Ruane ( English wing-back ), Anthony Annan ( ex
Schalke Ghanaian midfielder – 67 caps ), Henrik Moisander ( goalkeeper – 2 caps
)
Top Scorers : 8
- Timo Furuholm
Comment : Inter
started the season strongly with eight wins in the first 11 matches ( including
a 1-0 home win over HJK ) and were top of the table after Round 9. However, a
run of 4 away matches with a win, including a surprise loss to TPS in the Turku
derby, has seen them slip back, and just 9 points from 9 away matches has hurt.
They do though have the 100% home record in the league, and with a run of 4
home matches on the trot to come they will be hoping to get back in contention.
Inter also have a”home” Cup Final against HJK to look
forward to.
FC Ilves ( Tampereen
Ilves )
Location : Tampere
( 180km north-west of Helsinki )
Stadium : Tammelon Stadion
( capacity 5,060 )
Title Wins : 1
( in 1983 )
Cup Wins : 3
Colours : Yellow
Shirts, Green shorts
Last Season : 4th
and Cup Winners
Internationals/Key Players : Jair
( Brazilian midfielder ), Mika Hilander ( goalkeeper – 2 caps ), Fofana Tiemoko
( Ivorian forward ), Diogo Tomas ( defender ), Ilari Mettala ( forward ), Lauri
Ala-Myllymäki ( midfielder ), Janne Saksela ( ex Sparta Rotterdam defender – 7
caps ), Baba Mensah ( Ghanaian defender – 1 cap ), Emile Tendeng ( Senegal
defender – 1 cap )
Top Scorers : 5
- Ilari Mettala
Comment : Ilves
translates as Lynx and are managed by Jarko Wiss ( ex Stockport County &
Hibernian ).
Ilves have tended to display typical mid-table form,
beating the sides below them and losing to the sides above them. However, they
were able to draw at home with KuPS but on the other hand could only draw at
RoPS.
Ilves defence of the Finnish Cup ended with a disappointing
0-1 home defeat to FC Haka in the quarter finals
FC Honka
Location : Espoo
( part of the Helsinki metropolitan area )
Stadium : Tapiolan
urheilupuisto ( capacity 5,000 )
Title Wins : Nil
Cup Wins : 1
Colours : Yellow
Shirts with Black stripes, Black Shorts
Last Season : 3rd
Internationals/Key Players : Borjas
Martin ( Spanish forward ), Lucas Kaufmann ( Brazilian midfielder ), Jean Marie
Dongou ( ex Barcelona and Zaragoza Cameroonian forward ), Konsta Rasimus (
midfield ), Javi Hervas ( ex Sevilla and Brisbane Roar Spanish midfielder ),
Tim Murray ( US keeper ), Demba Savage ( Gambian winger – 10 caps )
Top Scorers : 8 - Jean
Marie Dongou
Comment :
Honka started the season with a run of 11 matches unbeaten until losing at home
to HIFK, which remains their only loss to-date. They have won their two matches
since, but seven draws out of 14 matches has prevented them from mounting a
serious challenge.
HIFK ( IFK
Helsingfors )
Location : Helsinki
Stadium : Bolt Arena (
capacity 10,770 ) adjacent to the Olympic Stadium
Title Wins :
7 ( the last one in 1961 )
Cup Wins : Nil
Colours : Red
Shirts, White Shorts
Last Season : 7th
Internationals/Key Players : Riku
Selander ( midfield ), Arnold Origi ( Kenyan goalkeeper – 33 caps ), Moshtagh
Yaghoubi ( midfield – 7 caps ), Sakari Mattila ( centre back – 16 caps ), Hannu
Patronen ( centre back – 6 caps ), Sakari Tukiainen ( forward ), Jabar Sharza (
Afghan forward – 5 caps ), Joel Mattsson ( midfield )
Top Scorers : 4
– Luis Henrique ( now Vejle in Denmark )
Comment : Originally
the club for Swedish speakers in Helsinki, but is now bi-lingual. HIFK have a
close co-operation with Vejle which sees three Vejle players currently on loan
at HIFK. However, it has also meant that top scorer Luis Henrique has been
recalled to Denmark, and Joel Mattsson has already been announced as joining
Velje in January 2021.
