In the Veikkausliiga, Helsinki’s IFK road is currently bumpy. There’s a round zero in the winning column and the team’s finances sway worse once, but it doesn’t silence the fans ’singing.
Juuso Koskinen,
Heikki Ali-Hokka
The plight of Helsinki’s IFK in the men’s football league is deepening. The club, which is struggling with both financial and gaming problems, suffered a 1–5 crushing loss to the Vaasa Palloseura VPS in the midnight match between Saturday and Sunday.
HIFK midfielder regular player Sakari Mattila was very disappointed with the team’s performance in the special match. He sighed deeply before beginning to answer the question about the game.
– It’s hard to find words, especially when so many came to support us. We had a bump today that shouldn’t happen. But when it’s hard, it’s hard. Ugly readings, there is no way to explain it, Mattila sighed.
VPS: n Aleksi Pahkasalo and Kalle Multanen The guests from Vaasa got a 2–0 lead in Töölö right at the very beginning of the match.
HIFK: n Macario Hing-Glover brought the second period to the home team’s goal head, but the VPS striker Steven Morrissey quenched the Helsinki team’s wish wishes with two hits.
HIFK published on its website on Thursday open letter (switch to another service)with the chairman Heikki Pajunen spoke about the serious financial problems of the club. HIFK matches have seen 40 percent fewer spectators than before the pandemic
If the sum is not raised, the representative team would then continue to operate at the fourth highest league level, where HIFK’s second team will play.
– We players are not any robots, of course we know about the difficulties and where to go. But when we step on the field, everything else shuts down and we just try to go towards the three points and do our part. We didn’t do what we had to do today, Mattila commented after the match.
Efforts have been made to quell the club’s acute cash crisis by appealing to the club’s fans through ticket sales.
The goal is to sell a total of 20,000 tickets to the next four home matches. 5,000 spectators were expected for the nightless match, which was far short. A total of 3,060 tickets were sold for Töölö’s VPS match, which started on Saturday, but almost not all ticket holders came to the match.
Follow since the 1960s advocated Rita Niemi had purchased extra tickets to the match with her daughter to support the beloved company. For the long-term fan, of course, the news of the team’s plight is not pleasing.
– It’s really sad, but the situation has been on the flip-flop for a long time. Hopefully things will work out. I honestly don’t know what to do with it when there is no audience, Niemi said.
– It would have been normal to stay home so late, but I had to come here to support, daughter Ida Niemi comppa.
Mattila, a member of the Helsinki team captain’s team, sees that inviting people to work also forces the team’s performances on the field. Getting out of the pit is not an easy recipe for success.
– There’s no magic trick to that. We need to find some way and motivate ourselves to twist. If you give up, the fall is certain, Mattila emphasizes.
Fans support, went how it went
The club’s ownership and coaching palette was renewed in the winter when the former head coach of Huuhkajä started at the helm of HIFK. Mixu Paatelainen. In recent years, Paatelainen has coached the Latvian and Hong Kong national teams with poor success, and his return to the Veikkausliiga has not been more successful.
HIFK has only three points out of ten matches and the winning account for the season has yet to be opened. The loyalty of tosifans may bend, but not break.
– I always support this and the economy has not gone under the skin for a long time. Winning is always harder than losing, but that’s why it’s not here. The club is number one, lost or defeated so stay behind the club, Harri Havusela says.
– This difficult situation has continued for so long that, unfortunately, it is not very surprising. Faith still remains, no matter what happened. Exactly the same, even if this gang would play in the weave dive, a longtime supporter Jan Ahonen promises.