IF Gnistan

IF Gnistan
Full name Idrottsföreningen Gnistan
Nickname(s) Kipinä
Founded 1924
Ground Mustapekka Areena,
Helsinki
Finland
Ground Capacity 1 100
Chairman Finland Topi Miettinen
Head Coach Finland Ray Saarelainen
League Ykkönen
2016 Kakkonen (Group A), 1st

IF Gnistan (The Spark in English) is a Finnish football club from the city of Helsinki, founded in 1924. The club is currently playing in the Ykkönen, the second tier of the Finnish league system. IF Gnistan play their home matches at Mustapekka Areena. Club's home district is Oulunkylä [1], which locates in northern part of the capital city.

The club is originally Swedish-speaking, but nowadays it is supported by Finnish-speaking majority also. The club was founded by a few Svenska Reallyceum and Åggelby Svenska Samskola students from Oulunkylä in 1924. IF Gnistan were multi-sport club and had several competetive departments including ski, athletics, swim and pesäpallo (Finnish baseball). Football department were founded in 1935, when the club joined Finnish Football Association Helsinki district. Later in the 1950s Gnistan had strong teams in orienteering, women's gymnastics, table tennis and cross country running alongside the classical sports.[2]

During the late 1950s the club decided to dissolve all the other departments except for the football teams. When ski and athletics were eliminated, Gnistan turned to a football club, and named Jacob Söderman as their new chairman. They became a significant team in lower leagues of the capital region but never promoted to the top tier. After season 1994, they achieved their place to Ykkönen for the first time. They stayed in the second tier four years and then relegated back to Kakkonen in 1998. They have been in Ykkönen level three occasions.[3]

Background

Gnistan has played seven seasons in the Ykkönen (First Division), the second tier of Finnish football in 1995–98, 2001–02 and from the season 2017. The club has played fourteen seasons in the Kakkonen (Second Division), the third tier of Finnish football in 1990, 1994, 1999–2000 and 2003–2016.[4]

In 2002, the club nearly made it to the semifinals of the Finnish Cup, by leading FC Lahti 2–0 till the 90th minute. A FC Lahti fan, ran naked to the field, which caused 5 minutes of added time. Lahti scored twice in injury time and in extra time they made the final score 2–3.

After season 2016, the club won their Kakkonen group and achieved a chance to qualify for Ykkönen for the next season. They faced another group winner Musan Salama on two-legged tie, which started away from home in Pori. Both meetings ended 1-0 victories for the home teams, so the promoting team were solved by penalty shoot-out. Gnistan beat their opponents by 4-3 and promoted to the second tier of Finnish football after spending 14 seasons in a row in Kakkonen.

Season to season

Season Level Division Section Administration Position Movements
1999 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) West Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 7th
2000 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 1st Promoted
2001 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 8th Relegation Play-Offs
2002 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 9th Relegation Group (South) 9th – Relegated
2003 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 7th
2004 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 5th
2005 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 2nd
2006 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 4th
2007 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 7th
2008 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 4th
2009 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 2nd
2010 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 3rd
2011 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 2nd
2012 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) East Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 2nd
2013 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 2nd
2014 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 8th
2015 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 2nd
2016 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 1st Promoted via Play-offs
2017 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)

Club Structure

Gnistan run a number of teams including 4 men's teams, 3 veteran's teams, 2 ladies teams, 11 boys team and 6 girls teams. The club also runs a Football School for youngsters.

2010 season

IF Gnistan are competing in Group A (Lohko A) of the Kakkonen administered by the Football Association of Finland (Suomen Palloliitto) . This is the third highest tier in the Finnish football system. In 2009 Gnistan finished in second position in their Kakkonen section.

Gnistan / 2 are participating in Section 1 (Lohko 1) of the Nelonen (Fourth Division) administered by the Helsinki SPL.

Gnistan / Ogeli are participating in Section 2 (Lohko 2) of the Nelonen (Fourth Division) administered by the Helsinki SPL.

Gnistan / Roots are participating in Section 2 (Lohko 2) of the Kutonen (Sixth Division) administered by the Helsinki SPL. In 2009 Roots finished in second position in Section 2 Seiska (Seventh Division).

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 Daniel Kollar
4 Finland DF Jani Kaukomaa
5 Finland DF Teemu Vaarakallio
6 Finland MF Marcus Heimonen
7 Finland MF Andreas Strandvall
10 Finland FW Teemu Pastila
11 Finland MF Niko Tirkkonen
12 Finland GK Atte Otronen
13 Finland FW Eero Forsén
14 Finland FW Aleksander Akbar
15 Finland MF Karim Zine
16 Finland MF Jonas Nyholm
17 Finland MF Joonas Kauti
18 Finland MF Valte Vuorela
20 Finland MF Kelechi Anyamele
No. Position Player
21 Finland MF Riku Selander
22 Finland DF Biran Jeng
23 Finland DF Patrick Aaltonen
24 Brazil MF Dudu
25 Finland FW Karim Jouini
26 Finland MF Jesse Ahonen
27 Finland DF Marko Koskinen
28 Finland MF Gullit Zolameso
29 Finland GK Tomi Mikkelsson
71 Finland MF Miro Kauti
TBA Finland DF Alex Lehtinen
TBA Finland MF Emil Lidman (on loan from HIFK)

References and sources

Footnotes

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