Vuosaari sports ground ( fi, Vuosaaren urheilukenttä, also known as Heteniitty) is a

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

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

ground in

Vuosaari Vuosaari ( sv, Nordsjö) is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila ...

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 ...

. It is the home ground of the

East Helsinki East Helsinki ( fi, Itä-Helsinki, sv, Östra Helsingfors) is an area in Helsinki, Finland, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts (, ), including the districts of Vartiokylä, Myllypuro, Mellunkylä, ...

football club

FC Viikingit FC Viikingit is a Finnish football club based in Vuosaari, East Helsinki, and currently playing in the ''Kakkonen'', the third tier of Finnish football. They play their home matches at Vuosaaren urheilukenttä, also called Heteniitty. The club ...

, who play in the Finnish first division (''

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 play ...

''). The ground currently has a capacity of approximately 1,500 spectators, but it was expanded to 3,500 seats in the 2007 season, when Viikingit played in the Finnish premier division. The ground is also called ''Heteniitty'' due to its location along Heteniityntie. Nicknames include ''Hettari'' and ''Monttu'' ('the Pit'), the latter derived from the shape of the ground and the fact that it was built in the location of a former

borrow pit Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock on the surface of Earth. Digging is actu ...

History

The ground was constructed in 1966 in the place of a former borrow pit, owing to a proposal made by the Vuosaari Foundation (''Vuosaari-säätiö''). Several national records in athletics were broken in Vuosaari in the 1970s. The ground was renovated in 1996. The renovation included, among other things, improvements to lighting, the running track and the stands. Major changes were again made in 2007, as FC Viikingit were promoted to 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 ...

''. The main stand was expanded to seat 1,000 spectators, and temporary stands were built opposite the main stand and in the curves. These changes brought the total number of seats to 3,500. The attendance record of 4,255 was created during the 2007 season in the

local derby Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

between FC Viikingit and

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...

. After Viikingit were relegated back to the first division, most of the new stands were torn down. The attendance record for first division matches was made on 21 July 2011, as 1,670 spectators turned out to see the Reds' match against local rivals

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 ...

Transport connections

The ground is located in Central Vuosaari in the address Heteniityntie 2. It lies approximately one kilometre north of

Vuosaari metro station Vuosaari metro station (, ) is the ground-level terminus station of the M1 line of the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Vuosaari in East Helsinki. The station was opened on 31 August 1998 and was designed by the architect firm Esa Piiron ...

, and can be reached on foot or with the buses 78 and 90. The ground has a small car park, and on match days the adjacent gravel field is converted into a temporary car park.

References

External links

FC Viikingit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuosaaren urheilukentta Football venues in Finland Sports venues in Helsinki Vuosaari Sports venues completed in 1966