Riihimäen Ilves (abbreviated RIlves) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club from

Riihimäki Riihimäki (; ) is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to Helsinki, Tampere and La ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

which was. The club was formed in 1970. The men's football first team currently plays in the

Kolmonen Kolmonen or III divisioona is the fifth level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 108 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mi ...

(Third Division) and their home ground is at the Riihimäen Pallokenttä.

Background

Riihimäen Ilves has traditionally been the second club in Riihimäki and until 2001 trailed in the wake of Riihimäen Palloseuran (RiPS). RIlves was founded as a sister organisation on 18 January 1970 and the club's first chairman was Sakari Harjanne. In those early days RIlves was initially run as a joint venture with RiPS with a joint executive board. The new club played in the lower divisions of the Finnish football league but by 1986 had ceased to function. In 1993 the club played in the Nelonen (Fourth Division) but ceased operations again in 1994. The situation changed dramatically in 2001 when RiPS were forced to withdraw from sporting activities because of financial difficulties. Riihimäen Ilves represented the only hope for football in Riihimäki and under the management of a new board the club began to make progress gaining promotion from the Vitonen (Fifth Division) in 2001 and Nelonen (Fourth Division) in 2002. The club played in the Kolmonen (Third Division) from 2003 until the end of the 2008 season when they were relegated. However RIlves won their section in the Nelonen (Fourth Division) in 2009 and are currently back in the Kolmonen (Third Division). Rilves has a total of around 250 members and is the leading presence in Riihimäki football. The second club in the town is Riihimäen Sarvet and youngest age groups are well supported by the Riihimäen Nappulaseuraa (RiNS) club.

Season to season

Club Structure

Riihimäen Ilves run a number of teams including 2 men's teams, 1 ladies teams, 7 boys teams and 3 girls teams. During the winter months the club make use of the indoor training facilities at the Valio-Areena. The Hall is 70 metres long by 45 metres wide.

2010 season

RIlves Men's Team are competing in Section 3 (Lohko 3) of the

administered by the Uusimaa SPL. This is the fourth highest tier in the Finnish football system. In 2009 RIlves finished in 1st place in Section 1 (Lohko 1) of the Nelonen and were promoted. RIlves / 2 are competing in Section 4 (Lohko 4) of the

Vitonen Vitonen or V divisioona is the seventh 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 ...

(Fifth Division) administered by the Uusimaa SPL.

References and Sources

Official Website
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Finnish Wikipedia The Finnish Wikipedia () is the edition of Wikipedia in the Finnish language. With articles, it is currently the -largest Wikipedia and the largest Wikipedia in a Uralic language. Wikipedia is the only encyclopedia in Finnish which is still upda ...

Suomen Cup

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riihimaen Ilves Football clubs in Finland Riihimäki Sport in Kanta-Häme 1970 establishments in Finland