Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi

HJK

Full name	Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi
Nickname(s)	Klubi (The Club)
Founded	19 June 1907; 111 years ago (1907-06-19)
Ground	Telia 5G -areena
Capacity	10,770
Chairman	Olli-Pekka Lyytikäinen
Manager	Mika Lehkosuo
League	Veikkausliiga
2017	Veikkausliiga, 1st of 12 (champions)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (literally The Football Club of Helsinki), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga, of which they are the reigning champions. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history in the top tier of Finnish football. The club's home ground is the 10,770-seat Telia 5G -areena, where they have played since 2000.^[1]

Generally considered Finland's biggest club, HJK is the most successful Finnish club in terms of championship titles with 28. The club has also won 13 Finnish Cups and 5 Finnish League Cups. Many of Finland's most successful players have played for HJK before moving abroad. The club has also similar success with women's Naisten Liiga.

HJK is the only Finnish club that has participated in the UEFA Champions League group stage. In 1998, they beat Metz in the play-off round to clinch their place in the competition for the following season. HJK has also participated in the UEFA Europa League, in 2014–15, defeating Rapid Wien in the play-off round. The club's highest score in a European competition came during the 2011–12 season, with a 13–0 aggregate victory over Welsh champions Bangor City, which included a 10–0 home win.

HJK's regular kit colours have long been blue and white shirts with blue shorts and socks. The club's crest has been nearly untouched for a century, it has only undergone one minor font change in order to modernize it.

History[edit]

The club was founded as Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi – Helsingfors Fotbollsklubb in 1907 by Fredrik Wathén. The founding meeting was held at a bowling alley in Kaisaniemi Park in May. The first ever competitive fixture was played against Ekenäs IF in Ekenäs. HJK won 2–4.

Early on, HJK became popular amongst Finnish-speaking students, while Swedish-speaking students preferred to play mainly for Unitas or HIFK. In late 1908, after a heated debate, the language was switched to unilingually Finnish and this resulted in many Swedish-speaking members switching over to HIFK and other clubs, although a few chose to stay.

HJK squad that won the club's first title in 1911.

In 1909, the colours blue and white were chosen to support the fennoman movement and bandy was introduced as the club's second official sport. The club moved from Kaisaniemi Ground to the new Eläintarha Stadium. At the end of the year, Fredrik Wathen was forced to leave his post as the club's chairman due to illness.

In 1910, Lauri Tanner became the longest-running club chairman to date. The same year, the club's first international match was played, against Eriksdals IF from Stockholm in Kaisaniemi. The first championship title was won in 1911. In 1915, the club moved to newly build Töölön Pallokenttä. In 1916, tennis was introduced as the third official sport in HJK, and it was played in the club until the early 1920s. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918, two HJK club members, fighting for the "Whites", were killed.

Telia 5G -areena, located in the Töölö district of Helsinki.

In 1921, the first bandy championship was won and during the following five seasons, HJK reached five finals, winning three more titles. Bowling was added to the club's repertoire in 1925, but the bowlers formed their own club, Helsingin Keilaajat, the following year. In 1928, ice hockey became an official sport and the first championship was won in 1929. League format was introduced to Finnish football in 1930 but HJK failed to qualify for the first season. In 1931, HJK played their first season in the league, however at the end of the season, they were relegated.

Nabil Bahoui of AIK taking on HJK winger Demba Savage during a friendly match between the two teams in March 2013.

During World War II, HJK lost 22 members serving in the military, of which nine fell in the Winter War, twelve in the Continuation War and one in the Lapland War. In 1943, handball was introduced as the club's sixth official sport. HJK won one silver and two bronze medals in handball during the following three seasons but did not gain further success. Handball was first of HJK's sports where women also competed. The women's team played a total of 22 seasons at the highest level; their highest finish was fourth.

