FC Viikingit

FC Viikingit is a Finnish football club based in Vuosaari, East Helsinki, and currently playing in the Kakkonen, the third tier of Finnish football. They play their home matches at Vuosaaren urheilukenttä, also called Heteniitty. The club's name and crest refer to Vikings, and they are known for their red colour.

FC Viikingit
Full nameFC Viikingit
Nickname(s)Viikkarit
Idän punaiset
('Reds of the East')
Founded1965
GroundVuosaaren urheilukenttä
Vuosaari, Helsinki, Finland
Capacity1,500
Coordinates60°13′00″N 25°08′19″E
ChairmanJorma Koivukangas
LeagueKakkonen
2014Ykkönen, 10th
WebsiteClub website

FC Viikingit played the 2007 season in the Finnish premier division (Veikkausliiga), but were relegated to the Ykkönen and competed there until 2014, when they were relegated to Kakkonen. The club's reserve team, FC Viikkarit, were promoted to the Kakkonen for the 2014 season but they had to give it up, because they were not able to play on the same division as the main team.

History

Early history (1965–1997)

The club was first founded as Vuosaaren Viikingit ('Vuosaari Vikings') in 1965. The new club started at the very bottom of the Finnish football pyramid, spending their first years in the fifth and sixth divisions. For the 1973 season, they were promoted to the IV division and played there for the next ten seasons. In 1983, the team were promoted to the III division, but this visit was cut short, as they were relegated again the following season. They were promoted again for the 1993 season, and this time managed to stay up. They even made a year-long visit to the Kakkonen in 1996, but were relegated after finishing last in their group. In 1997, the footballing section of the club was split into its own organisation with the name FC Viikingit.[1]

Climb to the Veikkausliiga (1997–2007)

With the new organisation in place, the football club started to enjoy some success in the third division, and were promoted back to the Kakkonen for the 2001 season. The newly promoted team did well in the second division, finishing at first place in their group and winning direct promotion to the Ykkönen for the 2002 season. In their first season in the first division, FC Viikingit finished second to last and had to compete in a play-off against WJK from Varkaus. The Reds won the play-off and remained in the first division. For the 2003 season, Markku Kanerva was appointed the club's manager. He led the club to a successful season, finishing third in a 14-team league, only one point from a promotion play-off spot. In 2004, the club were managed by Steven Polack and finished fourth.[1]

Jari Europaeus was appointed manager of the Reds in 2005. In the following season, he led the club to first place in the Ykkönen, winning promotion to the Veikkausliiga, the highest level of Finnish football. In the first ever premier division match played at Heteniitty, Viikingit beat FC Honka with a 3–2 scoreline and an attendance of over 3,000. The aim for the 2007 Veikkausliiga season was to stay up in the top flight, and with the performances the team gave in the first half of the season, this looked likely. The attendance record, which is still in force, was created in the local derby against HJK Helsinki, which drew 4,255 viewers to Vuosaaren urheilukenttä. In the second half of the season, the team's performances began to drop. However, they managed to finish 13th and avoid direct relegation, but still had to compete in a relegation play-off against RoPS. The first leg in Rovaniemi finished 1–0 in favour of the home side, and therefore the Reds needed a win in the second leg, which was played at Töölön pallokenttä due to heavy snowfall at Heteniitty. However, the match finished 1–1, and Viikingit were relegated to the first division.[1]

Return to the Ykkönen (2008–)

After relegation from the top flight in the 2007 season, Viikingit have often reached the top three in the Ykkönen, but have fallen short of promotion every time. In 2008, the new manager Toni Korkeakunnas led the team to second place, but KuPS took the promotion play-off with an aggregate scoreline of 2–1. History repeated itself in 2010, when the Reds played JJK Jyväskylä in the play-off, but the Jyväskylä side were marginally better (3–2 on aggregate). From the 2011 season, Viikingit have been managed by long-time Reds player Ilkka Jäntti, finishing fifth and third respectively in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.[1] The club's attendance record in the Ykkönen, 1,670 viewers, was created on 21 July 2011 against local rivals HIFK.[2]

In 2013, the club were in danger of relegation to the Kakkonen, but played well in the closing stage of the season, finishing seventh in the end.[3] This was the club's worst finish since 2002. The season's bright spot was the fact that the reserve team, FC Viikkarit, won their group in the Kolmonen and were promoted to the second division for the 2014 season.[4]

