Helsingin Palloseura (HPS) ( en, Helsinki Ball Game Club) is a
sports club
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
from
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
established in 1917. HPS has been active in several sports including
bandy,
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
,
football,
handball and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
.
Historically, HPS men's team is one of the most successful football teams in Finland, winning nine national championships during the 1920s and 1930s. The team is currently playing in the fourth highest league, however. In bandy, the club was the runner-up for the
Finnish championship
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
in 1920.
Famous HPS footballers have included
William Kanerva,
Aulis Koponen,
Max Viinioksa
Max Viinioksa (27 October 1905 – 1 February 1977) was a Finnish footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Amer ...
,
Kai Pahlman,
Jyrki Heliskoski
Jyrki Antero ("Jyrä") Heliskoski (September 28, 1945 – December 28, 2020) was a Finnish football coach.
Heliskoski worked briefly as the head coach of the Finland national team from July 2005 to January 2006. He then continued as an assistant ...
and
Pertti Alaja.
Football
Achievements
HPS Helsinki's men's team won the Finnish football championship (
Mestaruussarja
Mestaruussarja (Championship series) was the top division of Finnish football from 1930 to 1989. It was replaced by Veikkausliiga in 1990.
In 1930 league format was used for the first time to decide the Finnish champion. Before that from 1908 to ...
) 9 times and they also played in the
European Cup, against
Stade de Reims in 1958–59. Their one success in the
Men's Finnish Cup (Miesten Suomen Cup) was in 1962.
* Men's Finnish Champions (Mestaruussarja Winners): 1921, 1922, 1926, 1927, 1929,
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
,
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
,
1935,
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...
* Men's Finnish Cup (Miesten Suomen Cup): 1962
Brief history of men's team
![HPS champions 1927](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/HPS_champions_1927.png)
The first football match played by HPS men's team in September 1918 against
HIFK
HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK ) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...
. The club won their first Finnish championship three years later in 1921. It also won the Mestaruussarja championship in 1922, 1926, 1927 and 1929. However, the club's golden age was in the 1930s, when the HPS men won three championships over a four-year period (
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
,
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
,
1935). Success at this time was also recognised by the large number of players receiving national recognition by representing the Finnish national side. In the 1940s success was in turn mixed with Finnish football having been disrupted by the war years. In
1940/41 HPS finished bottom of the Mestaruussarja and were relegated but were promoted back to the championship level in 1943/44.
They were relegated again in
1949 and did not compete in the Mestaruussarja again until
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...
. They won the championship for the last time in
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...
and were most unfortunate a year later in
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
when they finished equal on points with
KuPS Kuopio to whom they then lost 1–0 in a championship play-off final. They maintained their place in the championship until
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
when they were relegated, which was the last time that the club competed at the highest level.
There then followed a gradual downward spiral with HPS fluctuating between
Miesten Ykkönen (Men's First Division),
Miesten Kakkonen (Men's Second Division) and
Miesten Kolmonen (Men's Third Division). In 1997 HPS returned to the Kakkonen which culminated in them reaching the play-offs at the end of 1998 season when they drew 0–0 and 1–1 against
FC HIFK. However they missed out on promotion on away goals. Disaster was soon to follow as in 1999 HPS abandoned their place in the Kakkonen because of economic difficulties and had no option but to reform in 2000 at the lowest level in the
Seiska (Seventh Division). However, in the last 10 years the club have seen 5 promotions and 1 relegation and they are now competing again in the
Kolmonen
Kolmonen or III divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 104 Finnish football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kolmonen (''Number Three'' in E ...
.
European campaigns
HPS men have played in Europe on two occasions, the first time being in the
European Cup in the 1958–59 season and the second time being in the
Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
in the 1963–64 season.
