The deciding match will be played on Sunday at Lahti Stadium. The people of Lahti have been in the same situation only once before. In 1999, Jaro from Pietarsaari was the opponent.
Worked at FC Lahti both as a player and team manager over the years Lasse Peltonen gives a radio interview on the Mukkula bubble hall website. In the background, school children are playing elephant ball. The cold weather and the roaring leaf blower in the distance remind us that autumn is already far away.
– A game that is of great importance for football in Lahti, Peltonen characterizes the series qualification.
Today, Peltonen, who teaches at the Mukkula school, was in FC Lahti’s playing lineup in the 1999 qualifiers. Then it was Jaro from Pietarsaari.
– The significance was great even then. Especially since FC Lahti was a young club. We had just moved up to the league and the expectations were high, says Peltonen.
The qualification followed the same system as today: The team that scored the most goals in two matches will play in the Veikkausliiga next year. The fate of the loser is Finland’s second highest league level, Ykkönen.
In -99, the first game in Pietarsaari ended in a goalless draw. In this year’s first qualifying match, TPS and FC Lahti played a 1–1 draw in Turku on Thursday.
A decisive match at the Lahti stadium
According to Peltonen, everyone who plays soccer at a high level plays out of passion for the sport. However, the starting points of the teams for the qualifying games are very different. TPS has played a good season in Ykköne and is now looking for promotion to the climax of the season. FC Lahti, on the other hand, is in the qualifiers because the season in the Veikkausliiga did not go as it should have.
– Yes, there is definitely a will to be found there. But it is true that this time Tepsi has more advantages. They have nothing but to gain in this matter.
FC Lahti, on the other hand, has something to lose. According to Peltonen, it can be seen in the players’ grips.
– But, of course, Lahti has played Veikkausliiga matches all season, which are tougher than Ykkönen’s matches. The pounds are pretty even. It’s more about the fight, the will and what you can get out of yourself. We then look at the board when the referee blows his whistle, he sums up.
An important victory in Lahti 1999
The historic match ended with a celebration by the people of Lahti Jarkko Koskinen with a penalty goal.
– In Pietarsaari, we played 0-0 after colorful stages. Would it have been in the second half, when Jakke Koskisen put the ball in the net in a controlled manner, Peltonen says.
According to Peltonen, from the point of view of the credibility of FC Lahti, which was still young at the time, it would have been a very bad thing to drop down the league ladder.
– But with a hard fight we were able to clear the place. It’s fine like this.
The result of this year’s qualification will be known when FC Lahti and TPS decide their place in next year’s series in the match played in Lahti on Sunday.
Peltonen does not predict the outcome of the match.
– If every player puts one hundred percent of their body into the game, I think that’s enough. That’s how we get a good result.