Australian rules football in Finland is controlled by the Finland AFL, which formed in 2006 after the creation of Finland's first Australian football club around a year earlier. Domestic matches began in 2007 with two teams, the Helsinki Heatseekers and Salo Juggernauts. A third team, the Espoo Roos was created in 2008 but only lasted one season due to insufficient members. The remaining players joined the Helsinki team, but there are plans to revive Espoo in the future. A third standalone club, the Turku Dockers, was formed in late 2008 by Australian Ex-pats Craig Primmer and Grant Siermans. During the 2010 season, Helsinki players Mika Kupila and Kaj Karlsson who study in Vaasa decided to create a team in the city, the Vaasa Wombats, and they are hoping to join the league in 2011.
The FAFL plays the European style Australian football which is played on soccer or American football fields and consists of 15 players on each team, with nine on the field and six on the interchange. The FAFL plays 15-minute quarters and also has a 40-metre scoring zone where all scores must be made from.
The first full domestic season was played with three stand-alone teams in 2009. The Turku Dockers defeated Helsinki for the inaugural Finnish premiership.[1]
2010 saw the Turku Dockers go back to back, but this time defeating the Salo Juggernauts. The Dockers completed the 'perfect season' by not losing a game for the entire year, with an average winning margin of 73 points.
After the 2010 home and away season the first ever FAFL cup was held in Tali, Helsinki. Four teams competed on the day in a round robin style tournament that consisted of 12-minute halves. The Vaasa Wombats made their Australian Football debut against the Helsinki Heatseekers, losing by just 11 points. The Wombats scored their first win against the Salo Juggernauts in their second game of the day. The Turku Dockers won the tournament after defeating Helsinki in the final by 10 points. The Dockers were undefeated for the day, with close wins over Salo (6 points) and Helsinki (3 points) but more comfortably over Vaasa (27 points).
Premiers:
2009: Turku Dockers 11.13:79 dft Helsinki Heatseekers 8.7:55
2010: Turku Dockers 19.17:131 dft Salo Juggernauts 8.5:53
2011: Vaasa Wombats 13.16:94 dft Turku Dockers 5.5:35
2012: Helsinki Heatseekers 18.8:116 dft Turku Dockers 8.1:49
2013: Turku Dockers 14.12:96 dft Helsinki Heatseekers 7.11:53
2014: Turku Dockers 14.17:101 dft Helsinki Heatseekers 7.11:53
2015: Helsinki Heatseekers dft Turku Dockers
FAFL Tournament winners
2010: Turku Dockers 7.9:51 dft Helsinki Heatseekers 6.5:41
2013: Helsinki Heatseekers 10.8:68 dft Vaasa Wombats 2.2:14
2015: Helsinki Heatseekers 5.2:34 dft Turku Dockers 3.3:31
League Best and Fairest
2009: Mika Kupila (Helsinki Heatseekers) and Juuso Timosaari (Turku Dockers)
2010: Ville Koivunen (Salo Juggernauts)
Leagues leading goal kicker
2009: Juuso Timosaari, 29 goals (Turku Dockers)
2010: Juha Leino, 20 goals (Turku Dockers)
2011: Martin Coloe, 18 goals (Helsinki Heatseekers)
2012: Juuso Timosaari, 22 goals (Turku Dockers)
2013: Terry Ludeman, 22 goals (Helsinki Heatseekers)
League Records:
Highest score: 26.18: 174, Vaasa Wombats vs Salo Juggernauts (2013)
Most goals in a game: 10, Carl Steinfort (Helsinki Heatseekers, 2009) and Juha Leino (Turku Dockers, 2010)
Career goals: Juuso Timosaari, 101 goals (Turku Dockers)
The Finland Icebreakers are the representative Australian rules football team of Finland, formerly known as the Finnish Lions. They have twice won the Central European AFL Championships, going back-to-back in 2006 and 2007. While the team was started by Australian expatriates, it has been captained by a Finn ever since the 2nd match. Captains have included Kimmo Heikkilä, Jani Saarinen, Fredrik Romar and Ville Koivunen. The Icebreakers are now almost exclusively Finns.
The old Finnish jumper was primarily blue, with a white rectangle in the centre with the blue cross of the Finnish flag through it, and the coat of arms immediately below it. The current national jumper still has the flag as the predominant feature, but instead of the coat of arms, includes a stylized iceberg graphic.
The Lions' first home game on 13 May 2006 was claimed as the northernmost international game of Australian rules ever played, being hosted in Helsinki, the northernmost capital of Europe, although this was later overtaken by the club in Falun, Sweden.
2007
Finland participated in the 2007 EU cup in Hamburg, Germany finishing six after a disappointing 2-point loss to Spain which would have seen them advance and be certain of a top four finish. Two Finnish players were voted into the All-European team, Grant Siermans who played with the Finland Icebreakers and Jari Pystynen who played with the EU Crusaders. Siermans was also the leading goal kicker for Finland booting 13 goals, which was the second most by any player during the day. In the strongest man competition, Izzy Barker won, completing the greatest number of push ups.
