| content |
| Ykkönen |
|---|
 Ykkönen 2008 |
| Founded |
| 1995 |
| Nation |
 Finland |
| Number of Teams |
| 14 |
| Promotion To |
| Veikkausliiga |
| Relegation To |
| Kakkonen |
| Current Champions |
| KuPS |
| Website |
| Miesten Ykkönen |
Ykkönen (Finnish for 'Number One') is the first division of the Finnish football league system as managed by the Football Association of Finland. It is, however, overall only the second highest level in Finnish football, as the Veikkausliiga is managed independently of the Football Association and serves as the highest division.
Like the Veikkausliiga, the first division is played mainly during the summer. The division has 14 clubs, all of whom play two matches against all other clubs in the division. The winner of the Ykkönen attains promotion directly to the Veikkausliiga, while the second placed team plays a two-legged knockout tie with the second-last team of the Veikkausliiga, and the winner of this tie remains in or is promoted to the top division.
A similar promotion/relegation system takes place between the Ykkönen and the Kakkonen ('second division', or the third level of Finnish football), with the bottom two teams being relegated and the next two playing knockout ties with two teams from Kakkonen.
Clubs
The clubs in the Ykkönen for the upcoming 2008 season are (with their home towns in brackets):
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For the 2008 season FC Viikingit and AC Oulu got relegated from Veikkausliiga to Ykkönen. RoPS and KuPS were promoted to Veikkausliiga. KäPa, GrIFK and PS Kemi Kings were promoted to Ykkönen from Kakkonen for the season 2008, thus Klubi-04, GBK and PP-70 were relegated.
Notable foreign former players
External links
- Ykkönen at the Football Association of Finland website.
- List of League Second Level Tables since 1930.
