Football Association of Finland

Football Association of Finland
UEFA
Founded19 May 1907 (19 May 1907)
HeadquartersBolt Arena
FIFA affiliation1908
UEFA affiliation1954
PresidentAri Lahti
General SecretaryMarco Casagrande
Websitehttps://www.palloliitto.fi/

The Football Association of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Palloliitto, abbr. SPL; Swedish: Finlands Bollförbund) is the governing body of football and futsal in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907.

The SPL organises the men's and women's national football teams, the second to ninth tiers of national football, the Finnish Cup and the Finnish League Cup. The premier division Veikkausliiga is organised by a distinct organisation. The SPL is based in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki.

History

The SPL was founded in 19 May 1907 in a restaurant called Catani in Esplanadi, Helsinki.[1] The founding meeting was attended by representatives of Unitas Sports Club, Stjernan and Polytechnics Sports Club from Helsinki, Viborgs Hockeyklubb from Vyborg, Åbo Idrottsvänner and Turun Jalkapalloseura from Turku and Idrottens Vänner from Kokkola.

The association was the governing body of bandy in Finland until Finland's Bandy Association was founded in 1972. In 1928, it also arranged the first Finland ice hockey championship, before the 1929 establishment of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association[2], and arranged the first Pesäpallo matches until 1925.

Background

The SPL has more than 1,000 member clubs and approximately 140,000 registered players. The Finnish Gallup survey has indicated that football is a popular pastime with around 500,000 Finns interested in the sport. The SPL is Finland's largest amateur sports federation.[3]

Publications

The association publishes several magazines, including now-defunct monthly magazine Futari.[4]

National teams

Presidents

Commemorative plaque in Esplanadi, Helsinki where was Football Association of Finland founded. (Finnish, Swedish and English)
  • Walter Flander: 1907–1908
  • John Catani: 1909
  • Uno Westerholm: 1910–1911
  • Carolus Lindberg: 1912
  • Walter Qvist: 1913–1917
  • Erik von Frenckell: 1918–1952
  • Juuso Walden: 1953–1963
  • Osmo P. Karttunen: 1963–1974
  • Ove H. Rehn: 1974–1975
  • Jouko Loikkanen: 1975–1983
  • Lauri Pöyhönen: 1983–1987
  • Pentti Seppälä: 1987–1997
  • Pekka Hämäläinen: 1997–2009
  • Sauli Niinistö: 2009–2012
  • Markku Lehtola: 2012 (interim)
  • Pertti Alaja: 2012–2017
  • Markku Lehtola: 2017–2018 (interim)
  • Ari Lahti: 2018–present

Hall of Fame

References

  1. ^ "SPL100: Kansainvälinen pääjuhla Kalastajatorpalla | Suomen Palloliitto". www.palloliitto.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2026-04-21.
  2. ^ "Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto - Historia". www.finhockey.fi. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2026-04-21.
  3. ^ "Palloliitto" (in Finnish). Suomen Palloliitto. Archived from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  4. ^ "A-lehdet Dialogi Oy". Aikakaus Media (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
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