A Viking's Tale

FC Viikingit have looked a real force so far this season and spirits have been high as of late. With a new, ambitious owner at the club, manager Kalle Koskinen signing a contract extension and the club in a strong position to secure a top half finish in the league, nothing could go wrong.... right?

FC Viikingit's form in the last two months of the regular Ykkönen was nothing short of spectacular. From 9 games, Koskinen's team won 8 games, losing just the 1. Viikingit scored 24 goals in that run of games, conceding just 5, as they stormed through the opposition like a knife through butter... or like Gerard Moreno through Man Utd's defence.

Viikingit's incredible form saw them top the league at the end of the regular stage. 52 points from 22 games left them on top of the league, with a ten point gap over their nearest rivals. It means that FC Viikingit will only need to win TWO games from the Promotion Group to secure a historic title victory.

Viikingit have five massive games to finish off the season. TPV Tampere, IFK Vasa, JS Hercules, MP Mikkeli and KTP await Viikingit in the Promotion Group. If Viikingit win two games, they become league champions. It is as simple as that.

26/09/2021

'The importance of bringing through young players form your academy can not be undervalued. They embody everything that your club stands for and, in the darkest of hours, produce the brightest of lights. They were born learning about the history of the club, live in the present as fans of the club and will go on to create and establish the future of the club. They are everything' - Kalle Koskinen.

It was Kalle Koskinen's second youth intake session at the club since taking charge, and he had every reason to be excited about the new crop of players coming into the U20s. The majority of players who broke through were defenders by nature, and indeed the three best of the bunch were defensive players - Jari Mäki, Markku Lindström and Thierry Tshimanga.


Jari Mäki was certainly the most exciting player to come through into the club's U20s squad. The 15 year old left back from Helsinki was already considered to be an expert tackler, despite his tender age, and was deemed to be a very strong team player. His physicality, particularly his height, meant he could always be considered to be some sort of presence on the football pitch, although there were reservations about his lack of Determination. Hopefully something that can improve in the coming years.


Markku Lindström was another very exciting young player from Helsinki. At 15 years of age, his height of 191cm made him a monstrous central defender, and he had the tackling ability to back it up. He was considered to be the ultimate team player and showed plenty of endeavour at younger age groups for the club. Viikingit's U20s coaching staff will be looking to work on his tactical understanding and continue to develop his technical ability over the coming years.


The last, but not least, of the top three youth intake players was Thierry Tshimanga. The 16 year old Congolese right back was born in Kolwezi, Congo, but moved to Helsinki at a young age. He was very much the leader of the youth intake group, and was captain of his age group every single season since joining the club at U10s level. While his technical skills and his tactical understanding were not overly refined, his speed over short distances made him invaluable to any side he played for.

It has been a brilliant season for FC Viikingit in Ykkönen this time out, with the Helsinki-based club sitting pretty on top of the league by the end of the regular season. Going into the Promotion Group stage, spirits were high and there were hopes of the club earning promotion to the Veikkausliga (the top tier in Finnish football). Five big games in September - how'd they go?

It was not pretty. Viikingit opened the Promotion Group with a loss to TPV Tampere. In the other four games, three of them were draws and there was only win. It wasn't good form at all, but Viikingit only needed six points to guarantee the league title and they earned those six points. Viikingit are Ykkönen champions.

Champions. Champions. Champions. We are champions. Despite a shakey final five games to the season, Viikingit earned the top spot in the second tier in Finnish football by a clear eight points. Best goal scoring record and best defensive record in the league. Shakey at times but clear winners of the league this season. Viikingit will play top tier football next season in the Veikkausliga. KTP, TPV Tampere and JS Hercules will compete in a Promotion Playoff, with the winner playing against the second-last team in the Veikkausliga to decide who plays in Veikkausliga and who plays in Ykkönen next season.

