Football in Finland, unlike in most European countries, is not the most popular sport, as it falls behind to ice hockey, which enjoys a huge amount of popularity in the country. However, football is still in a very prominent position in Finland, and its standing is constantly increasing, especially among young people and children. The Football Association of Finland (Palloliitto) has approximately a thousand clubs as its members, with over a hundred thousand registered players. According to a Gallup poll, nearly 400 000 people include football in their hobbies.
Football was first brought to Finland in the 1890s by Englishsailors, and it was first played in Turku. The first national competition in the sport was set up in 1906, and won by a school team from Turku. The Football Association of Finland was founded in 1907, and it joined FIFA the following year. Due to the sport's historically low status in Finland, the country has never really excelled in football. Only since the 1980s, due to the revival of Finnish football, has the country produced such international stars as Jari Litmanen, Sami Hyypiä, Mikael Forssell, Teemu Tainio and Jussi Jääskeläinen.
Domestic club competitions
The highest division in Finnish football is the Finnish Premier Division, or Veikkausliiga, comprising 14 professional football teams. Below that is a league system maintained by the Finnish Football Association, with Ykkönen, or First Division, as the second highest division, with 14 teams. Beneath Ykkönen, each division is divided into 'groups' based on the location of the clubs. For instance, the Second Division, or Kakkonen, has 42 teams divided into three regional group, each of 14 teams.
The Finnish Cup is Finland's national cup competition, open to all member clubs of the Finnish Football Association. In the 2005 season, 392 clubs signed up to take part in the competition.
All Finnish domestic football competitions take place in the spring, summer and autumn, due to weather conditions. Similar systems are used in the other Nordic countries as well.
National team
The Finland national team played its first international match in 1911 against Sweden. Finland has played in the olympics, but never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the European Championship.
