IF Gnistan

Gnistan
NicknameKipinä
Founded1924 (1924)
GroundOulunkylä Football Stadium,
Oulunkylä, Helsinki,
Finland
Capacity2,700
ChairmanRisto Murto
Head CoachJussi Leppälahti[1]
LeagueVeikkausliiga
2025Veikkausliiga, 6th of 12

IF Gnistan (Kipinä in Finnish; The Spark in English), commonly known as Gnistan, is a Finnish professional football club from the city of Helsinki, founded in 1924. The club is currently playing in the Veikkausliiga, the first tier of the Finnish league system. IF Gnistan play their home matches at Oulunkylä Football Stadium. The club's home district is Oulunkylä,[2] which is located in the northern part of the capital city.

History

The club is originally Swedish-speaking, but nowadays it is supported by Finnish-speaking majority also. The club was founded by a few Svenska Reallyceum and Åggelby Svenska Samskola students from Oulunkylä in 1924. IF Gnistan was a multi-sport club and had several competitive departments including ski, athletics, swim and pesäpallo (Finnish baseball). Football department were founded in 1935, when the club joined Finnish Football Association Helsinki district. Later in the 1950s Gnistan had strong teams in orienteering, women's gymnastics, table tennis and cross country running alongside the classical sports.[3]

During the late 1950s, the club decided to dissolve all the other departments except for the football teams. When ski and athletics were eliminated, Gnistan turned to a football club, and named Jacob Söderman as their new chairman. They became a significant team in lower leagues of the capital region but never promoted to the top tier. After season 1994, they achieved their place to Ykkönen for the first time. They stayed in the second tier four years and then relegated back to Kakkonen in 1998. They have been in Ykkönen level on four occasions.[3]

Gnistan has played seven seasons in the Ykkönen (First Division), the second tier of Finnish football in 1995–98, 2001–02 and from the season 2017. The club has played fourteen seasons in the Kakkonen (Second Division), the third tier of Finnish football in 1990, 1994, 1999–2000 and 2003–2016.[4]

In 2002, the club nearly made it to the semi-finals of the Finnish Cup, by leading FC Lahti 2–0 till the 90th minute. A FC Lahti fan, ran naked to the field, which caused 5 minutes of added time. Lahti scored twice in injury time and in extra time they made the final score 2–3.

After season 2016, the club won their Kakkonen group and achieved a chance to qualify for Ykkönen for the next season. They faced another group winner Musan Salama on two-legged tie, which started away from home in Pori. Both meetings ended 1–0 victories for the home teams, so the promoting team were solved by penalty shoot-out. Gnistan beat their opponents by 4–3 and promoted to the second tier of Finnish football after spending 14 seasons in a row in Kakkonen.

After establishing their place in then second-tier Ykkönen, Gnistan finished 2nd in the 2023 season, and earned a spot to Veikkausliiga promotion play-offs, where they eventually fell short to IFK Mariehamn. However, it was later announced that Gnistan were granted a Veikkausliiga league license via supplemental process, after FC Honka was declared for bankruptcy. 2024 Veikkausliiga season will be the first in the Finnish top-tier level in the club's entire history.[5][6] After the 2023 season, the CEO Marko Kolsi, who had served for four seasons, left the position and Ilkka Vanala was named the new chief executive officer of Gnistan.

Early in the morning on 13 July 2024, the main stand and the facilities of Gnistan's home stadium Oulunkylä Football Stadium were destroyed in a fire.[7]

Season to season

Club structure

Gnistan run a number of teams including 4 men's teams, 3 veteran's teams, 2 ladies teams, 11 boys team and 6 girls teams. The club also runs a Football School for youngsters.

2025 season

IF Gnistan are competing in Veikkausliiga, highest level of the Finnish football league system.

Gnistan/Ogeli are participating in Group B of the Kolmonen (Third Division) administered by the Helsinki SPL. This is the current fifth tier in Finland.

Gnistan/3 are participating in the Southern Group of the Vitonen (Fifth Division) administered by the Helsinki SPL. This is the current seventh tier in Finland

Gnistan's women's top representative team competes in the third-tier Naisten Kakkonen.

Gnistan's women's reserve team Gnistan/2 is competing in Naisten Nelonen, which is the fifth-tier in Finnish women's football.

Current squad

As of 2 August 2025 [10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  BEL Álex Craninx
3 MF  FIN Saku Heiskanen
4 DF  FIN Oliver Pettersson
5 DF  FIN Lucas von Hellens
6 MF  FIN Hannes Woivalin
7 FW  FIN Tim Väyrynen
9 FW  NOR Didrik Hafstad
10 FW  FIN Joakim Latonen
12 MF  GHA Edmund Arko-Mensah
13 GK  FIN Oskar Lyberopoulos
14 FW  CIV Anicet Oura
15 MF  FIN Gabriel Europaeus
16 MF  FIN Matias Ritari (on loan from HJK Helsinki)
18 MF  DEN Marcus Ryberg
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF  FIN Vertti Hänninen
20 FW  FIN Artur Atarah
22 DF  FIN Jukka Raitala
24 DF  BFA Rachide Gnanou
25 GK  FIN Joel Tynkkynen
26 MF  FIN Roman Eremenko
28 MF  FIN Armend Kabashi
30 MF  FIN Oliver Günes
34 DF  BRA Marcelo Costa
40 DF  FIN Juhani Ojala
42 DF  ENG Oludare Olufunwa
44 MF  RUS Yevgeni Bashkirov

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  FIN Elmeri Lappalainen (at PK-35 until 31 December 2025)
— DF  FIN Benjamin Dahlström (at TPS until 31 December 2025)
— MF  FIN Elmer Vauhkonen (at TPS until 31 December 2025)

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 15 February 2024[11]

Name Role
Jussi Leppälahti Head Coach
Mikke Salonen Assistant Coach
Marko Frantsi Goalkeeping Coach
Patrick Cousins Team Manager
Ari Ahonen Kit Manager
Joni Välilä Physiotherapist

Boardroom

As of 28 August 2024[12]

Name Role
Risto Murto Chairman
Patrik Ekström Vice Chairman
Ilkka Vanala CEO
Jarkko Jokiranta Sporting Director

References

  1. ^ JUSSI LEPPÄLAHTI GNISTANIN PÄÄVALMENTAJAKSI Archived 11 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine, gnistan.fi, 10 November 2023
  2. ^ "Historiaa – IF Gnistan". gnistan.net. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Historia". gnistan.fi. 15 April 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Finland – Divisional Movements 1930–2009". RSSSF. 2010. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  5. ^ IF GNISTAN PELAA ENSI KAUDELLA VEIKKAUSLIIGASSA Archived 19 December 2023 at the Wayback Machine, gnistan.fi, 19 December 2023
  6. ^ Gnistan sai liigalisenssin Veikkausliigaan Archived 15 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine, Yle, 19 December 2023
  7. ^ Aamunkajo paljasti tuhon – katso lohduttomat kuvat Mustapekka Areenan palosta, Iltalehti, 13 July 2024
  8. ^ "Home". finlandfootball.net. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Finland - List of League Second Level Tables". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  10. ^ "IF Gnistan squad" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  11. ^ GNISTANIN MIESTEN EDUSTUSJOUKKUEEN VALMENNUSTIIMI KAUDELLE 2024 Archived 24 January 2024 at the Wayback Machine, gnistan.fi, 24 January 2024
  12. ^ Hallitus Archived 7 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine, gnistan.fi

Sources

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