Helsinki Roosters is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team plays in the

Vaahteraliiga The Vaahteraliiga (Maple League) founded in 1980 is the highest level of American football in Finland played under American Football Association of Finland. The winner of the Vaahteraliiga is the Finnish champion. The Vaahteraliiga season is play ...

in Finland and their home field is the

Helsinki Velodrome Helsinki Velodrome ( fi, Helsingin Velodromi) is an outdoor velodrome, American football and field hockey stadium in Helsinki, Finland. The protected functionalist concrete building was designed by Hilding Ekelund. History It was built in 1938� ...

History

Roosters were founded in 1979 and the club is a founding member of the American Football Association of Finland (SAJL). The team has played in every season of the

and has only been left out of the playoffs twice. The Roosters have won the regular season 11 times and have gone the whole season unbeaten for five times (in 1983, 1988, 1999, 2002 and 2013). The Roosters have friendly rivalry with local

Helsinki Wolverines Helsinki Wolverines is a Finnish American football club based in Helsinki and was founded in 1995. The clubs Top Men's Team plays in the Vaahteraliiga of the American Football Association of Finland which is the highest ranking level of American ...

and Helsinki 69ers. Roosters have also been successful in international competitions. In 1988 they won the

Eurobowl The Eurobowl was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each countries top league that was cal ...

II in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where the Roosters beat

Amsterdam Crusaders The Amsterdam Crusaders are an American Football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Together with the Rotterdam Trojans and Alphen Eagles, Amsterdam Crusaders are the oldest surviving Dutch American Football club. Beginnings The Crusaders start ...

35–14. In 1989 Roosters came third-placed. In 1994, Roosters took part in the Football League of Europe. Roosters participated in the European Club Championship tournament in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. Roosters tour yearly to play international friendlies and were the first Finnish team ever to play in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1985. Roosters won the first

IFAF The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) is the international governing body of gridiron associations. The IFAF oversees the IFAF World Championship of American Football, which is held every four years. The IFAF became a pro ...

Europe Champions League in 2014. They beat Vukovi Beograd 36–29 in the final, held in Elancourt,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Honours

Men

championship titles: 22 ** 1982, 1983, 1986–1988, 1990, 1995–2000, 2002, 2004, 2012–2019 *

titles: 1 **1988 *

Champions League titles: 1 **2014

Women

* Finnish championship titles: 1 ** 2011

Notable players

* Micah Brown *

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

* Sonté Wong (WR) * Tuomas Kivisaari * Iiro Luoto * Roope Noronen *

Petrus Penkki Petrus may refer to: People * Petrus (given name) * Petrus (surname) * Petrus Borel, pen name of Joseph-Pierre Borel d'Hauterive (1809–1859), French Romantic writer * Petrus Brovka, pen name of Pyotr Ustinovich Brovka (1905–1980), Soviet Belar ...

* Michael Quarshie * Josh Hollingsworth * Matias Sarvela * Brad Tayles * Mike Kane Running back for Roosters- 1988

Champions * Tim Johnson (American football coach) Import player in mid to late 1980's

Club structure

The Roosters men's first team plays in

, the top

league in

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 ...

. Roosters also have 5 boys' youth teams: U20, U17, U15, U13 and U9. Rooster Ladies, the women's first team plays in Finnish championship series, the highest tier of American football for women in

. The women's team played semi-contact football before, but from 2008 onwards they have played 9-vs-9 full contact football. Roosters have one girls' youth team: U20.

References

External links

Official Website

Helsinki Roosters on Facebook

Helsinki Roosters on Twitter

Vaahteraliiga

Women's Finnish Championship Series
American football teams in Finland Sports clubs in Helsinki 1979 establishments in Finland American football teams established in 1979 {{Finland-sport-stub