The Åland Islands is an autonomous and predominantly Swedish-speaking archipelago in Finland, made up of over 6,500 islands and skerries. The total population is barely 29,000, with 11,000 of those living in the capital, Mariehamn. The Åland Islands also happens to be the home of the newly-crowned Veikkausliiga champions, IFK Mariehamn. It was a title that few […]
Continue Reading ...Ask any Finnish football fan how to improve the game here, and the chances are they will at some point mention young players. You may well be told that they need to be given more playing time at earlier ages, to have better and more professional coaches and that they could, if the conditions are […]
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Finnish football players often earn small, irregularly paid salaries. They live in such such poverty that they cannot afford to buy houses, that they need to take second jobs, that they sometimes have to apply to state-run insurance to get their salaries paid. The idea of ‘player power’ and ‘contract rebels’ is a bit of […]
Continue Reading ...In: Markus Joenmäki, Niko Ikävalko, Janne Korhonen, Mika Mäkitalo, Antti Hynynen, Sami Ristilä, Nicolas Kivistö, Juha Jokinen, Jussi Jokela, Erkka Heinä, Saku Pesonen, Diego Corpache, Jani Bäckman Out: Juuso Kangaskorpi, Cheyne Fowler, Juha Pirinen, Alexander Dovbnya, Jarkko Okkonen, Janne Mahlakaarto, Toni Lehtinen, Mikko Manninen, Valeri Popovitch, Cherno Samba Coach: Olli Huttunen Claimed playing budget: €700,000 […]
Continue Reading ...The old cliché that football and politics should not mix has taken a bit of a beating in the UK this weekend. It’s quite exceptional that a former Prime Minister is granted a ceremonial funeral without a commemoration from football, but no English club has risked inviting derision with a mark of respect for Margaret […]
Continue Reading ...The Finnish FA reorganised the league structure last season, taking the opportunity presented by Tampere United and AC Oulu’s licensing difficulties to reduce the top league by two clubs and introduce a 33-game system. Twelve clubs now play each other club three times, squeezing an additional seven games into the short Finnish season. The idea was […]
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