Showing posts with label Labrador. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Labrador. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

ETS 2015 - who to support...?

In 2015, the ETS family will be rolling into Finland by car for a few weeks in midsummer. I've previously mentioned the trip here complete with references to dogging... Anyway, Mrs ETS is fully aware that I'll be looking to take in as many games as possible (preferably with the dog), plus I've already committed to Finland v Hungary along with matches hosted by TPS, Union Plaani, KuPS and Roxbury JK, the football club devoted to the film A Night At The Roxbury. Seriously.

The VIP section at Union Plaani - I've been promised it for a match

I've had a few days off work over the Christmas period, with time on my hands to plan how ETS will be approaching the new year. So I've decided to do a lonely hearts advert, hoping to do some good lower down the Finnish football ladder. Essentially, I'd like to use my profile and work with one or two lower division clubs (who won't be direct rivals) to give them a bit more publicity, tell their stories, hopefully celebrate their successes and maybe make them a few Euros as well. I'd also like to visit these clubs during my summer visit and encourage others to do the same.

I opened the idea to my Twitter followers on Monday and already had some suggestions for clubs all over the country. Some of these have been very interesting, but I'd like to hear from anyone else, especially the fans of such clubs which would have a particularly good atmosphere.

Will we both be allowed into a game? Or is it because Woody is black?

I'm not after anything from this initiative, purely a chance to find out a little more about Finland, meet some new friends and hopefully get myself a replica shirt. As a board member of a seventh-division English club, I know the challenges of reaching new fans.

Feel free to let me know via any of the usual channels!

Riku

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Edit 02/01/2015 - I've had several replies to this post, including the following clubs:

FJK (Forssan Jalkapalloklubi)
Kungliga Wasa
FC Vaajakoski
Salon Tervarit
FC Brändöpojkarna
Club Latino Español
FC Åland
AC Balls
Turun Weikot
Grankulla IFK
BET (Blue Eyes Team, Jyväskylä)
SC Kufu
Puistolan Urheilijat
Tam-UK
MPS (Atletico Malmi, Helsinki) 
PS Kemi
Jokerit FC
FC Melody
Warkaus JK  
SC Wolves 

Happy to receive more suggestions, I'm currently in the process of planning my trip... Hoping to make a decision soon!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Dogging in Finland

Excuse the somewhat sensationalist headline, which is no doubt bound to attract plenty of the 'wrong' sort of visitors, or maybe even a certain Mr Collymore. But nevertheless...

Myself and Mrs ETS are planning a longer stay in Finland in Summer 2015, which would give us an opportunity to bring young Woodstock along, our very lovely Labrador, who'll be three years old by then. Since he joined us in 2012, our visits to Finland have been limited, and shorter in length (from a weekend to just over a week), and the cost of flying with a large dog are incredibly prohibitive, with BA charging a price per kilogram - as he weighs over 40kg, we've left him with a boarder.

Woodstock

So what for next year? Well assuming I can get a larger car, and the time off work, the plan is to drive from London (via Denmark and Sweden), booking a holiday home for 2-3 weeks, and setting up camp. Mrs ETS hails from Kuopio, while there are family dotted all over from Helsinki to Kalajoki and in-between. My football travels will take shape from there, although I'm not planning on just visiting Veikkausliiga grounds, but any club which will host me and the boy, who is very much a fan of Finland and Arsenal.

On a visit in 2013, we took in the sights of Pietarsaari to see Jaro 3-0 JJK. One of the more intruiging sights of the day, other than the number of Manchester United jerseys, was an elderly lady watching the game with her dog. Now I know in England that most grounds would bar entry to our canine friends, but is this true of most Finnish clubs?

Jaro supporting dog

Seeing as the majority of clubs follow me on Twitter, it'd be nice to get an idea of whether we'd be welcome to visit in 2015. I wouldn't expect him to be appreciated in food serving areas etc, but at least within the complex to watch the game? At the moment we don't know where we'll be staying, and it's unlikely we'll get as far north as Rovaniemi. This autumn we're visiting Turku and Tampere, so there may be clues there.

All help is gratefully received, as we'd love to visit as many different clubs as possible, and make plenty of new friends. Thanks!