Football in Finland, unlike in most European countries, is not the most popular spectator sport, as 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 in adults and 230 000 vs. 105 000 in youth[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 (Palloliitto) has approximately a thousand clubs as its members.[2] According to a Gallup poll, nearly 400 000 people include football in their hobbies.[4][5]
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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.
| Finnish football 2011 |
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Veikkausliiga (Tier 1) |
The highest division in Finnish football is the Finnish Premier Division, or 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 13 teams. Beneath Ykkönen, each division is divided into 'groups' based on the location of the clubs. For instance, the Second Division, or Kakkonen, has 42 teams divided into three regional groups, each of 14 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.
The Finland national team played its first international match in 1911 against Sweden. Finland have played in the Olympic Games, finishing fourth in 1912, but have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the European Championship.
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