Helsinki’s Oulunkylä football club IF Gnistania faced a shock on Saturday morning when the stand of its home stadium was destroyed by fire. The club’s warehouses, dressing rooms and all the property inside were also destroyed in the fire.
The destruction of the stadium affects first of all the Veikkausliiga team. Veikkausliiga can no longer be played at the stadium this season.
– A terrible tragedy. All the equipment and everything has burned, and the men’s and women’s representative teams have nothing at the moment, said the shocked chairman of Gnistan ry Risto Murto on Saturday.
The continuation of the Veikkausliiga season is one thing, but the accident affects more widely. How, for example, will the Junior training sessions, which were held at the Mustapekka arena, be organized in the future? The club has 1,200 junior players.
The setback is also fierce because the club had invested heavily in its conditions with the promotion to the Veikkausliiga. For last year and this year, investments in conditions had risen to almost 1.5 million euros.
The EC competition grandstand in the burnt home arena
Gnistan posted on Sunday morning bulletin, which explained how the club can support in a tragic situation. Financial support can be directed to the Kipinä fund.
Although other fan products were destroyed along with the stadium, the One Hundred Years of Sparks commemorative books, which can be purchased, were saved. The club turns one hundred years old this year.
In addition, Gnistan will organize a European Championship grandstand on Sunday evening in the area of its burnt stadium.
– We will organize the EC competition studio in the white tent at the north end of the Mustapekka arena, which remained untouched after the fire. There are refreshments for all ages and small snacks. The tent has a video cannon, a big screen and a first-class sound system, the club announced.
Gnistan was supposed to play a Veikkausliiga home match against IFK Mariehamn on Sunday. That match has been cancelled. Although a large part of the club’s property was burned, the drinks and other products reserved for the home match were in a separate warehouse. So they were preserved, so Gnistan can sell them in connection with his EC competition stand.
The CEO tells about the rush of support
CEO of Gnistan Ilkka Vanala is extremely grateful for the amount of support and donations the club has received. The news has greatly affected the football community.
– There are really a lot of contacts. Even though we put advice on how to support us, questions keep coming up all the time.
Football clubs around Finland, for example RoPS and Jaro, have shown their support. Donations have come from both private individuals and companies. In addition, there will be inquiries about how you can help with material procurement.
On Sunday evening, Vanala did not want to estimate how many monetary donations have come. However, he said that on Monday the amount will be “several tens of thousands”, when the rest of the donations from different places are registered.
Gnistan is known for its strong club community, and home matches in the Veikkausliiga have drawn great crowds.
First, we need to figure out how to finish this season. However, Vanala emphasizes that his focus will quickly turn to where Gnistan’s home is in the longer term. For that, he hopes for a good spirit of cooperation from the City of Helsinki and the Football Association.
When the weekend is over, the Veikkausliiga team starts getting equipment for “the next emergency”. Vanala believes that the team will be able to train properly on Wednesday.
A bigger problem is the personal belongings of the players, such as cleat shoes and different protections customized to each person’s personal needs. You can’t just go to the store and buy them.
In terms of the Veikkausliiga license, Töölö Stadium, which HJK has offered to Gnistan free of charge, Olympiastadion and Myyrmäki in Vantaa would be suitable stadiums for the game in the capital region.
The overall picture is not yet clear, but Vanala emphasizes that you also need to be able to think about the athletic side.
– I personally hope that from Wednesday we will train in the same place or at least in a similar place as where we play the rest of the season.
For example, transitions between natural grass and artificial grass put a significant strain on the players.
In addition, for example, coaching needs its own workspace. The club also wants supporters to find a temporary home base, and Public Services will work.
Despite everything, the ball keeps rolling. There was already a touching moment at the Töölö arena on Saturday evening, when Gnistan and HJK met in the final of the P13 series in the Helsinki Cup.
– A crowd of several hundred yellow-blue supporters had gathered on the stands, whose shouts of support filled the entire stadium. After the match, the boys gathered together with the men’s representative team for a group photo, and even the silver didn’t taste so bitter anymore.