Football in Finland | |
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Country | Finland |
Governing body | Football Association of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Palloliitto) |
National team(s) | Men's national team Women's national team |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
League: Tier 1: Veikkausliiga, Kansallinen Liiga Tier 2: Ykkösliiga, Naisten Ykkönen Tier 3: Ykkönen, Naisten Kakkonen Tier 4: Kakkonen, Naisten Kolmonen Tier 5: Kolmonen, Naisten Nelonen Tier 6: Nelonen, Naisten Vitonen Tier 7: Vitonen Tier 8: Kutonen Tier 9: Seiska Cups: Finnish Cup Finnish Women's Cup | |
International competitions | |
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Culture of Finland |
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People |
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Mythology and folklore |
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Football in Finland is not, or at least has traditionally not been, the most popular spectator sport, which is in contrast to most European countries; it falls behind ice hockey, which enjoys a huge amount of popularity in the country. [1] Football tops ice hockey in the number of registered players (115,000 vs. 60,000 [2] [3] ) and as a popular hobby (160,000 vs. 90,000 among adults and 230,000 vs. 105,000 among youths [4] [5] ). It is the most popular hobby among 3-18 year olds, whereas ice hockey is 9th. [5]
Football's standing is constantly increasing, especially among girls and women, where the yearly growth rate has lately been over 10 percent. [6] In season 2006–07 19.9 percent of registered players were female. [6] The Football Association of Finland (Finnish : Suomen Palloliitto) has approximately one thousand member clubs. [2] According to a Gallup poll, nearly 400,000 people include football among their hobbies. [4] [5]
Football developed in Finland in the early twentieth century when Finland was still a Grand Duchy in personal union with the Russian Empire. Following the Bolshevik seizure of power in the October Revolution in November 1917, Finland declared its full independence and it was shortly recognised by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in January 1918. Football was first brought to Finland in the 1890s by English sailors, and it was first played in Turku. The first national competition in the sport was set up in 1906, and won by a school team from Turku. The Football Association of Finland was founded in 1907 and it joined FIFA the following year. Due to the sport's historically low status in Finland, the country has never really excelled in football. Only since the 1980s, due to the revival of Finnish football, has the country produced such international stars as Jari Litmanen, Antti Niemi, Sami Hyypiä, Mikael Forssell, Mixu Paatelainen, Teemu Tainio and Jussi Jääskeläinen.
The highest division in Finnish men's football is the Veikkausliiga , comprising 12 professional football teams. Below that is a league system maintained by the Finnish Football Association, with Ykkönen , or First Division, as the second highest division, with 10 teams. Beneath Ykkönen, each division is divided into 'groups' based on the location of the clubs. For instance, the Second Division, or Kakkonen , has 40 teams divided into four regional groups, each of 10 teams.
The Finnish Cup is Finland's national cup competition, open to all member clubs of the Finnish Football Association. In the 2009 season, 356 clubs signed up to take part in the competition. [7]
All Finnish domestic football competitions take place in the spring, summer and autumn, due to weather conditions. Similar systems are used in the other Nordic countries as well, except for Denmark which had that system in the past.
The Finland national team played its first international match in 1911 against Sweden. Finland was still then a Grand Duchy part of the Russian Empire, and became independent in 1917. Finland have played in a few Olympic Games, finishing fourth in 1912, but have so far never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Finland qualified to UEFA European Championship for the first time in 2020.
The Football Association of Finland also organizes national under-19 and under-21 teams.
The Finland women's national football team made their competitive debut in the 1984 European Competition for Women's Football qualification. [8] To date, their most successful competition has been UEFA Women's Euro 2005, where they reached the semi-finals stage. [8]
Since 1943 the Åland Football Association (ÅFA) has organized football in Åland. The ÅFA is a district association of the Football Association of Finland. However, the Åland Islands fields independent men's and women's national teams, principally competing in the Island Games.
Stadiums with a capacity of 10,000 or higher are included.
