Football in Finland | |
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Home stadium of club HJK Helsinki | |
Country | Finland |
Governing body | Football Association of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Palloliitto) |
National team(s) | Men's national team Women's national team |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
League: Tier 1: Veikkausliiga, Kansallinen Liiga Tier 2: Ykkösliiga, Naisten Ykkönen Tier 3: Ykkönen, Naisten Kakkonen Tier 4: Kakkonen, Naisten Kolmonen Tier 5: Kolmonen, Naisten Nelonen Tier 6: Nelonen, Naisten Vitonen Tier 7: Vitonen Tier 8: Kutonen Tier 9: Seiska Cups: Finnish Cup Finnish Women's Cup | |
International competitions | |
Part of a series on the |
Culture of Finland |
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Football in Finland is not, or at least has traditionally not been, the most popular spectator sport, which is in contrast to most European countries; it falls behind ice hockey, which enjoys a huge amount of popularity in the country.[1] Football tops ice hockey in the number of registered players (115,000 vs. 60,000[2][3]) and as a popular hobby (160,000 vs. 90,000 among adults and 230,000 vs. 105,000 among youths[4][5]). It is the most popular hobby among 3-18 year olds, whereas ice hockey is 9th.[5]
Football's standing is constantly increasing, especially among girls and women, where the yearly growth rate has lately been over 10 percent.[6] In season 2006–07 19.9 percent of registered players were female.[6] The Football Association of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Palloliitto) has approximately one thousand member clubs.[2] According to a Gallup poll, nearly 400,000 people include football among their hobbies.[4][5]