FC Honka
FC Honka (also known as Esport Honka) is a Finnish football club, based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club currently play in the Finnish premier division (Veikkausliiga), having been promoted for the first time in their history at the end of the 2005 season. The club's manager is Vesa Vasara and it plays its home matches at Tapiolan urheilupuisto.
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| Full name | Honka | ||
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| Founded | 1957 | ||
| Ground | Tapiolan Urheilupuisto, Espoo | ||
| Capacity | 6,000 | ||
| Chairman | Färid Ainetdin | ||
| Manager | Vesa Vasara | ||
| League | Veikkausliiga | ||
| 2019 | 3rd | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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FC Honka is largely renowned in Finland for its extensive youth scheme with over 1000 youth players playing in various age groups. It also has women's football team in the Naisten Liiga.
Until 2005 FC Honka was thought of as a "nearly, but not quite" team, a promising but always underachieving side in the Finnish First Division (Ykkönen). In the late 1990s the objective was promotion, but year after year they failed. At 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 new 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. In 2007 the team reached the Finnish Cup final, losing to Tampere United on penalties after extra time. As Tampere United also won the league title that season, FC Honka qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. In 2008, FC Honka achieved its highest place by finishing 2nd in the league.
FC Honka won the Finnish Cup in 2012. However, due to financial difficulties the team was relegated to the third tier Kakkonen in 2015. In 2015 the fitness center company Esport bought the club and after that, the club has also been known as Esport Honka. The club dominated their first season in the Kakkonen in 2015 and lost only two games, but were defeated in the promotion battle. After the 2016 season, the team was promoted to the second tier Finnish First Division (Ykkönen). After the 2017 Ykkönen season Honka was promoted to the highest Finnish tier (Veikkausliiga) after Promotion playoffs against HIFK.
Honours
Cups
- Winners: 2012
- Runners-up (3): 1969, 2007, 2008
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 |  |
0–0 | 4–2 | 4–2 |
| Second round |  |
2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 (a) | ||
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | First qualifying round |  |
3–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 |
| Second qualifying round |  |
0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | ||
| First round |  |
0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | ||
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | Second qualifying round | .svg.png){kind=small} |
2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Third qualifying round |  |
0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | ||
| 2010–11 | UEFA Europa League | Second qualifying round | |
1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| 2011–12 | UEFA Europa League | First qualifying round | |
0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Second qualifying round |  |
0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | ||
| 2013–14 | UEFA Europa League | Second qualifying round |  |
1–3 | 1–2 | 2–5 |
| 2014–15 | UEFA Europa League | First qualifying round | |
3–2 | 1–2 | 4–4 (a) |
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | First qualifying round | |
N/A | N/A | |
UEFA club ranking
This is the UEFA Club Ranking As of June 2014, including season 2013–14.[1]
Last update: 24 June 2014
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 299 |  | 4.125 |
| 300 |  | 4.000 |
| 301 |  | 4.000 |
| 302 | | 4.000 |
| 303 |  | 3.935 |
| 304 | | 3.855 |
| 305 | | 3.850 |
| 306 |  | 3.825 |
| 307 | | 3.825 |
Season to season
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Current squad
As of 18 February 2020.[3]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Management
As of 6 February 2020.[5]
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FC Honka Akatemia
FC Honka Akatemia is the reserve team of FC Honka. The team plays in Kakkonen in 2020 season.
- As of 20 February 2020[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Managers
See also
References
- "Club coefficients 2013/14". UEFA.com. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- http://www.finlandfootball.net/
- "Joukkue" [Team]. esporthonka.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- FC Honka Veikkausliiga
- "Valmentajat" (in Finnish). Esport Honka. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- "Esport Honka Akatemia". esporthonka.com. Esport Honka. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
External links
- Official Website (in Finnish)
- Honka Supporters (in Finnish)