Myyrmäen jalkapallostadionGround: ISS Stadion (Myyrmäen jalkapallostadion) Visits: 1 Date: 28th April 2012 Match: PK-35 Vantaa - FC Hämeenlinna 9-0 (Ykkönen)
When it was announced that Veritas Stadion in Turku was to have a new pitch and the opening matches of the 2012 season were to be moved to Paavo Nurmi Stadion I started to plan a trip to Finland. To my knowledge Paavo Nurmi Stadion has not been used for football before so this was a unique opportunity. With the last weekend of April being a long weekend I made plans to visit three matches in as many days. First up was PK-35 Vantaa vs FC Hämeenlinna in Ykkönen on Saturday afternoon. My started as early as 04.00 and two hours later I was at Copenhagen Airport and by 11am I was in Helsinki. On my way to the city centre I ended up next to the former leader of the Swedish Green Party. Being leader for 8 years for the 3rd biggest party Maria Wetterstrand is well-known in Sweden and I was probably not the only passenger on the bus recognizing her.
Once in central Helsinki I made my way to Hotel Arthur, which I have used on previous visits to the Finnish capital. I the visited the library (internet!) before meeting up with my German friend Maik. After a drink in a sports bar we headed towards the railway station and the M-train taking us to Myyrmäki/Myrbacka. With Myyrmäki being situated in Vantaa, a suburb to Helsinki, it was a short (17 min) journey for us. The match between PK-35 Vantaa and Hämeenlinna was actually the opening match of the 2012 season for both teams. With it being an Ykkönen (level 2) match I had no idea what the attendance would be like. ISS Stadion is quite a nice ground. It has two all-seated stands. The main stand on the west side is two tiered whereas the East Stand is single-tiered. For most matches the East Stand is closed though. The south end of the ground has a small wooden terrace while the north end is made up of a grass slope. In total the capacity is 5 000 (4 250 seats).
Hämeenlinna brought about 25 fans for this match. Before the match they were quite vocal but when PK-35 made it 2-0 in the 8th minute they were silenced. They tried to sing again but it was soon 3-0 and at half-time it was 4-0 to PK-35. By now the visiting fans had stopped singing for good. The second half meant more goals and when it was 7-0 the Hämeenlinna fans started to leave the ground. In the end it was 9-0(!) to PK-35. Not the best start to the new season for FC Hämeenlinna. With 9 goals I was quite pleased though and hopefully the match tomorrow in Turku will have plenty of goals as well.
ISS Stadion
Refreshments
West Stand
North End
East Stand
South Stand
Hämeenlinna fans
West Stand
Kick-off
View of ISS Stadion
View of play
Home fans
9-0
Pano
Pano |