FC Honka

FC Honka
Full name FC Honka Espoo
Founded 1957
Ground Tapiolan Urheilupuisto,
Espoo
Ground Capacity 6,000
Chairman Harri Pellikka
Manager Juho Rantala
League Kakkonen
2014 Veikkausliiga, 11th

FC Honka Espoo (commonly known as FC Honka or Esport Honka) is a Finnish football club, based in Espoo. It was promoted into the Finnish premier division (Veikkausliiga), for the first time in its history, at the end of the 2005 season. The club's manager is Shefki Kuqi, and it plays its home matches at Tapiolan urheilupuisto. Originally founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka it changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. FC Honka is largely renowned in Finland for its extensive youth scheme with over 1000 youth players playing in various age groups.

Until the year 2005 FC Honka was thought of as a "nearly, but not quite" team, always underachieving in the Finnish First Division (Ykkönen). In the late 1990s the objective was promotion but year after year they failed. In the beginning of the 21st century FC Honka almost went bankrupt but was saved at the last moment. In early 2005 the club was taken over by Jouko Pakarinen and Jouko Harjunpää, who had a plan to turn FC Honka from underachievers to a UEFA Champions League candidate.

In the first year of their take-over of FC Honka, the management succeeded in assembling a squad which won the First Division (Ykkönen) with ease and also made the semi-finals of the Finnish Cup where they eventually lost 1–0 to FC Haka.

FC Honka was able to fight for top positions instantly, but narrowly missed the top three in their first two seasons. However, in 2007 team lost the Finnish Cup final to Tampere United on penalties. As Tampere United also won the league title, FC Honka qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. In 2008, FC Honka achieved its first medal by finishing 2nd in the league.

FC Honka won the Finnish Cup in 2012. Due to financial difficulties the team was relegated to the third tier Kakkonen in 2015.

Honours

European competitions

As runners-up in yh 2007 Finnish Cup to Tampere United, who had also won the league title, FC Honka qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, beating Icelandic ÍA 4–2 in the 1st qualifying round and Norwegian Viking in the 2nd. In the first round of actual competition, they were drawn against Racing Santander and lost 0–2 on aggregate.

Next year, Honka qualified for the new UEFA Europa League, starting from the second qualifying round. The club beat Welsh Bangor City F.C. 3–0 on aggregate but lost 1–3 to FK Karabakh from Azerbaijan in the third qualifying round.

For the 2010–11 season, FC Honka was again drawn against Bangor City in the second round but lost 3–2 on aggregate.

During the winter of 2009, Honka won the annual La Manga Cup, beating Nordsjaelland in the final.

European cups record

Competition Pld W D L GF GA
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup 16 5 3 8 12 16
UEFA Intertoto Cup 4 1 3 0 7 5
Total 20 6 6 8 19 21

Matches

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup First round Estonia TVMK 0–0 4–2 4–2
Second round Denmark AaB 2–2 1–1 3–3 (a)
2008–09 UEFA Cup First qualifying round Iceland IA Akranes 3–0 1–2 4–2
Second qualifying round Norway Viking Stavanger 0–0 2–1 2–1
First round Spain Racing Santander 0–1 0–1 0–2
2009–10 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round Wales Bangor City 2–0 1–0 3–0
Third qualifying round Azerbaijan Qarabağ FK 0–1 1–2 1–3
2010–11 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round Wales Bangor City 1–1 1–2 2–3
2011–12 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Estonia JK Nõmme Kalju 0–0 2–0 2–0
Second qualifying round Sweden BK Häcken 0–2 0–1 0–3
2013–14 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round Poland Lech Poznań 1–3 1–2 2–5
2014–15 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round Estonia Sillamäe Kalev 3–2 1–2 4–4 (a)

UEFA Club Ranking

This is the current UEFA Club Ranking, including season 2013–14.[1]

Last update: 24 June 2014

Rank Team Points
299 Bulgaria PFC Cherno More Varna4.125
300 Latvia Skonto FC4.000
301 Bosnia and Herzegovina HŠK Zrinjski Mostar4.000
302 Latvia FK Liepājas Metalurgs4.000
303 Finland FC Honka 3.935
304 Norway Fredrikstad FK3.855
305 Iceland Breiðablik UBK3.850
306 Moldova FC Milsami Orhei3.825
307 Azerbaijan Khazar Lankaran FK3.825

Season to season

Season Level Division Section Administration Position Movements
1994 Tier 4 Kolmonen (Third Division) Section 1 Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd Playoffs – Promoted
1995 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd Promoted
1996 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th
1997 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th Promotion Group 9th
1998 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 6th Relegation Group South 6th
1999 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th Promotion Group 5th
2000 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 7th Relegation Group South 6th
2001 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2002 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 3rd Lower Group South 3rd
2003 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2004 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 3rd
2005 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 1st Promoted
2006 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2007 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2008 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd
2009 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd
2010 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2011 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2012 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 7th
2013 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd
2014 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 11th Did not get a new Veikkausliiga license due to finances. Continues in Kakkonen (Tier 3).

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Finland GK Ville Hursti
3 Finland DF Markus Björs
5 Finland MF Tuomo Turunen
6 Republic of the Congo FW Didis Lutumba-Pitah
7 Finland MF Jonas Levänen
8 Brazil MF Filipe Mello
9 Finland MF Jaakko Hietikko
10 Finland MF John Weckström
11 Brazil MF Lucas dos Santos
14 Finland FW Karim Jouini
15 Finland DF Jatuli Laevuo
16 Finland FW Miko Puuskari
17 Finland GK Toni Sjöstedt
19 Finland MF Antonio Inutile
No. Position Player
20 Finland MF Nicholas Otaru
21 Finland FW Samuli Heiska
28 Finland DF Tommi Saarinen
32 Finland GK Robert Barton
33 Finland MF Roni Porokara
34 Finland MF Ville Tuomela
35 Finland MF Elias Tuomela
TBA Finland GK Mika Johansson
TBA Finland DF Rasmus Kautto
TBA Finland DF Alex Lehtinen
TBA Finland DF Jere Siltala
TBA Finland DF Antti Uimaniemi
TBA Finland MF Valte Vuorela
TBA Finland FW Rony Huhtala

Available youth players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
See also Category:FC Honka players.

Managers

References

  1. "Club coefficients 2013/14". UEFA.com. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.

External links

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