Football in Finland

Website: http://footballinfinland.wordpress.com/
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Last Updated: December 4, 2008 17:05 EST
Added: July 22, 2008

December 3, 2008

Dominic Chatto

Correction: In the last sentence, I originally wrote that Chatto said 'Finland is an excellent place to play football'. It should (and does now), of course, read 'Sweden is an excellent place to play football'. I am sure that Dominic holds the same opinion about Finland, but he was explaining his transfer and so was [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 02:55 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: BK Häcken, Dominic Chatto, Helsinki Times, Inter Turku, Veikkausliiga, finland

November 20, 2008

Toni Lehtinen signs for Levadiakos

Former FC Haka striker Toni Lehtinen has signed for Levadiakos, according to the Greek daily Sportday. His contract will run until the end of the 2009-2010 season, with an option for a further year, and he will earn around €80,000 a year. Lehtinen has been at Haka since 2003, and has played 104 league games, scoring [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 06:07 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Alban Bushi, Eintracht Braunshweig, FC Haka, Finns Abroad, Greek Super League, Levadiokos, Sportday, Toni Lehtinen, Veikkausliiga, VfL Bochum, finland, peterborough

November 15, 2008

Mika Ojala and Wilhelm Ingves on trial at Heerenveen

These are two of the brighter young stars of Veikkausliiga, and they're both heading over to Trond Sollien's little Nordic colony in Eredivisie. I spoke to Ojala's coach Job Dragtsma this week, and he understandably feels that it would be a little early for Ojala to leave Inter Turku, but of course it's a possibility [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 01:00 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Ascoli, Finns Abroad, Friesan hearts, Green Mean Machine, Heerenveen, IFK Mariehamn, Inter Turku, Job Dragtsma, Mika Ojala, Peter Matsson, Trond Sollien, Veikkausliiga, Wilhelm Ingves, Young players, finland

November 12, 2008

Lasha Chkaidze’s story

Lasha Chkaidze came to Finland two years ago, after a lengthy career including international caps and over 200 games in the Georgian top flight. He's been something of a phenomenon in Kajaani, lighting up matches in Kolmonen with his class and composure, so I got in touch to see how he's enjoyed his time in [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 12:26 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: AC Kajaani, Bad agents, Dinamo Tblisi, FC Ventspils, Georgia, Georgian war, Giorgi Kinkladze, Giorgi Nikuradze, KajHa, Kari Vaalto, Kolmonen, Lasha Chkaidze, Latvia, Locomotive Tblisi, Luiz Antonio, Shota Arveladze, South Ossetia, TP-47, finland

November 10, 2008

Kai Kuokkanen

Jussi Kahola just missed out on getting elected in Tampere, but there were other football candidates in Finland. One successful football orientated politician was Kai Kuokkanen, who was elected on the Green Party list in Lahti. If you want to find out more in Finnish, or get in touch with him, you can do so [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 06:01 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: FC Lahti, Football politics, Kai Kuokkanen, Kisapuisto, Kuusysi, Reipas, finland

November 3, 2008

HJK win cup

Here's what Helsingin Sanomat has to say about it. Pathetic attendance, due to the poor scheduling, terrible marketing and general disinterest in the worst of the Finnish domestic competitions. The League Cup at least attracts some interest because it gives an indication of how teams will play in the next season, whereas the Cup just gives [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 12:36 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Finnish Cup, HJK, Helsingin Sanomat, Suomen Cup, finland

October 31, 2008

Suomen Cup Final Preview

The women's cup final between Lahti club Kuusysi and HJK Helsinki will be an attacking game, according to Kuusysi coach Jukka Makelä. "The pressure is on HJK, they are the leading cup team in Finland. Challenges are nice and we've played the whole season with the attitude that we don't play for a draw. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 04:14 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Antti Muurinen, FC Honka, Finnish Cup, Gary Williams, HJK, Jarno Parikka, Jukka Mäkelä, Kuusysi, Nicholas Otaru, Sakari Mattila, Suomen Cup, VPS, finland

October 30, 2008

Who cares about the Cup?

