Jussi Jääskeläinen

I spent a not insignificant portion of my Christmas break working on this story. I will think very carefully before I next criticise players for making banal comments, as sometimes they just get asked shit questions. This was one of those occasions, unfortunately, I think I rather fluffed my first interview with a professional footballer [...]

Lauri Dalla Valle, again

There have been a few HS stories about Dalla Valle recently, and they have now been translated for the International Edition. What catches my eye is the way his background is portrayed here, as his Dad is Italian and this has had some effect on his upbringing. He hasn’t declared which national side he wants [...]

Finland 2 Belgium 0

This picture was taken by smela, and arrived here via the Finnish football pool on flickr
Alright, it was a long time ago, but I’m playing with the photo feature here and this is a great picture. Roman Eremenko was immense in this match, by all accounts (I was in Tallinn covering the Estonia-England game), and [...]

Tampere’s stadium

This picture was taken by nordstube2000, and arrived here via the Finnish football pool on flickr
Ratina is the biggest stadium in Veikkausliiga, holding 16,500 people when it’s packed to the rafters. Unfortunately, there are no rafters in most of the stadium as it is completely open to the elements, which isn’t ideal for those [...]

Sinikaarti at Honka

This picture was taken by Heavenbound, and arrived here via the Finnish football pool on flickr

HJK fans visit Espoo

This picture was taken by Heavenbound, and arrived here via the Finnish football pool on flickr

KTP end of season 2005

This picture was taken by erno, and arrived here via the Finnish football pool on flickr
I like KTP. They’re a small but friendly club, and they always take a good away following wherever they play. One of the themes I keep returning to is the atmosphere at football games here, as it is often quite [...]

New blog

I’m playing around with things at the moment, trying to find a more professional look and a more effective way of communicating information. All feedback is welcome, so please tell me what you want to see. The tags at the top will soon be filled with articles and information, so please let me know what [...]

Teemu Tainio, pride of Lapland?

I am reliably informed, by people who should know, that ‘proper’ Lapland doesn’t start until you get north of the Ivalojoki river. I’ve had a look on the map, and asked at the train station, but no-one can sell me a ticket there. I’ll probably have to settle for tourist Lapland down in Kitilä or [...]