In 1963, HJK played their last ever season in the second level of the football pyramid, winning 20 out of 22 matches and scoring 127 goals. In 1964, the newly promoted club won their tenth championship title and the following season, in 1965–66, they played their first European Cup match, against Manchester United at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. However, a 2–9 aggregate loss resulted in HJK's elimination from the competition.

In 1966, the club secured their first ever cup title by winning KTP 6–1 in the final in front of 7,000 spectators. Bandy section was disbanded in the late 1960s. The last official sport, figure skating, was added into the club's repertoire in 1966, was abolished in 1972. The ice hockey section was also disbanded in 1972 and the last season in handball was played in 1978. Hereafter, HJK therefore only participated in football following 69 years as a multisport club.

The 1998–99 season saw HJK become the first and, to date, only Finnish club to play in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League after defeating Metz in the second qualifying round. The club also managed a respectable five points in their group, defeating Benfica at home and earning draws at home to 1. FC Kaiserslautern and away to Benfica. They lost to PSV twice and to Kaiserslautern away.

The club's current home stadium, the Telia 5G -areena, was opened in 2000. The 20th championship title was won in 2002 and in 2008, the club won its tenth Finnish Cup title. The 2009 season was the start of a championship run that resulted in six titles in a row from 2009 to 2014.

In 2014, HJK became the first Finnish club to play in the UEFA Europa League group stage after defeating Rapid Wien in the play-off round. HJK, with wins over Torino and Copenhagen at home, finished third in their group with six points.^[2][3][4]

HJK made several acquisitions during the winter of 2015, including Córdoba forward Mike Havenaar, J-league playmaker Atomu Tanaka and Birmingham City holding midfielder Guy Moussi. With the new signings on their side, HJK began the season on a high by winning the league cup, a feat they had not accomplished since 1998. HJK also played its first local derby against HIFK since April 1972, drawing 1–1. However, HJK could not replicate the league success they had enjoyed for the last six seasons, finishing the 2015 season in third place, behind champions SJK and runners-up RoPS.

During the 2017 campaign the club lost only three games, which resulted in a domestic double.

Honours[edit]

Football[edit]

• Veikkausliiga:
  • Winners (29): 1911, 1912, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1923, 1925, 1936, 1938, 1964, 1973, 1978, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018
  • Runners-up (14): 1921, 1933, 1937, 1939, 1956, 1965, 1966, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2016
• Finnish Cup:
  • Winners (13): 1966, 1981, 1984, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016-17
  • Runners-up (5): 1975, 1985, 1990, 1994, 2010
• Finnish League Cup:
  • Winners (5): 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2015
  • Runners-up (3): 1995, 2009, 2012

Women's football[edit]

• Finnish Women's Championship:
  • Winners (22): 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991. 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005

Ice hockey[edit]

• Finnish Championship:
  • Winners (3): 1929, 1932, 1935
  • Runners-up (6): 1931, 1933, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1972
• Finnish Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1970

Bandy[edit]

• Finnish Championship:
  • Winners (5): 1921, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1937
  • Runners-up (3): 1925, 1927, 1946

Figure skating[edit]

• Finnish Champions
  • Pia Wingisaar: 1966, 1967
  • Anuliisa Numminen: 1970
  • Tarja Säde: 1971
  • Tarja Näsi: 1972

League history[edit]

Season to season[edit]

• 80 seasons in Veikkausliiga / SM-Sarja
• 6 seasons in Ykkönen / Suomisarja

Supporters and rivalries[edit]

Supporters of the HJK in the Telia 5G -areena.

Historically HJK had a wide support within Finnish speaking middle class of Helsinki. Club's supporters were often nationalistic after the fashion of almost every other Finnish FA club at the time. Leftist working class' clubs played their own leagues and competitions under Finnish Workers' Sports Federation. However, The Club remained to stay open to all honorable citizens regardless of their native language, race or social class, and always had members from other communities as well. Before the 1970s HJK came to be known especially as a Töölöan club due to most of their activity taking place in this particular district.

