SJK started the season miserably, but took the first place in their history in the European games in the summer. The Seinjoki players, who were scolded from their coaching carousel, had two goals when they started the season.
Mixed Perparim that With Mehmet Hetemaj already has a respectable football career behind him, but they had been glowing more than usual in advance of the HJK–SJK match on Sunday. The brothers met for the first time on the fields of Finland.
Both were substituted at the end of the match, when Perparim, representing HJK, was given a yellow card in the statistics, but Mehmet, who played as SJK’s topper, was spared a warning.
It was different in 2009 in Greece, when the brothers met for the last time and for the first time as professionals. Perparim played in his first foreign professional team in AEK Athens, Mehmet represented Thrasyvoulos on a loan deal from Panionios.
At the half-hour mark, both had already received a warning. Mehmet put the strings on his brother. But “at that time Perpa was a fast player”. Perparim got to the ball first, Mehmet rapped, and saw the yellow.
In the video, which is the main image of the story, you can watch how Mehmet recalled the situation.
Mehmet said before the HJK match that it would be his turn to win. It didn’t materialize. With a 1–0 win, HJK returned to the top of the league with equal points with KuPS. He was responsible for the handsome winning goal Anthony Olusanya.
In the 2009 meeting, AEK won 1–0.
After Greece, Mehmet, 34, played several seasons in Italy before returning to the Veikkausliiga. He has represented SJK since the championship year 2015. Perparim, 35, returned to the Veikkausliiga for this season after having a great career before that, especially in the Italian Serie A.
The story told by Mehmet Hetemaj is funny, but not surprising. Neither of the brothers has ever shied away from hard tackles or playing in the gray area. At one time, Perparim was at the top of Europe’s major leagues in the statistics of the players who made the most fouls and the most fouled players.
SJK had two goals for this season
Chairman and main owner of SJK Raimo Sarajärvi reminds that the club has played in the Veikkausliiga for eight full seasons and won a medal four times and the Finnish Cup once.
However, after the championship, SJK has been scolded for pacing their coach selections for years. The club has had nine head coaches since Simo Valakarin a long wash at the beginning of 2017 was decided.
Last season, SJK fans got excited when Jani Honkavaara the contract was not extended, although this returned SJK to the medal position. Now SJK is piloted by someone from HIFK Joaquin Gomez With a 2+1-year contract.
After a miserable early season, SJK’s course has turned. SJK has also confused the championship fight by beating KuPS and Honga. However, the place in the upper final series is not yet certain, with two matches left in the regular season.
The story continues after the video. In the video, you can watch how SJK owner and chairman Raimo Sarajärvi comments on the team’s difficult start to the season and the goals.
Increasing the player budget is not the number one strategy for SJK
Europel has been the talk of the town in Finland, especially because HJK made it to the European League, for the second time in its history. No other Finnish team has made it to the group stage of European games, for HJK the achievement is the fourth in history (1998 Champions League, 2014 and 2022 European League, 2021 Conference League).
– It is really significant. It gives us all faith that euro success is possible. There is always a need for role models and pioneers, says Sarajärvi.
Thanks to last year’s bronze medal, SJK returned to the European games this summer and took their first victory in their history, when the Estonian FC Flora fell in extra time. In the next Conference League qualifying round, Norwegian Lilleström was tougher. The European victory was of great importance to both the players and the club management.
– It’s always great to succeed in the European Games. They can definitely flow into the domestic league as well, and knowing that they might not come every year, reflects on the player who has participated in all the European games in SJK’s history Matej Hradecky.
– Nothing is budgeted for them, but it matters. This year, more than half a million euros came from it. We have the opportunity to make a positive result and that is of course a big deal after the corona years, says Sarajärvi.
When Finnish teams play European games, they talk about the Euros. HJK received more than 3.6 million euros for entering the Europa League. The rewards are significant for Finnish clubs to the extent that 3.6 million is more than HJK’s player budget for the entire season. In AS Roma’s budget, it is crumbs.
Sarajärvi reminds that playing in the European Games also requires investments in the team.
HJK’s player budget at the start of this season had risen to two million. During the summer, it has increased rapidly, when the club has acquired boots, among other things Paulus Arajuuren and Aapo Halme.
The story continues after the graphics. The figures are indicative only, as they were announced before the changes made to the teams during the season.
Does Sarajärvi worry that the differences in player budgets will stretch even further, especially with HJK’s European success?
– Of course, if a club is clearly stronger than others financially, it brings inequality when competing for players. You have to create your own strategies for that. We have created an academy path precisely for the purpose of competing for different players than HJK.
In the fall of 2018, Finland’s first club-led football high school started as a joint project of SJK and Kuortanee sports high school.
This season in SJK, young players such as Ville Tikkanen, Try Hannola and Noah Laine have got a big role.
SJK’s big goal is to regularly return to the top four and European games. Sarajärvi sees that increasing the budget is not the only way to fight against HJK.
– For the first time, the academy is at the level where players are promoted to the national team. In the future, we are also ready to increase the player budget, depending on how financial success allows it.
– Not everything can be done. Domestic players are scarce, you have to grow them yourself, or you just can’t find them.
Matej Hradecky is toiling after hard years
Although the young players have played big roles in SJK, Matej Hradecky, 27, has accumulated the most playing minutes, whose playing position has changed from midfield to top.
Hradecky missed two seasons completely due to two serious knee injuries before he returned to the field in Ykköses TPS jersey in 2019. Hradecky has said that he was mentally tough and that quitting was also on his mind.
There are two rounds of matches left in the regular season of the Veikkausliiga. Then the series is divided into an upper series of the best six and a lower final series of the six weaker ones.