Seinäjoki

Ground: OmaSP Stadion

Visits: 1

Date: 5th July 2025

Match: SJK - Ilves 1-1 (Veikkausliiga)

Attendance: 3 627

For Saturday I had two games in Veikkausliiga to choose from, VPS v HJK or SJK v Ilves. With my Sunday game being in Jakobstad it was much easier if I travelled to Seinäjoki for SJK v Ilves so this was to be my choice. At 09.36 my train departed Tikkurila and three hours later I arrived in Seinäjoki. Seinäjoki is on the Helsinki - Oulu/Rovaniemi route and relatively easy to reach by train. My hotel was then 15 minutes by foot from the station and after checking-in I headed towards the city centre where I enjoyed a late lunch. Later in the afternoon my Danish groundhopping colleague Michael showed up and we headed towards the square the shuttle bus service to OmaSP Stadion departed from. The shuttle bus was a vintage double decker and it saved us from the 25-30 minute walk to the ground.

SJK stands for Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho and was formed in 2007 after the merger of TP-Seinäjoki and Sepsi-78. SJK started at level three and in 2015 the club won their so far only Finnish league title. In 2016 SJK moved to a newly built ground, nowadays OmaSP Stadion, which has a capacity of 6,000 spectators. Our seats were in the home end but it was actually possible to switch stands (but I only did this to take pictures!). SJK v Ilves was 5th v 3rd but a win would temporarily take Ilves to the top of the table. SJK were the better team early on and were deservedly 1-0 up at the break. In the 2nd half Ilves were the better team and as they equalised to 1-1 that was only fair. Good vocal support from both sets of active fans and as it ended 1-1 both clubs still have a chance of finishing top. We used the shuttle bus back to the city centre before returning to our hotel. Tomorrow the journey continues further north when I head for Jakobstad.