Alajärven Ankkurit ( "Alajärvi Anchors") is a Finnish sports club from

Alajärvi Alajärvi (; ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The town is unilingually Finnish. The mu ...

. It was founded in 1944. Alajärven Ankkurit has participated in many sports in Finland over the years, such as athletics,

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Since 1980s, the club's main successes have been in

pesäpallo Pesäpallo (; ; , colloquially known in Finnish as pesis and also referred to as Finnish baseball) is a fast-moving bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other ...

. Alajärven Ankkurit is playing in the top-tier

Superpesis The Superpesis is the highest level of the Finnish pesäpallo league system. Contested by 13 clubs in men's league and 12 clubs in women's league, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Ykköspesis. Seasons usually run from ...

. Alajärven Ankkurit has won the men's Finnish Pesäpallo Championship (

) two times in years 1988 and 1989. The home ground of Alajärven Ankkurit is the Kitro Stadium.

History

Alajärven Ankkurit was founded in 1944. The club operates as a general club. Besides

, the strongest sports are athletics, skiing and orienteering. In addition to the pesäpallo players, the club's most famous athlete is

Reijo Vähälä Reijo Untamo Vähälä (7 March 1946 – 27 September 2024) was a Finnish high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its ...

, who won the European silver medal in the high jump in 1969. Despite its small size, Ankkurit is one of the big clubs in pesäpallo. The club was long overshadowed by its local rival ''

Vimpelin Veto Vimpelin Veto ( "Draw of Vimpeli"; or simply Veto) is a Finnish professional pesäpallo team from Vimpeli. It was founded in 1934. Vimpelin Veto is playing in the top-tier Superpesis. Vimpelin Veto has participated in many sports in Finland over t ...

''. In the 1970s, the position of the opponents changed as Ankkurit rose towards the top of the league and Vimpeli's success faded. The club's best seasons came in the 1980s, when the club won two Finnish championships (1988, 1989), two silver medals (1980, 1987) and two bronze medals (1984, 1985). The Ankkurit won their last of seven medals in 1992, when they finished in bronze. The club's history has been marked by many legendary figures. The most legendary of these is

Pekka Peltomäki Pekka is a Finnish male given name. It was most popular around the middle of the 20th century. As of 2013 there were more than 100,000 people registered with this name in Finland. The nameday is the 29th of June in the Finnish tradition and the 25t ...

Supporters and rivalries

The club's local rivalry is Vimpelin Veto. Vimpelin Veto plays its home game 20 kilometres from Alajärvi. The road connecting the two towns has been called the "road of hatred" The relationship between Alajärvi and Vimpeli has been described as blood enemies who are part of each other's history. There are strong feelings between the clubs and their supporters. The transfer of players between clubs has not traditionally been looked upon favourably. In the past decades in particular, it may have taken on great proportions. The best known of those who have played for both clubs is Vesa Liikala, who is particularly known as a symbol of Vimpeli.

Achievements

Men's Pesäpallo ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alajärven Ankkurit Pesäpallo teams in Finland Sports clubs and teams in Finland Sports clubs and teams established in 1944 Alajärvi