During recent decades the club's notable image as a middle class' bunch from Töölö has disappeared due to social changes in Finland as well as migration from inner city to housing projects built during the mass migration from the countryside during the 1960s and the 1970s.^[3][2]

The Helsinki Derby and other local rivalries[edit]

HJK's main rivals in Helsinki were widely considered to be Kiffen, HPS and HIFK. In the past these were the four big clubs from Helsinki. The clubs were mainly separated by language, HJK and HPS being Finnish speaking clubs whereas HIFK and KIF were Swedish speaking, and to some extent by neighborhoods. These four clubs competed also in bandy, ice hockey and handball. The support for HJK mainly came from around the city center and in later years also from Töölö, HPS' support was mostly active around Vallila and Alppila districts. KIF and HPS were both struggling to survive and were both relegated to lower leagues after 1964 season and rapidly lost their support. KIF made a brief stint to first level in 1977–78.

HJK squad in 1964.

HJK and HIFK share the biggest rivalry being two of the oldest and most successful clubs. Both were also successful in Bandy which was major winter sport in the first half of the 20th century, KIF and HPS gained lesser success. Also in Ice Hockey clubs faced numerous times and played more seasons in first level than HPS or KIF. A match between these two clubs is called as Stadin derby. Language was the biggest separating factor between the clubs, HIFK was the club of choice for the Swedish speaking population of the city and HJK for the Finnish speaking. In 2015 HIFK was promoted back to the top flight after 40 years of struggling in the lower leagues having played their last season in the top division in 1972. Since HJK ceased their activity in other sports during the 1960s and 1970s the rivalry faded away on a large scale and in recent decades many even supported both clubs at the same time, HJK in football and HIFK in ice hockey. However, due to the rise of the Finnish supporter scene in the 2000s, there is a high tension between the most vocal supporters.

HJK shared a short but fierce rivalry with FC Jokerit around the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Jokerit were well supported due to their popular ice hockey section and the clubs also competed against each other in ice hockey in the late 1960s and the early 1970s.^[7][8][9]

Multiple Helsinki based clubs have played in the league but due to their short term visits and relatively low support base large scale rivalries were never born. Some notable clubs were Ponnistus, FinnPa, Pallo-Pojat and Helsingin Toverit.^{[10][11][12][13][3][2]}

Helsinki-Lahti rivalry[edit]

HJK has competed against Lahti based clubs from the 1960s, between 1964 and 1980 HJK and Lahden Reipas had a minor rivalry as both clubs gained good success winning some titles and were also generally well supported. Reipas also won seven cup titles against one of HJK. Reipas was relegated after 1980 season. More notable rivalry was against Kuusysi from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. Between 1981 and 1992 HJK won six league titles against Kuusysi's five, both clubs also won the cup twice, facing two times in the finals (which were both won by HJK). Both clubs also performed well in the European competitions. In 1996 both the Lahti clubs merged and FC Lahti was born, HJK and FC Lahti matches are more known from outside pitch activities, some crowd disturbances and small fights have occurred^[14] which otherwise are rare in Finnish football. Due to a relatively short distance between the two cities, these matches often draw more notable away support than others.

HJK-Haka rivalry[edit]

HJK and Valkeakosken Haka are the two most successful clubs in Finnish football, HJK with 27 league and 12 cup titles and Haka with 9 league and 12 cup titles. The match is also considered as "urban vs. rural" rivalry as HJK is a club from Finland's biggest city Helsinki and Haka is representing the small town of Valkeakoski.

Players[edit]

First team squad[edit]

As of 9 August 2018 ^[15]

Rafinha has been captaining the side since 2017.

