Veikkausliiga - last updated on 7 October 2008
(Courtesy of Johnny Beaufays)
Competition name: Veikkausliiga
Foundation: 1990
Country: Finland
Website: www.veikkausliiga.com
A bit of history:
Veikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 14 clubs of the country. Veikkausliiga is currently ranked as the 30th best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name. Veikkausliiga was founded in 1990; before that the top division was called Mestaruussarja (championship series) since 1930. Between 1908 and 1930 the championship was decided in a cup competition.
Like in some other cold-climate European countries (including Norway, Sweden and Russia), league matches in Finland are played in summer, with a schedule usually from April to October. In current format each team plays all other teams twice, both at home and away. At the end of the season, the lowest-placed team is relegated to Ykkönen, whose winner will be promoted to Veikkausliiga. In normal seasons, the team placed next to lowest will play a two-legged relegation/promotion match with the second-placed team in Ykkönen. In season 2006, because the Veikkausliiga was one team short, this promotion match was not played and two best clubs of Ykkönen, FC Viikingit and AC Oulu, were promoted directly. KuPS were relegated.
Most of the clubs in Veikkausliiga are professional, although some of the smaller clubs are semi-professional. Average attendance has been slightly under 3000.
Competition crests: (roll on the crest to get more informations)
Veikkausliiga