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What a season it has been for Kalle Koskinen and FC Viikingit! New contract for the manager, new contract for the club, and a league title and promotion as the club upped their game when they needed to. Financial projections at the start of the season meant Viikingit needed to get a very strong position in the league. Let's have a look at the season as a whole.

Koskinen's Viikingit showed glimpses of real quality last season and this season they truly exploded into life. Some incredible form from May to August saw them win game-after-game and, in the end, Viikingit were the best team in the league by a mile. Most goals scored, least goals conceded, nobody could deny them a deserved league title.
KTP, TPV Tampere and JS Hercules each earned a place in the Promotion Playoffs. TPV Tampere came above the other two to earn a Playoff final place against Veikkausliga's second-worst team FC Haka. However, Haka came out on top over two legs, meaning TPV Tampere will remain in Ykkönen next season.


It was doom and gloom for RoPS, SalPa Salo and FF Jaro who all faced relegation to the third tier of Finnish football (Kakkonen). RoPS' relegation comes as a serious shock, with the Rovaniemi club having participated in Finland's top tier from 2013 to 2020. Veikkausliga and Ykkönen clubs will be looking at signing some of their players during the off-season.


Viikingit's success as a team was certainly boosted by individual performances. Manager Kalle Koskinen earned the title of Manager of the Year, having guided his team to an unlikely league title. Danish defender Christian Enemark came in before this season and has been imperious at the back for his club, earning himself the award for Player of the Season. Five Viikingit players, including Enemark, made it into the Team of the Season.

FC Viikingit made it to the Second Round of the competition where KuPS knocked them out. IFK Mariehamn ended up winning the competition, and earning a place ni the qualifying rounds for the UEFA Europa Conference League for the 2023/2024 season.

Ville Seppä played every game in goals for Viikingit this season and his incredible shot stopping ability saw him keep 14 clean sheets across all competitions, conceding just 28 goals in 33 appearances. He kept former numnber one Craig Hill out of the team completely and his performances showed why.

Christian Enemark was a new signing ahead of the 2022 season and he was, by far, the best defender in the division. The Dane was always on hand to intercept a pass, win a header or spoil an opposition attack, and he also got in on the goal scoring action with 3 of his own at the other end of the pitch. His arrival had a VVD-inspired impact on the team.

Benjamin Thurling and Antton Koskinen formed an impressive partnership at the base of Viikingit's midfielder. They dominated most games they played and their all-action performances helped drive Viikingit in the engine room. They were involved in the goals too, with a combined 24 direct goal contributions (goals & assists) between them.

There was plenty of competition in attacking midfield and everybody, aside from Olli Tynkkynen, performed incredibly throughout the season.

Max Ehrnrooth had new signing Toni Neuvonen as competition up front this season, and they shared the minutes quite evenly. Ehrnrooth scored 12 goals and claimed 3 assists, while Neuvonen scored 11 goals and claimed 3 assists himself. Not great, but decent, and perhaps enough to keep striker targets at bay?

Off the pitch, income was down and expenditure was up from the previous season. Not ideal at all. This came (mostly) from a drop off in gate receipts due to a shorter cup run this season than last season. While the total attendance across the season was almost the exact same as last season, there were no big cup games to sell tickets for. Viikingit will be hoping that Veikkausliga football will help generate much more match day income and significantly increase attendances.

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Last season was an incredible one for FC Viikingit. The footballing philosophy inducted into the club by manager Kalle Koskinen was soaked up by a squad of players that did something nobody would have thought would be possible - they won the Ykkönen league title. They were crowned as the champions of Finland's second tier, and earned promotion to the Veikkausliga - a league they had only participated in one season before (2007). Over a decade and a half since their one-and-only previous top flight season, Viikignit had earned their place among Finland's elite clubs once more. With an exciting, young manager in Kalle Koskinen at the helm, the sky is the limit.