HIFK have been inconsistent, capable of beating HJK
and Honka but losing to lowly Haka and TPS. Prior to this weekend they had only
drawn once all season. At home they have won three, draw one and lost three, but they have won 4 times away.
FC Lahti
Location : Lahti
( 105km north of Helsinki )
Stadium : Lahden Stadion (
capacity 14,500 )
Title Wins : 3
( as Reipas Lahti )
Cup Wins : 7
( as Reipas Lahti )
Colours : All
Black, Change Kit Purple Shirts, Black Shorts
Last Season : 8th
Internationals/Key Players : Jasin
Assehnoun ( striker ), Kari Arkivuo ( left back – 57 caps ), Vahid Hambo ( ex
Brighton forward ), Henri Eninful ( Togo midfielder – 9 caps ), JC Coubronne (
French right back ), Mikko Kuningas ( forward ), Mikko Viitikko ( defender ),
Patrick Rakovsky ( ex Nurnburg German keeper ), Altin Zeqiri ( forward )
Top Scorers : 6
- Jasin Assehnoun
Comment :
FC Lahti are the definition of mid-table, with a 2-3-2 record both home and
away and seem to have been either 6th or 7th in the table
each week ! The high point so far is probably the 1-1 draw at HJK, but they are
now on a run of 5 games with a win.
They are probably have the only stadium that has a
ski-jump at one end, and the markings for American Football are also visible on
the pitch !
IFK Mariehamn
Location : Mariehamn,
Aland Islands ( requiring a flight or ferry ! )
Stadium : Wiklöf Holding
Arena ( capacity 4,000 )
Title Wins : 1
( in 2016 )
Cup Wins : 1
Colours : White
Shirts, Green Shorts
Last Season : 6th
Internationals/Key Players : Albion
Ademi ( Albanian winger/striker ), Oskari Forsman ( goalkeeper ), Niilo Mäenpää
( midfield ), Kalle Taimi ( centre back – 2 caps ), Gustaf Backaliden ( Swedish
midfielder ), Johannes Laaksonen ( midfield – 3 caps ), Akseli Pelvas ( striker
– 5 caps ), Mikko Sumusalo ( left back – 7 caps ) , Dmytro Bilonoh ( ex Dynamo
Kiev Ukranian midfielder )
Top Scorers : 12
– Albion Ademi
Comment : 88%
of population are native Swedish speakers. Mariehamn started with just one win
in their first six matches before a run of three wins on the trot. They are now
on a run of one win in five. The best performance was probably the 2-0 home win
over Inter Turku. As long as Ademi continues his hot streak of scoring ( nine
goals in his last eight games ) they have a good chance of a top 6 finish.
SJK ( Seinäjoen
Jalkapallokerho )
Location : Seinajoki
( 360km north-west of Helsinki )
Stadium : OmaSP Stadion (
capacity 6,000 )
Title Wins : 1
( in 2015 )
Cup Wins : 1
Colours : All
Black
Last Season : 9th
Internationals/Key Players : Joonas
Lepisto ( forward ), Robin Sid ( midfield ), Tero Mäntylä ( centre back – 2
caps ), Matej Hradecky ( midfield – 2 caps ), Serge Atakayi ( ex Rangers
forward ), Ariel Ngueukam ( Cameroonian forward ), Niko Markkula ( defender ),
Nikko Boxall ( New Zealand defender – 4 caps ), Jake Jervis ( ex Plymouth,
Luton, Ross County English midfielder ), Denis Oliynik ( Ukrainian winger – 12
caps ), Darvin Chavez ( Mexico right back – 3 caps ), Anel Rashkaj ( Kosovan
midfielder – 11 caps ), Walter Viitala ( goalkeeper – 5 caps ), Mehmet Hetemaj
( Finnish/Kosovan midfielder - 6/1 caps ), Emmanuel Ledezma ( ex
Middlesborough, QPR, Walsall and Brighton Argentinian striker )
Top Scorers : 3-
Joonas Lepisto & Mehmet Hetemaj
Comment : Expectations
were high at SJK after the appointment of Jani Honkavaara, who coached KuPS to
the title in 2019, but they started the season poorly with only one win in
their first 11 matches. Three consecutive wins, scoring 9 goals in the process
has moved them away from the bottom zone and onto the edge of 6th
place and the Champions Series. The change in form has coincided with the
arrival of veteran Argentinian forward Emmanuel Ledezma.