The two semi finals were played last night, and to be honest I was embarassed for all four teams, everyone that went to watch them, and the competition itself. The game I saw was Haka v Honka, and finished 1-0 to the Espoo side, but it was a travesty of a match. First the positives: Rasmus [...] Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 12:38 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: FC Haka, FC Honka, Finnish Clubs in Europe, Finnish Cup, Finnish FA, Jaakko Lepola, Mohamed Al Fayed, Rasmus Schuller, Scheduling, Suomen Cup, UEFA Europa League, finland

October 28, 2008

2008 Veikkausliiga - the changing of the guard

The biggest disappointment this year has been HJK Helsinki. They started with high hopes, big signings, and a fluent attacking style, but things have fallen apart for them since the 3-2 win over Inter that seemed to renew their title hopes back in August. Their strategy - big money signings combined with the cream of [. Click to continue reading...

October 26, 2008

Inter Turku 2 FF Jaro 0 FT - Inter are 2008 Veikkausliiga Champions!

Watch the match from YLE's stream here(click the link) Full time: Inter win the league, and Mika Mäkitalo does a tremendous sliding tackle on Stefan Håkans, Inter owner who always stands next to the bench. Celebrations in full swing now, I need that hot rum to warm my frozen fingers.... 88 mins: Ojala tried twice to throw [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 06:59 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: FF Jaro, Inter Turku, Veikkausliiga, Veritas Stadium, finland

October 25, 2008

Veikkausliiga last day

I'll do a live blog of Veikkausliiga's last day tomorrow. It will begin a couple of hours before the games start, as I'm a bit too tipsy to write a preview now. I'll be in Turku watching Inter v Jaro, which is hopefully not going to be postponed, while Honka travel to Åland to take [...] Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 01:02 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Inter Turku, Veikkausliiga, finland, lazy posts

Political Football

There are local elections take place tomorrow, and Football in Finland has nailed its Tampere colours firmly to Jussi Kahola's mast. He is candidate number 610, and I really hope you vote for him if you can. There are a lot of candidates who claim to care about football when elections come around, but you never [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 09:40 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Basic Finns, Centre Party, Football politics, Free carrots, Imdat Uludag, Jussi Kahola, Keskustori, Tiina Elovaara, finland

October 23, 2008

Veikkausliiga players of the year

The Veikkausliiga players of the year have been announced. The players union choices are as follows: Player of the year: Dominic Chatto (FC Inter) Newcomer of the year: Aleksandr Kokko (FC Honka) Referee of the year: Tero Nieminen And Veikkausliiga selected: Goalkeeper of the year: Patrick Bantamoi (FC Inter) Defender of the year: Jos Hooiveld (FC Inter) Midfielder of the year: Mika [. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 04:34 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Aleksandr Kokko, Dominic Chatto, Honka Espoo, Inter Turku, Jos Hooiveld, Mika Ojala, Veikkausliiga, finland

Espoo

Cities tend to have a distinguishing feature, something that sets them apart from their rivals. Venice has canals, Barcelona offers weird looking Gaudi architecture, New York has sky scrapers. In Espoo - second biggest municipality in Finland, and home to Nokia headquarters - the main feature of the landscape is the car park. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 04:03 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Car parks, Espoo, FC Honka, HK 05, Sinikaarti, Veikkausliiga, Ville Jalasto, Ykkonen, finland, tampere united

October 22, 2008

Election debate tonight on Radio Moreeni!

I hosted a football-themed election debate yesterday, with Jussi '610′ Kahola, Toni '418′ Paju and Petteri 'Eero Huhtakallio, 276′ Tyne. It will be broadcast tonight at 7pm. We talked about Fifth division football, Pirkkahalli, terrible pitches in Tampere and, of course, Tammela. You can listen at the Radio Moreeni site. Click to continue reading...

Football in Finland @ 05:32 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: Eero Huhtakallio, Football politics, Jussi Kahola, Radio Moreeni, Toni Paju, finland

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