Viikingit's season will start in January with Suomen Cup group games against Veikkausliga opposition. They were drawn into Group B alongside KuPS, TPS, FC Inter Turku, IFK Mariehamn and fellow Helsinki-based team HJK, with the top four teams from the group qualifying for the knockout round after playing each other once. Viikingit knew they would be heavily favoured to lose each game but head into the new year with optimism and the knowledge that they can take a lot of important lessons from the games. Koskinen was consistent with conveying the message that 'football is about learning', and Viikingit will learn a lot about themselves against superior opposition.

The league campaign will start in early April. Twelve teams will play each other twice in the regular league season between April and the start of September before the league splits in two. The top six will qualify for a Championship Group and the bottom six will qualify for a Relegation Group - both groups will see each team play each other once. In the Relegation Group, the bottom team will be relegated to Ykkönen and the second-bottom team will compete against an Ykkönen team in a playoff to remain, or be relegated from, the Veikkausliga. The Championship Group will sort out the winner of the league, and there will also be European Playoffs based on final league positions to decide who gets European spots.

Viikingit's first league game of the season will be against FC Haka at the beginning of April. Viikingit's hierarchy are bracing themselves for a mass turnout to welcome the club back to the top flight and will hope to keep the attendance as high as possible throughout the season. The early target is to sell 200 season tickets, following the sale of 165 last season. The final figures will be announced in April.

Viikingit head into their third and final season with Adidas and Elisa as kit manufacturer and sponsor. It has not yet been made clear whether either deal will be extended. As ever, the club will wear a red home kit and the away kit will be a dark-blue, patterned kit. Kits worthy of a season in the Veikkausliga, even if it proves to be a solitary one.

Following a sparkling season where FC Viikingit won the Ykkönen title with some ease, Kalle Koskinen's side were looking to start the new season with some good performances and new signings. With Veikkausliga football to begin in April, Viikingit will be hoping to prepare well with Suomen Cup fixtures and a pre-season full of friendlies.

There were a number of players released from the club at the end of last season, while Denys Pervov retired from playing but will remain at the club as a Goalkeeping Coach.

Viikingit brought in new players to improve all ends of the pitch. Teenage goalkeeper Verneri Malm came in from TPS to become Viikingit's number one, while Jan-Hendrik Marx and Rasmus Holma came in to strengthen a defence which impressed last season.

There were mass changes in midfield as Finland international Moshtagh Yaghoubi and teenage sensations Andreé Nordling and Niclas Haugaard came in to give plenty of potential to the team. They will join Benjamin Thurling to compete for the two central midfielder positions.

There were two attacking signings as Danish right winger Souheib Dhaflaoui came to add plenty of flair and skill to attacking midfield. Norwegian teenage striker Tom Vestnes came in to add goals to the team. Fans will be excited about Vestnes, who is tipped to become a world class striker in the future, having already played 47 senior games in a fledgling career.

Player profiles to follow in the next update.

Viikingit's Suomen Cup campaign started very well with convincing wins over KuPS and TPS. It all went down hill from there, however. A last-minute goal conceded against FC Inter Turku meant the third game ended in a draw, before IFK Mariehamn slapped up Viikingit worse than Kai Havertz did to Manchester City (in real life), and Viikingit were two goals to the good against HJK before conceding three on the bounce to lose the final group game.

Despite a strong start to the group, Viikingit fell off big time. Koskinen's team ended up in 5th place, a point outside the top 4. While goals were scored easily, far too many were conceded. Hopefully the club can fix that going into the league season.

Big season ahead for FC Viikingit. In their second ever season in the Veikkausliga, the media expect them to finish last. A good start will be important to prove the media wrong and to keep Viikingit in with a chance of survival. Will Kalle Koskinen's men have learned from their mistakes in the Suomen Cup group games? We'll find out soon.

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Ahead of the 2023 Veikkausliga season, Kalle Koskinen met with the club's board to discuss objectives for the 2023 season. The objectives included on-field performances, controlled by Kalle Koskinen himself, as well as of-field performances. Janne Partanen, the owner of the club, conveyed his objectives through his assigned task leaders who ran the rule over the various aspects of the fooball club.

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