FC Haka
Location : Valkeakoski
( 145km north-west of Helsinki )
Stadium : Tehtaan kenttä (
capacity 3,516 )
Title Wins : 9
( last one in 2004 )
Cup Wins : 12
Colours : White
Shirts, Black Shorts
Last Season :
1st Ykkonen
Internationals/Key Players : Eero
Markkanen ( forward – 18 caps ), Samuel Chidi ( Nigerian forward ), Henri
Malandama ( defender ), Jacob Bushue (
US midfielder ), Medo ( ex Bolton Sierra Leone midfielder – 27 caps ), Luiyi de
Lucas ( Domincan Republic centre back – 4 caps )
Top Scorers : 5
- Eero Markkanen
Comment : Coached by Teemu Tainio ( ex Tottenham and Sunderland ), Haka,
a former giant of Finnish football that fell on hard times, are back in the
Veikkausliiga after seven season in Ykkonen, but face a battle to retain their
top flight status. Haka’s home form of just two points in 8 matches with
21 goals conceded is a major reason for their lowly position in the table. Away from Valkeakoski they have gathered a
respectable 9 points from 7 games, losing only at HJK and Inter Turku.
The traditional Maori challenge is not performed by
the players before kick-off !
TPS ( Turun Palloseura )
Location : Turku
( 170km west of Helsinki )
Stadium : Veritas Stadion
( capacity 9,372 )
Title Wins : 8
( last one in 1975 )
Cup Wins : 3
Colours : Black
and White Stripes, Black Shorts
Last Season : 2nd
Ykkonen
Internationals/Key Players : Jere
Koponen ( goalkeeper ), Alim Mundi ( Cameroonian midfielder ), Tatu Varmanen (
right back ), Aldayr Hernandez ( Colombian defender ), Albijon Muzaci ( forward
), Sami Rahmonen ( defender ), Rodney Strasser ( Sierra Leone midfielder – 10
caps ), Mika Aaritalo ( striker – 6 caps ), Masahudu Alhassan ( Ghanaian left
back – 8 caps )
Top Scorers : 2 - Aldayr
Hernandez & Olawale Tehe
Comment : Coached
by Jonatan Johansson ( ex Charlton and Rangers ). After gaining promotion via
the play-offs it hasn’t been too surprising to see TPS struggling near the
bottom although the poor form of RoPS should save them from automatic
relegation. Starting with 5 consecutive defeats, TPS got their first points of
the season with a 3-2 win at RoPS before three more defeats. A surprise 1-0 win
in the Turku derby, which at times resembled the siege of the Alamo, showed
signs they could compete at this level, and another 1-0 win, over HIFK followed. Although the next two
matches were lost, a 1-1 home draw with IFK Mariehamn showed further promise of
good things to come.
RoPS ( Rovaniemen
Palloseura )
Location : Rovaniemi
( 820km north of Helsinki, located within the Arctic Circle )
Stadium : Keskuskenttä (
capacity 4,000 )
Title Wins : Nil
Cup Wins : 2
Colours : Blue
shirts, White shorts
Last Season : 10th
Internationals/Key Players : Juho
Hyvärinen ( defender ), Obed Malolo ( midfield ), Daniel Carr ( ex Huddersfield,
Dulwich Hamlet and Shamrock Rovers Trinidad & Tobago forward ), Jussi Niska
( defender ), Kalle Katz ( defender on loan from HJK ), Aleksandr Kokko (
forward – 1 cap ), Sammy Ndjock ( Cameroon keeper – 3 caps )
Top Scorers : 2
– Mattias Tamminen, Joonas Vahtera & Toumas Kaukua
Comment : RoPS
were infamous for match fixing scandals between 2008 and 2011 leading to 9
players being sacked ( from Zambia and
Georgia ).
They already look doomed to relegation, with only two points after 15 matches, and have lost their last 11 matches. They were able to draw two of their first four matches ( at home to Haka and Ilves ). On seven occasions they have conceded 3 or more goals, and are yet to keep a clean sheet.
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