Divisional movements since 1930
Top Level (28 seasons): 1930–42, 1945–49, 1956–64
Second Level (18 seasons): 1943/44, 1950–55, 1965–70, 1972, 1974–76, 1983
Third Level (13 seasons): 1971, 1973, 1977–82, 1984, 1988–89, 1997–98
Fourth level (19 seasons): 1985–87, 1990, 1992–93, 1995–96, 2009–19
Fifth Level (5 seasons): 1991, 1994, 2005, 2007–08
Sixth Level (2 seasons): 2004, 2006
Seventh Level (1 season): 2003
Eight Level (3 seasons): 2000–02
Season to season
*26 seasons in ''
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...
''
*18 seasons in ''
Ykkönen
''Ykkönen'' ( Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also pla ...
''
*12 seasons in ''
Kakkonen
Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1 ...
''
*19 seasons in ''
Kolmonen
Kolmonen or III divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 104 Finnish football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kolmonen (''Number Three'' in E ...
''
*5 seasons in ''
Nelonen
Nelonen () is a Finnish commercial television channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1990 on the HTV cable network (now part of DNA Welho), and changed its name first to PTV4. On June 1, 1997, the channel expand ...
''
*2 seasons in ''
Vitonen
Vitonen or V divisioona is the sixth level in the Finnish football league system and comprises 228 teams. The V divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Vitonen (''Number Five'' in English and ''Femman'' in Swed ...
''
*1 season in ''
Kutonen
Kutonen or VI divisioona is the seventh level in the Finnish football league system and comprises 265 teams. The VI divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kutonen (''Number Six'' in English and ''Sexan'' in ...
''
*3 seasons in ''
Seiska''
Junior Football
The club has a thriving youth section running a large number of teams with around 700 players. Junior coaching is seen as the key to creating a sound foundation for the development of the club in the future. HPS's mission is to be a local club serving the
Pakila
Pakila ( sv, Baggböle) is a neighbourhood in Northern Helsinki, about nine kilometers from the city center. It comprises Länsi-Pakila ("West Pakila") and Itä-Pakila ("East Pakila"). Pakila has approximately 10 275 inhabitants. -
Paloheinä-Torpparimäki and
Oulunkylä
Oulunkylä ( sv, Åggelby, also known as ''Ogeli'') is a suburb and a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is located north from the center of the city.
It has been inhabited since the 13th century. Earlier an independent munic ...
-
Maunula areas by offering soccer as a hobby for children and youngsters. Educational values, teamwork and consideration of others are key aspects that are delivered.
Current season Women
For the season 2018 the representative team of HPS, ''HPS women's I'', competes in the Naisten Ykkönen, in the second highest national level.
Current women's Squad
Current season men
For the 2014 season HPS men compete in Section 1 (Lohko 1) of the
Kolmonen
Kolmonen or III divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 104 Finnish football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kolmonen (''Number Three'' in E ...
administered by the Helsinki SPL and Uusimaa SPL. This is the fourth highest tier in the Finnish football system.
HPS/2 men are participating in Section 1 (Lohko 1) of the
Nelonen
Nelonen () is a Finnish commercial television channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1990 on the HTV cable network (now part of DNA Welho), and changed its name first to PTV4. On June 1, 1997, the channel expand ...
administered by the Helsinki SPL.
HPS/Jägers are participating in Section 3 (Lohko 3) of the
Kutonen
Kutonen or VI divisioona is the seventh level in the Finnish football league system and comprises 265 teams. The VI divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kutonen (''Number Six'' in English and ''Sexan'' in ...
administered by the Helsinki SPL.
Current men's Squad
Ice hockey
HPS played in
SM-sarja for five seasons (
1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...
,
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
,
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
,
1933 and
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...
)
References and sources
*
Official Website*
Helsingin Palloseura – Finnish Wikipedia
Suomen CupHelsingin Palloseura Facebook
Footnotes
{{Finnish Champions in Football
Bandy clubs in Finland
Football clubs in Helsinki
Association football clubs established in 1917
Bandy clubs established in 1917
1917 establishments in Finland