Money, money, money - European prize money 2012/13

Let's be realistic. It will be a long time, if ever, before a Finnish club lifts one of the big European trophies. As I touched upon in the piece about the Road to Wembley/Amsterdam, it's all a great big dream served with a healthy dose of realism. There is some glamour to be had, with HJK taking on former European champions Celtic in the third qualifying round, while current Veikkausliiga leaders Inter Turku came away from recent Dutch champions FC Twente with a draw and an away goal.

But these days, football clubs need to be run as businesses as much as clubs. In order to be competitive, they need to earn money. The chance to be involved in games where a single goal could be worth millions of euros. European football is a huge earner. The arguments can rage on about it separating the rich from the poor, but at the end of the day, it's a prize.

All about the Benjamins

With five Finnish clubs still involved in European football (at the time of writing), here is a breakdown of what they have already earned, along with the potential bounty on offer. (These figures are based purely on the prize money that UEFA have indicated will be on offer for the 2012/13 season.)

Champions League

HJK have benefitted from Finland's standing within the game enough so that as Finnish champions, they enter the competition directly into the second qualifying round, and receive a payment of €200,000. Their prize money for that round is €140,000. As a result of they 9-1 aggregate win over KR, they will go through to the third qualifying round against Celtic. So far, a tidy little sum of €340,000*. Defeat to Celtic would see HJK receive another €140,000.

The next step however, is huge. If they were to defeat the Scottish champions, then they would receive around €2.1million just for reaching the play-off round. After that, a win takes them through to the lucrative Champions League group stage (no Finnish side has gone this far since HJK in 1998/99), where a defeat would lead to direct entry to the group stage of the Europa League.

So in total, losing to Celtic would earn HJK €480.000, while losing in the play-off round would earn them around €2.44million. Quite the difference.

(* if HJK were to qualify for the group stages, they would then lose the €340,000, although the participation bonus, including matches played, for reaching the group stage in 2011/12 was €7.2million, so I'm sure they wouldn't lose any sleep.)

 Chelsea received an estimated €59m (including TV money) for winning last season - figures via Swiss Ramble

Europa League

The supposed poor relation of the Champions League, the Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup etc) is still a fair provider of funds, and the four Finnish participants will be looking to earn some big bucks, along with extra co-efficient points and air miles.

The distribution of funds is slightly more straight-forward in this competition. KuPS, JJK and MYPA have all earned €100,000 for winning their first qualifier ties, while Inter Turku lose out. The prize money for winning both the second and third qualifying ties are also €100,000, so qualifying for the play-offs alone will earn them €300,000.

In addition, the sides that lose in the Europa League play-offs will take home another €100,000. Although the winners don't earn any extra money, they do enter the group stage directly, which last season had a participation bonus of €1million.

The pure sums are that qualifying for the group stage will earn €1.3million for reaching the group stage (Inter would earn €1.2million as they entered the second qualifying round).

2011/12 winners Atletico Madrid won around €6million in prize money

It seems like a soulless thought, the prospect on entering a competition purely for money. But clubs are seeking to gain a legal advantage over their rivals, and it's likely that APOEL, BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzeň will benefit hugely over their domestic rivals by virtue of their recent group stage participation.

Does success breed success? Yes. Does it stop clubs dreaming of the big away ties in the play-offs to the likes of Internazionale, Liverpool or Marseille? No. The board can count the pennies, but the fans will have the memories.

Veikkausliiga week 18 - goals on Sunday

The weekend started slowly. After good results for the Finnish clubs in Europe, it seemed like a hangover was the order of the day. Jaro hauled themselves off the bottom with a point at home to VPS, and remained there at the end of the weekend, we'll come to the reason why later on.

HJK, after their 7-0 thumping of Icelandic champions KR on Tuesday, struggled to a 1-0 home win over Haka. To paraphrase new signing Mika Väyrynen, "not the greatest game, but three points in the bag, happy with that but next week we have to step it up a notch". The result took HJK top, for twenty four hours at least.

Juho Mäkelä's goal got the three points for the champions

To Sunday, and we'll get this one out of the way - MYPA came back from Romania to draw 0-0 with Honka, a result which leaves both side rooted in mid-table. Footage from the match is available on YouTube if you're so inclined...

The first game of Sunday was a cracker. IFK Mariehamn were still sniffing around the top of the table, and were at home to a JJK side fresh from a thrilling Thursday night victory in Europe. Mariehamn twice threw away leads, but when JJK striker Eero Markkanen scores a hat-trick against you, perhaps a 3-3 draw was a fair result all round. The result leaves IFK five points off the top, and JJK in tenth spot.

Hat-trick Eero Markkenen (not pictured, hat)

TPS kept themselves on the outskirts of the title race with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Lahti, two goals in each half, including a late brace from substitute Juho Lehtonen. The side from Turku are now fourth, six points behind their local rivals Inter but with a game in hand. The derby on August 12th will have some extra flavour.

And now for the big result of the weekend, in the game between the sides which achieved arguably Thursday's finest European results, KuPS and Inter Turku in Kuopio. 1559 people witnessed a massacre - Inter sentenced KuPS to a 6-0 home defeat, which has big consequences. Inter are now top of the table again, and KuPS are a point adrift at the bottom, and the swing in goal difference could prove crucial.

KuPS players hit for six (via the awesome Futisblogi Puoliaika)

KuPS are in danger of neglecting their domestic form at the expense of a European run, as they take defend a 2-1 lead this week, although Inter's splendid 1-1 away result at FC Twente shows that the two can be combined. Inter were exceptional again on Sunday, and have now put together a great run of three wins in a row, after not winning in five.