AFLBrownlow medallistJimmy Bartel visited Finland in October 2007, playing for the Salo Juggernauts following his AFL premiership season. In the game, he took a spectacular mark over an opposition ruckman and a difficult goal from the pocket. He was presented with the no.8 guernsey for the Finland national team.[3]
2008
Finland defending against Israel-Palestine at the IC08
Finland made its Australian Football International Cup debut at the 2008 tournament. The Finns finished 14th out of the 16 competing nations, losing their first four matches, but then defeating fellow debutants India in their final game of the tournament.
Finland then sent a team to the 2008 EU Cup in Prague, even after having just sent a national team to the AFL International Cup in Australia. The team consisted of six Australians, one New Zealander, three Irish and only five Finns due to the financial burden the IC tournament put on many national players. Even so, the Finland Icebreakers under new coaches James Meek and Simon McGregor and captain Jani Saarinen performed well throughout the day and finished a place higher than the previous year defeating France in the final game of the day to finish fifth. Once again, Grant Siermans was voted into the All-European team after finishing second in the tournament vote count, and also took out the tournaments leading goal kicker with fifteen goals for the day. Mika Kupila performed well in the fast man competition finishing second.
In 2009 Finland sent a team to the EU Cup in Croatia made up entirely of players who had learned the game in Finland. The squad consisted of 13 Finns, an Irishman and a Colombian. The team was coached by Grant Siermans and captained by Fredi Romar. The Icebreakers had two wins for the day, marginally beating Andorra and having a comfortable win over the Czech Republic. Finland performed well against eventual winners England, and were leading by 9 points at half time, the only team to be leading England at half time for the entire day. However, they lost to England and then were convincingly beaten by the Irish Exiles, leaving them in 8th position.
Leading goal kicker for Finland was Juuso Timosaari who kicked 4 goals for the day and also registered some sort of scoring shot in all of the four games Finland played.
Mika Kupila was rewarded for his consistent performances all day by being selected into the All-European team. Janne Hokkanen performed well in the strongest man competition finishing 3rd, whilst Siermans won the longest kick.
The Finland national football team represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team has been a member of FIFA since 1908 and a UEFA member since 1957.
The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, nicknamed Leijonat / Lejonen, is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the United States, Czechia, Russia, and Sweden.
Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2002. His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for six races, scoring two podiums and contributing to Ferrari's constructors' championship win. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Sami Sakari Salo is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman of the National Hockey League (NHL). He began his professional career with TPS of the SM-liiga before being selected by the Ottawa Senators with their last pick in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.
Matthew Lee Pavlich is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Paul Medhurst is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Collingwood Football Club and the Fremantle Football Club.
The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over the Dutch proposal.
The Finnish national cricket team is the team that represents Finland in international cricket. It is organised by the Cricket Finland.
Juhani Jorma Kalervo Wahlsten was a Finnish professional ice hockey player and ice hockey coach who worked as an exercise and gymnastics teacher in Finland. He was also known by the nickname "Juuso". He also established and helped guide the early development of ringette in Finland, the first European country to do so.
Australian rules football is played in Europe at an amateur level in a large number of countries. The oldest and largest leagues are those in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, in each of these nations there are several established clubs, and organised men's, women's and juniors programs. The British AFL has now expanded into Welsh, Scottish and English leagues. The Danish AFL has been responsible for the expansion of Australian Football into Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway. The governing body for Australian Football in Europe was founded in Frankfurt in January 2010; the body was initially called the European Australian Football Association, but changed its name to AFL Europe at a general assembly meeting in Milan in October of the same year. It currently has 22 member nations. AFL Europe, with backing of the AFL in Australia has overseen a large improvement in the organisation of Australian football in Europe.
The 2008 season of Veikkausliiga was the 78th season of top-tier football in Finland. It started on 27 April 2008 and ended on 26 October 2008. The defending champions were Tampere United.
The F-liiga is the top men's floorball league in Finland. The league was founded as Salibandyn SM-sarja in 1986 by the Finnish Floorball Federation (SSBL). It was renamed to Salibandyliiga for the 1994–95 season. The Salibandyliiga was operated by the company SSBL Salibandy Oy, a subsidiary of the Finnish Floorball Federation. The current name F-liiga is used since season 2020–21.
Michael Walters is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally playing mainly as a small forward, Walters has recently spent more time in the midfield. In 2019 he was rewarded with his debut selection in the All-Australian team.
Finland Men's National Floorball Team is the national floorball team of Finland. The national team was founded in 1985 and they played their first official game against Sweden in 1985. Finland has won four World Championships and 1 European Championships (1995). Finland has appeared in every World and European Championships tournament organised by the IFF and is the only team with Sweden to have won such a tournament.
The 2003 IIHF World Championship was held between 26 April and 11 May 2003 in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku, Finland.
Matthew Taberner is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He mainly plays as a key position forward.
The 2013 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between Hawthorn Football Club and Fremantle Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 28 September 2013. It was the 118th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2013 AFL season. The match, attended by 100,007 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 15 points, marking the club's eleventh VFL/AFL premiership victory. Hawthorn's Brian Lake was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.
The 2019 AFL X tournament was the second Australian Football League (AFL) pre-season series of matches, played under the laws of AFLX, a variation of Australian rules football. The tournament took place on 22 February 2019 at Shanghais's Marvel Stadium
The National Socialists of Finland was a Finnish National Socialist party operating in 1941–1944, led by Yrjö Raikas. The party's newspaper was the daily Kansallissosialisti that was funded by Petter Forsström.
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