Season records 2001–2013
Vuosaaren urheilukenttä
Season League Pos MP W D L GD P
2001 Kakkonen (South) 1st 22 15 5 2 56–19 50
2002 Ykkönen (South) 8th 22 3 7 12 31–45 16
2003 Ykkönen 3rd 26 13 8 5 38–28 47
2004 Ykkönen 4th 26 11 9 6 40–33 42
2005 Ykkönen 6th 26 11 4 11 43–34 37
2006 Ykkönen 1st 26 17 5 4 65–25 56
2007 Veikkausliiga 13th 26 5 8 13 25–44 23
2008 Ykkönen 2nd 26 13 7 6 44–26 46
2009 Ykkönen 3rd 26 15 5 6 48–19 50
2010 Ykkönen 2nd 26 15 7 4 49–19 52
2011 Ykkönen 5th 24 13 4 7 50–28 43
2012 Ykkönen 3rd 27 14 3 10 36–36 45
2013 Ykkönen 7th 27 7 8 12 35–39 29

Ground

FC Viikingit play their home matches at Vuosaaren urheilukenttä, often called Heteniitty or Hettari. The ground is located in Central Vuosaari in a former gravel pit, and for this reason is sometimes also called Monttu ('the Pit'). The ground currently has a capacity of 1,500, but has opportunities for expansion. For the 2007 Veikkausliiga season, the ground was expanded to 3,500 seats, but these expansions were removed after the club were relegated.

The reserve side FC Viikkarit play their home matches at Kartanon kenttä in Nordsjön kartano. This is likely to change for the 2014 season, however, as the ground currently does not fulfil the stadium requirements for the Kakkonen. The women's first team, as well as youth teams, also play at Kartanon kenttä.

Current squad

As of 23 August 2014.[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  FIN Samuli Ahola
4 DF  FIN Jani Kaukomaa
5 DF  FIN Teemu Lipponen
6 MF  FIN Julius Remes
7 FW  FIN Aleksi Wikström
8 MF  FIN Robert Ivanov
9 MF  FIN Joel Paatelainen
10 MF  FIN Samir Bouroussi
14 DF  FIN Jose Lehmusvirta
15 FW  FIN Oscar Simula
16 DF  FIN Sebastian Veijola
17 FW  FIN Einari Kurittu
18 FW  FIN Olli Hartikainen
19 DF  FIN Ville Varila
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 DF  FIN Jesse Mutikainen
22 FW  FIN Emin Ouni
23 MF  FIN Markus Maunu
24 MF  FIN Oskar Nyström
25 DF  FIN Christoffer Nyberg
24 MF  FIN Abdi Ayuub
26 MF  GUI Mohamed Fofana
30 GK  FIN Valtteri Kuusisto
TBA DF  FIN Jere Pulkkinen
TBA MF  FIN Janne Arolinna
TBA MF  FIN Juuso Mieho
TBA MF  FIN Tommi Rasinmäki
TBA FW  FIN Rinor Zogejani

Coaching staff
  • Manager:
  • Coach: Vyacheslav Malakeev
  • Goakeeping coach: Juha-Pekka Pantsu
  • Fitness coach: Ari Räsänen
  • Physio: Raimo Böök

Backroom staff
  • Chairman: Jorma Koivukangas
  • Managing director: Marko Peltola
  • Director of football: Joonas Sarelius
  • Team director: Pasi Solehmainen

Former managers

Organisation and other teams

The football club split into two separate organisations in the end of the 2008 season. The first team now operates under its own registered association, FC Viikingit edustus ry, while all other teams continue under FC Viikingit ry.

FC Viikkarit
Main article: FC Viikkarit

The reserve side FC Viikingit/2 was founded in 2007 and played its first seasons in the Kolmonen. In the 2013 season, the team won its group and achieved promotion to the Kakkonen.[4] Upon reaching promotion, the team was renamed FC Viikkarit. The reserve team manager in the 2014 season is Alexei Zhukov.[6]

Other teams

The women's first team was established in 2001, and it was promoted to the women's first division (Naisten Ykkönen) for the 2014 season. The manager of the women's first team is Akseli Grasutis, who is assisted by coach Kari Simula.[7]

FC Viikingit have a total of twenty youth teams, thirteen for boys and seven for girls.[8] The youth teams have a total of 602 registered players, making Viikingit the seventh largest club in Helsinki in terms of youth football.[9]

In addition, the club runs two amateur teams in lower leagues, FC Viikingit 05 and FC Viikingit/KoMa. As of 2014, both of these teams play in the Kutonen.

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References
  1. "Historia" (in Finnish). FC Viikingit. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. "Viikingit vs HIFK". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  3. "Ykkönen 2013". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  4. "Kolmonen 2013, lohko 3" (in Finnish). Palloliitto, Uudenmaan piiri. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  5. "FC Viikingit kaudella 2014" (in Finnish). FC Viikingit. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  6. "FC Viikkarit" (in Finnish). FC Viikingit. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 18 Jan 2014.
  7. "Naisten edustus (1. div)" (in Finnish). FC Viikingit. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 18 Jan 2014.
  8. "Joukkueet" (in Finnish). FC Viikingit. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 18 Jan 2014.
  9. "Junioripelaajat seuroittain Helsingissä" (in Finnish). FC Viikingit. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
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