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Markus Uusitalo 4 DF Hannu Patronen 5 DF Daniel O'Shaughnessy 6 DF Juha Pirinen 7 FW Klauss (on loan from Hoffenheim) 8 DF Rafinha (captain) 9 FW Riku Riski 10 MF Moshtagh Yaghoubi 11 FW Akseli Pelvas 14 MF Sebastian Dahlström 15 DF Ville Jalasto 17 FW Nikolai Alho

No. Position Player 18 DF Roni Peiponen 21 DF Mikko Sumusalo 22 MF Anthony Annan 25 DF Valtteri Vesiaho 31 MF Jordan Domínguez 32 DF Faith Obilor 36 MF Eetu Vertainen 38 FW Enoch Banza 39 FW Macauley Chrisantus 77 FW Evans Mensah 88 GK Maksim Rudakov (on loan from Zenit St.Petersburg)

Out on loan[edit]

As of 9 August 2018

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

No. Position Player 34 FW Lassi Lappalainen (at RoPS until 31 December 2018)

Klubi 04[edit]

HJK's reserve team currently plays in the Finnish First Division. It is coached by Mikko Mannila.^[16]

Management and boardroom[edit]

Management[edit]

As of 9 August 2018^[17]

Mika Lehkosuo, the club's current manager.

Name Role Mika Lehkosuo Manager José Riveiro Coach Ville Wallén Goalkeeping Coach Anton Matinlauri Fitness Coach Jaakko Piensoho Physiotherapist Toni Taipale Physiotherapist Tuomas Brinck Doctor Klaus Köhler Doctor Tuomo Nissi Kit Manager Markku Peltoniemi Team Manager

Boardroom[edit]

As of 22 January 2018^[18]

Name Role Aki Riihilahti CEO Kari Haapiainen Vice CEO Juho Rantala Director of Football

Managers[edit]

European campaigns[edit]

UEFA club competition record[edit]

As of 16 August 2018.

