Premium Liiga, 16 June 2017
HIFK 0-2 PS Kemi
Veikkausliga, 17 June 2017
One of the real upsides of this challenge, hobby, project, whatever you want to call it, is you go to countries you probably would never otherwise go to. And with all due respect to the people of Estonia, that country would be one of them,
Indeed, first and foremost, Finland was the 'main' destination for this trip. With the whole withdrawal from the European Union (I have some sort of irrational dislike for the word Brexit) I've decided to do as many of those countries while it remains as simple as possible. With a summer league as well that was the more obvious trips to make at this time of year. Tallinn, the Estonian capital, can be reached by ferry from Helsinki in two and a half hours, so those two countries could be done in one weekend.
Estonia would be the destination for the first game of the weekend. After getting into Helsinki on Friday lunchtime, it was then a ferry journey (which is a decent way to travel, with a few bars and cheap beer and food available) over to Tallinn, an argument with a reckless tuk-tuk driver in Tallinn which nearly could ended up with punches thrown, the picking-up of my keys for an apartment to have overnight, then onto Nomme Kalju v Sillamae Kalev.
Nomme play in the Hiiu area of town, from the city centre you can get a train straight to Hiiu then walk about 10 minutes to a very suburban, but charming little ground. As I was staying closer to the port, I picked up the tram and then changed at Tondi for the train, which took about 40 minutes.
I was slightly late, but got in after handing a young lady at a table 10 euros and went into the ground.
Only the 'main' stand was open, which was series of benches rather than actual seats, A Le Coq, the national beer was available at 3 euros for about a pint, as well as some burgers and other food which I didn't try. There is a similar stand behind one goal, the other end had some activities for kids and families and the other side had no stand. There were also some optimistic 'advertising' boards with soundbites in English, like "WELCOME TO HELL"
Having said that, visiting side Sillamae Kalev probably thought it was hell. The home side were 5-0 up at half time, completely in control and at times walking the ball into the net. Three more second half goals made it the most one-sided professional game I have ever watched, and I've seen San Marino live.
Hungry, but having seen loads of goals, I headed back into town. The Old Town and the area near Viru are both quite good for places to eat and drink. I settled on Scotland Yard, a police themed bar that had live music while I could stuff a burger down me.
Back to Helsinki
I travelled back to Finland early on Saturday afternoon, for what was originally slated to be a teatime kickoff between HIFK and Kemi, from the north of Finland. HIFK are one of Helsinki's two top-flight teams, lesser known than city rivals HJK. They do have on their books however Mikael Forssell, formerly of Chelsea and Birmingham, and Mika Vayrynen, once of Leeds. Neither would play for the struggling side in this game though.
Annoyingly, kickoff was moved to an earlier time of 3pm, which meant a rush across the city to the Telia 5G Areena, which is in what I suppose would be Helsinki's Olympic park, with the Olympic stadium and an indoor arena both a stone's throw away. It's a 10,000 or so capacity stadium, shared with HJK. Tickets ranged from 10 euros for the 'fan stand' behind the goal, which contained a small group of noisy, colourful fans, to the 25 euros I splashed out on the main stand, I actually thought I had blagged my way into hospitality, the main stand has a nice open concourse where you can get food and drink, with some tables with a view from the half way line. It is however the Nordic countries, so a Carlsberg set me back EUR7.50.
As mentioned, HIFK are struggling, and half way through the season are in danger of dropping out of the top flight. They would lose 2-0, as Filip Valencic bagged a brace, the second a lovely effort lifted over the keeper after he was drawn to the edge of his box. One thing which I've never experienced before was adverts being played over the tannoy during the match. Admittedly that's one thing from abroad English football would do well not to import.
I've always had a soft spot for the Nordic countries and enjoyed my visits there, despite the cost of everything. Helsinki was no exception with friendly people and a relaxed vibe around the city.
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