PK-35 Vantaa (formerly Pallokerho-35 or PK-35) is a
football club
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...
based in
Vantaa, Finland. The club is "dedicated to women's
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
" and its representative team plays in the
Kansallinen Liiga
The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of Women's association football, women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten Suomen mestaruus, SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Se ...
, the top-tier women's league in Finland (called the ''Naisten Liiga'', 2006–2019). PK-35 Vantaa has won 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 ...
six times and the
Finnish Women's Cup
The Finnish Women's Cup ( fi, Naisten Suomen Cup, sv, Finlands cup för damer) is the national women's football cup competition in Finland and was first played in 1981.
List of finals
The list of finals:
Helsingin Sanomat archives 1981
See ...
four times. The club's home ground is the
Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion
Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion (Myyrmäki Football Stadium), ( sv, Myrbackas fotbollsstadion), formerly ISS Stadion and Pohjola Stadion is a football stadium in the Myyrmäki district of Vantaa, Finland. It is the homeground of PK-35 Vantaa, its ...
(Myyrmäki Football Stadium) in the
Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...
district of Vantaa.
The club had a
men's representative team from 1935 until 2016, which last played in the
2016 season of the
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 Veikkau ...
.
History
Club origins
The club's founding can be traced to 19 September 1935, when a group of 36 footballers gathered in
Vyborg
Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...
, which was part of Finland at that time, to establish Vyborg Ball Club (ViPK). The club remained in operation until 1939, when the
Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
forced the club to disband. Many club members resettled in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
in the period during and after the wars and, in 1948, the club was reinstated in Helsinki under the new name, Pallokerho-35 (PK-35).
PK-35 Women's team
PK-35 women's representative team was established in 1978 and it first appeared in a
Football Association of Finland
The Football Association of Finland ( fi, Suomen Palloliitto, abbr. SPL; sv, Finlands Bollförbund) is the governing body of football in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907.
The SPL organises the men's and women's national footb ...
league in 1982. In 1992, the team reached the qualifiers for the second-flight
Naisten I-divisoona (renamed ''Naisten Ykkönen'' in 1996) but did not qualify for the league at that time. The team played in the Naisten Ykkönen during the 1999 season and in the third-tier
Naisten Kakkonen during 2003–2007. At the end of the 2007 season, under head coach Mitri Pakkanen, the team gained promotion to the Ykkönen. PK-35 finished the 2008 season fourth in the Ykkönen.
Move to Vantaa
![Pohjola_stadion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Pohjola_stadion.jpg)
At the end of the 2008 season, the PK-35 men’s and women’s representative teams were relocated to Vantaa, where they became the representative teams of the newly-created club, PK-35 Vantaa. The transfer was done in the hope that the teams would have access to better resources in Vantaa. However, junior and representative team activities carried on in Helsinki and the Helsinki-based
PK-35 women’s team continued in the fourth-tier ''Naisten Kolmonen''.
Promotion to Naisten Liiga
In the 2009 season, the primary goal for the women’s team was to gain promotion to the top-tier Naisten Liiga (renamed the ''Kansallinen Liiga'' (National League) in 2020). Newly appointed head coach
Pauliina Miettinen
Pauliina Miettinen (born 20 May 1972) is a Finnish football coach and former player. She currently works as the head coach of the Kansallinen Liiga team Tikkurilan Palloseura.
During her playing career, Miettinen played as goalkeeper, defend ...
took charge of a squad bolstered by strong international players, featuring
Ifeanyi Chiejine
Ifeanyichukwu Stephanie Chiejine (17 May 1983 – 21 August 2019) was a Nigerian football striker. She last played for SSVSM-Kairat Almaty in the Kazakhstani Championship. She had also played for FC Indiana in USA's W-League, KMF Kuopio and ...
and
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
Rachael Ayegba
Rachel ( he, רָחֵל, Modern: Raḥel, Tiberian: Rāḫēl, Rāḥēl), meaning " ewe", is a feminine given name of Hebrew origin, popularized by the biblical figure Rachel, the wife of Israelite patriarch Jacob.
Ashkenazi Jewish matron ...
of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, and
Jenae Seppälä
Jenae Zillgitt Seppälä ( née Gibbens; born January 13, 1986) is an American soccer defender who played for PK-35 Vantaa in Finland's Naisten Liiga (renamed Kansallinen Liiga in 2020) and the UEFA Women's Champions League
The UEFA Women ...
(
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Gibbens) and
Natalie Capuano
Natalie may refer to:
People
* Natalie (given name)
* Natalie (singer) (born 1979), Mexican-American R&B singer/songwriter
* Shahan Natalie (1884–1983), Armenian writer and principal organizer of Operation Nemesis
Music Albums
* ''Nata ...
of the
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 territorie ...
, as weil as promising young Finnish talent, including
Pirjo Leppikangas
Pirjo Elise Leppikangas (born 12 September 1987) is a Finnish football defender. She plays for PK-35 Vantaa in the Naisten Liiga.
Club career
Leppikangas has played for PK-35 Vantaa since their second division days and is their captain. In 2 ...
,
Aino Lehtinen, and
Sanna Saarinen. The club‘s efforts paid off and PK-35 Vantaa beat
FC Sport Vaasa to claim first place in the 2009 Naisten Ykkönen, earning promotion for the upcoming Naisten Liiga season.
The team won the Naisten Liiga for the first time in 2010, in their debut season in the championship. They thus made their
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
debut in the
2011–12 season, where they were knocked out by
Rayo Vallecano Femenino
Rayo Vallecano Femenino is the women's football section of Madrid-based club Rayo Vallecano, currently playing in the Primera Federación. Between 2008 and 2011 it won three national championships and one national cup.
History
Rayo Vallecano est ...
in the Round of 32.
PK-35 subsequently consolidated itself as the new leading Finnish team, winning both the league championship and the
Finnish Women's Cup
The Finnish Women's Cup ( fi, Naisten Suomen Cup, sv, Finlands cup för damer) is the national women's football cup competition in Finland and was first played in 1981.
List of finals
The list of finals:
Helsingin Sanomat archives 1981
See ...
in 2011, 2012, and 2016.
Honours
Titles
*
Finnish Champions ''(7)'': 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
[https://www.palloliitto.fi/uutiset/naisten-liiga/pk-35-vantaa-naisten-liigan-mestari-0]
*
Finnish Women's Cup
The Finnish Women's Cup ( fi, Naisten Suomen Cup, sv, Finlands cup för damer) is the national women's football cup competition in Finland and was first played in 1981.
List of finals
The list of finals:
Helsingin Sanomat archives 1981
See ...
''(4)'': 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016
UEFA competition record
Players
2022 squad
Former internationals
*
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
:
Lady Andrade
Lady Patricia Andrade Rodríguez (born 10 January 1992) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for Spanish Primera División club Deportivo de La Coruña and the Colombia women's national team. She is an attacking midfielder who can ...
*
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 ...
:
Jaana Lyytikäinen
*
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
:
Emma Kete
Emma Jillian Kete (born 1 September 1987) is a New Zealand footballer who most recently played as a centre forward for Canberra United and the New Zealand national team.
Club career
Kete joined Ottawa Fury Women in July 2009, playing alongside ...
*
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
:
Cynthia Uwak
Cynthia Uwak (born 15 July 1986 in Akwa Ibom State) is a Nigerian football striker who most recently played for Åland United in the Naisten Liiga in Finland.
Early life
Cynthia Uwak's first experience of playing football was against boys in th ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Football in Finland
Women's football clubs in Finland
Sport in Vantaa
1978 establishments in Finland