Season	Competition	Round	Opposing team	Home	Away	Aggregate
1965–66	European Cup	PR	Manchester United	2–3	0–6	2–9
1967–68	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Wisla Kraków	1–4	0–4	1–8
1974–75	European Cup	1R	Valletta	4–1	0–1	4–2
		2R	Åtvidabergs FF	0–3	0–1	0–4
1975–76	UEFA Cup	PR	Hertha Berlin	1–2	1–4	2–6
1979–80	European Cup	1R	Ajax Amsterdam	1–8	1–8	2–16
1982–83	European Cup	1R	Omonia	3–0	0–2	3–2
		2R	Liverpool	1–0	0–5	1–5
1983–84	UEFA Cup	1R	Spartak Moscow	0–5	0–2	0–7
1984–85	UEFA Cup	PR	Dinamo Minsk	0–6	0–4	0–10
1985–86	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Flamurtari Vlorë	3–2	2–1	5–3
		2R	Dynamo Dresden	1–0	2–7	3–7
1986–87	European Cup	1R	APOEL	3–2	0–1	3–3 (a)
1988–89	European Cup	1R	FC Porto	2–0	0–3	2–3
1989–90	European Cup	1R	AC Milan	0–1	0–4	0–5
1991–92	European Cup	1R	Dynamo Kyiv	0–1	0–3	0–4
1993–94	UEFA Champions League	PR	Norma Tallinn	1–1	1–0	2–1
		1R	Anderlecht	0–3	0–3	0–6
1994–95	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	PR	B71 Sandur	2–0	5–0	7–0
		1R	Beşiktaş	1–1	0–2	1–3
1995	UEFA Intertoto Cup	Group 5	IFK Norrköping	N/A	1–1	3rd
			Bohemians	3–2	N/A
			OB Odense	N/A	1–2
			Bordeaux	1–1	N/A
1996–97	UEFA Cup	PR	Pyunik Yerevan	5–2 (aet)	1–3	6–5
		QR	Chernomorets Odessa	2–2	0–2	2–4
1997–98	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	QR	Red Star Belgrade	1–0	0–3	1–3
1998–99	UEFA Champions League	1QR	FC Yerevan	2–0	3–0	5–0
		2QR	FC Metz	1–0	1–1	2–1
		Group F	PSV Eindhoven	1–3	1–2	4th
			1. FC Kaiserslautern	0–0	2–5
			Benfica	2–0	2–2
1999–00	UEFA Cup	QR	Shirak Gyumri	2–0	0–1	2–1
		1R	Lyon	0–1	1–5	1–6
2000–01	UEFA Cup	QR	CS Grevenmacher	4–1	0–2	4–3
		1R	Celtic	2–1 (aet)	0–2	2–3
2001–02	UEFA Cup	QR	FK Ventspils	2–1	1–0	3–1
		1R	Parma	0–2	0–1	0–3
2002–03	UEFA Cup	QR	FC Gomel	0–4	0–1	0–5
2003–04	UEFA Champions League	1QR	Glentoran	1–0	0–0	1–0
		2QR	MTK Budapest	1–0	1–3	2–3
2004–05	UEFA Champions League	1QR	Linfield	1–0	1–0	2–0
		2QR	Maccabi Tel Aviv	0–0	0–1	0–1
2006–07	UEFA Cup	1QR	Drogheda United	1–1	1–3 (aet)	2–4
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1QR	FC Etzella Ettelbruck	2–0	1–0	3–0
		2QR	Aalborg BK	2–1	0–3	2–4
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	2QR	FK Vėtra	1–3	1–0	2–3
2010–11	UEFA Champions League	2QR	FK Ekranas	2–0 (aet)	0–1	2–1
		3QR	FK Partizan	1–2	0–3	1–5
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	PO	Beşiktaş	0–4	0–2	0–6
2011–12	UEFA Champions League	2QR	Bangor City	10–0	3–0	13–0
		3QR	Dinamo Zagreb	1–2	0–1	1–3
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	PO	Schalke 04	2–0	1–6	3–6
2012–13	UEFA Champions League	2QR	KR Reykjavik	7–0	2–1	9–1
		3QR	Celtic	0–2	1–2	1–4
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	PO	Athletic Bilbao	3–3	0–6	3–9
2013–14	UEFA Champions League	2QR	Nõmme Kalju	0–0	1–2	1–2
2014–15	UEFA Champions League	2QR	FK Rabotnički	2–1	0–0	2–1
		3QR	APOEL	2–2	0–2	2–4
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	PO	SK Rapid Wien	2–1	3–3	5–4
		Group B	Copenhagen	2–1	0–2	3rd
			Club Brugge	0–3	1–2
			Torino	2–1	0–2
2015–16	UEFA Champions League	2QR	FK Ventspils	1–0	3–1	4–1
		3QR	Astana	0–0	3–4	3–4
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	PO	Krasnodar	0–0	1–5	1–5
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	1QR	FK Atlantas	1–1	2–0	3–1
		2QR	Beroe Stara Zagora	1–0	1–1	2–1
		3QR	IFK Göteborg	0–2	2–1	2–3
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Connah's Quay Nomads	3–0	0–1	3–1
		2QR	Shkëndija	1–1	1–3	2–4
2018–19	UEFA Champions League	1QR	Víkingur Gøta	3–1	2–1	5–2
		2QR	BATE Borisov	1–2	0–0	1–2
	UEFA Europa League	3QR	Olimpija Ljubljana	1–4	0–3	1–7

UEFA Club Ranking[edit]

This is the UEFA Club Ranking from the 2015–16 season.^[19]

Last update: 14 July 2015

Rank	Team	Points
133	Vaslui	11.251
134	Nordsjælland	10.870
135	Qarabağ	10.750
136	Sheriff Tiraspol	10.500
137	HJK	10.380
138	Bursaspor	10.260
139	Molde	10.200
	Rosenborg BK	10.200
141	Vorskla Poltava	10.176

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi.

• Official website (in English)
• Klubipääty – supporters (in Finnish)
• Forza HJK – fan club (in Finnish)