# | Photo | Stadium | Capacity | City | Home Team | Founding year | Cite |
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1 | Helsinki Olympic Stadium | 36,200 | Helsinki | Finland | 1938 | [9] | |
2 | Tampere Stadium (Ratina Stadion) | 16,800 | Tampere | Finland, Ilves | 1966 | [10] | |
3 | Lahden Stadion | 14,465 | Lahti | FC Lahti | 1981 | [11] | |
4 | Paavo Nurmi Stadium | 13,000 | Turku | 1893 | [12] | ||
5 | Porin Stadion | 12,300 | Pori | FC Jazz | 1966 | [13] | |
6 | Bolt Arena | 10,770 | Helsinki | HJK, HIFK, Finland | 2000 | [14] |
Turun Palloseura, commonly known as TPS, is a professional football club based in Turku, Finland. During the 2024 season, the men's first team of the club competes in new Ykkösliiga, the second highest tier of men's football, and the women's representative team in the Kansallinen Liiga, the highest level of women's football in Finland. Nicknamed "Tepsi", the club was founded in 1922.
Mikkelin Palloilijat is a Finnish professional football club, based in Mikkeli, that competes in the Ykkösliiga, the new second-tier in Finnish football league system. The club was founded in 1929 and also included volleyball, bandy and ice hockey sections.
Vaasan Palloseura, commonly referred to as VPS, is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (Veikkausliiga). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matches at Hietalahti. VPS played twice in the UEFA Cup in 1998–99 and in 1999–00, but were knocked out in the 2nd Qualifying Round by Grazer AK of Austria and in the 1st Qualifying Round by St Johnstone of Scotland.
Sport is considered a national pastime in Finland and many Finns visit different sporting events regularly. Pesäpallo is the national sport of Finland, although the most popular forms of sport in terms of television viewers and media coverage are ice hockey and Formula One. In spectator attendance, harness racing comes right after ice hockey in popularity.
JJK Jyväskylä is a Finnish football club, based in Jyväskylä. JJK plays its home matches at Harjun Stadion.
Finnish Cup 2009 was the 55th season of the main annual football (soccer) cup competition in Finland. It is organized as a single-elimination knock–out tournament.
2010 Finnish Cup was the 56th season of the main annual football (soccer) cup competition in Finland. It was organized as a single-elimination knock–out tournament.
The 2011 Veikkausliiga was the 81st season of top-tier football in Finland. It began on 2 May 2011 and ended on 29 October 2011. HJK were the defending champions and successfully defended their title.
The 2012 Finnish Cup is the 58th season of the main annual association football cup competition in Finland. It is organised as a single-elimination knock–out tournament. Participation in the competition is voluntary. A total of 198 teams registered for the competition, with 12 teams from the Veikkausliiga, 10 from the Ykkönen, 28 from the Kakkonen, 54 from the Kolmonen and 94 teams from other divisions.
HIFK Fotboll or IFK Helsingfors, was the association football section of HIFK, a sports club based in Helsinki, Finland. The men's football team currently competes in the Kolmonen whereas the women's first team is in Naisten Kakkonen. Both teams use Väinämöisen kenttä in Töölö as their home ground.
Naisten Ykkönen is the second highest division of women's football in Finland. It is overseen by the Suomen Palloliitto. Teams in Naisten Ykkönen can gain promotion to the top-tier Kansallinen Liiga or be relegated to the third-tier Naisten Kakkonen. At the conclusion of the 2019 season, PK-35 Vantaa gained promotion to the Kansallinen Liiga as champions of the Naisten Ykkönen and PK-35 gained promotion by winning the promotion/relegation series against IK Myran. Conversely, GBK Kokkola and Ilves/2, were relegated to the Naisten Kakkonen at the conclusion of the 2019 season.
Diogo Alberto Soares Tomas is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Veikkausliiga club HJK and the Finland national team.
The 2020 Finnish Cup is the 66th season of the Finnish Cup football competition.
Anna Reetta Alisa Tamminen is a Finnish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Hammarby IF and the Finland women's national football team.
The 2020 Kansallinen Liiga was the 14th season of the Naisten Liiga, the top flight women's division of the Finnish football league system and the 1st season of the Kansallinen Liiga after its change of name. Åland United were the champions after 18 rounds of matches.
The 2021 Finnish Cup is the 67th season of the Finnish Cup football competition.
PK-35 Vantaa is a football club based in Vantaa, Finland. The club is "dedicated to women's football" and its representative team plays in the Kansallinen Liiga, the top-tier women's league in Finland. PK-35 Vantaa has won the Finnish Championship six times and the Finnish Women's Cup four times. The club's home ground is the Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion in the Myyrmäki district of Vantaa.
Tuomas Ollila is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ligue 2 club Paris FC, and the Finland national team.
The 2022 Veikkausliiga was the 92nd season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK won the championship for the third consecutive season.
Ykkösliiga is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system, managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams in Ykkösliiga also play a pre-season league cup, the Ykkösliigacup.
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