Honka

Ground: Tapiolan urheilupuisto (Hagalunds Idrottspark)

Visits: 1

Date: 20th June 2010

Match: Honka - Tampere United 0-2 (Veikkausliiga)

Attendance: 1 522

For day 3 of my tour to Finland I had 3 Veikkausliiga matches to choose from. At first I wanted to go to Turkku (Åbo) for Inter Turkku vs HJK Helsinki but when I discovered there was no train back to Helsinki I decided for FC Honka vs Tampere United instead. Honka are based in Espoo, just outside Helsinki, and with a bus stop just outside the ground it was an easy journey from central Helsinki. The game didn´t kick-off until 7 pm so there was plenty of time for some touristing earlier in the day. Suomenlinna Sea Fortress (Sveaborg) is an 18th century historical fortress which was built by the Swedish military to protect Helsinki. The fortress is on an island a 15 minute ferry journey from the Market Square. With the weather being really nice this Sunday it was a truly enjoyable trip that is recommended.

After watching the latter parts of Slovakia vs Paraguay I then met up with Lukas, the German groundhopper I met the previous day, and we then made the short bus trip to Espoo together. Once outside the ground it was obvious Finland is a popular destination for groundhoppers this summer. Nobby, Dirk etc were all German groundhoppers who had travelled to to Finland this weekend and there were probably more groundhoppers (around 15) than away fans at the game!
Tapiolan urheilupuisto (Hagalunds idrottspark) has a capacity of around 5 000 and is a decent ground with no running tracks. Both end stands are open terraces and the side stands are all-seated. Both the seated stands seemed temporary though but maybe it is just a cheap way for Honka to comply with league rules. The feeling was that if there was to be a very strong wind the stand would fly away. The match ? Very boring and of low quality. Honka, second in the table, lost 2-0 and they must improve if they are to ovetake neighbours HJK at the top. After the game all the groundhoppers gathered at the bus stop for the ride back to central Helsinki. Once there I said goodbye to some of them and I then headed towards a sports bar for Brazil vs Ivory Coast!

tapiolan urheilupuisto