FC Lahti
Encyclopedia
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club, based in the town of Lahti
Lahti
Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
. It currently plays in the Finnish First Division (Ykkönen
Ykkönen
Ykkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system , although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland.-Competition:...
) after placing last in Finnish Premier League (Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Veikkausliiga is currently ranked as the 28th best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name...
) during season 2010. The homeground of FC Lahti is Lahden Stadion
Lahden Stadion
Lahden stadion is a multi-use stadium in Lahti, Finland. In Winter the stadium is used in cross-country skiing and biathlon. In summer it is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Lahti. The stadium holds 14,500 and was built in 1981.Stadium is also a well-known...
.
History
FC Lahti was founded in 1996 when two time-honoured archrival clubs from Lahti - FC Kuusysi and Reipas Lahti (Founded in ViipuriVyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
and moved to Lahti after Viipuri was ceded to USSR in 1947) - decided to end their time in Finnish top-football and create a new club to make people of Lahti proud. Also the reserve club FC Pallo-Lahti was formed, but it was closed down after a couple of seasons due to economic difficulties. Both Reipas and Kuusysi controlled the junior section of the club.
FC Lahti played its first season, 1997, in the southern group of Ykkönen
Ykkönen
Ykkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system , although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland.-Competition:...
, the second tier of Finnish football. It finished second in the first half of the split league format type league system, but was placed third in the final half behind FC Haka
FC Haka
Haka is a Finnish football club, based in the industry town of Valkeakoski. It is one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championships and 12 Finnish Cup wins.- History :...
and PK-35 which were promoted to Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Veikkausliiga is currently ranked as the 28th best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name...
. The next season, 1998, was victorious and FC Lahti finally gained promotion to the highest tier until relegating at the end of the season 2010.
In the premier division Lahti hasn't yet achieved as much as Kuusysi and Reipas did. In 2007 Lahti won the Finnish League Cup
Finnish League Cup
The Finnish League Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually during pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga.-Finnish League Cup finals:...
. In 2008 FC Lahti was third in the Veikkausliiga final table and took a place for Uefa Europa League qualification rounds season 2009.
FC Lahti in Europe
Lahti were Liverpool's first European opponents following the English club European ban in the wake of the Heysel disaster. Although they lost the first leg at Anfield 6-1 they defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the second leg in Finland thanks to a goal from Mike Belfield.As of July 23, 2009.
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR |  |
Dinamo Tirana KS Dinamo Tirana Klubi Sportiv Dinamo Tirana is an Albanian football team, playing in the Albanian capital of Tirana, founded in 1950. They play at the Stadiumi Qemal Stafa which has a capacity of 25,000. Their main rivals are fellow Tirana team KF Tirana.- History :... |
4-1 | 0-2 |
| 2QR |  |
ND Gorica ND Gorica ND Gorica is a Slovenian football club, playing in the town of Nova Gorica. They are one of the most successful Slovenian clubs with four Slovenian League, two Slovenian Cup and one Slovenian Supercup titles. Together with NK Maribor and NK Celje they are the only club that have participated in... |
2-0 | 0-1 | ||
| 3QR |  |
Club Brugge | 1-1 | 2-3 | ||
Season to season
| class="wikitable"> | ||||||
| Season | Level | Division | Section | Administration | Position | Movements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Tier 2 | Ykkönen (First Division) | South Group | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 2nd | Promotion Group - 3rd |
| 1998 | Tier 2 | Ykkönen (First Division) | South Group | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 1st | Promotion Group - 1st - Promoted |
| 1999 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 10th | Relegation Group - Playoffs | |
| 2000 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 8th | ||
| 2001 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 9th | ||
| 2002 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 7th | Upper Group - 8th | |
| 2003 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 5th | ||
| 2004 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 7th | ||
| 2005 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 6th | ||
| 2006 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 8th | ||
| 2007 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 8th | ||
| 2008 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 3rd | ||
| 2009 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 11th | ||
| 2010 | Tier 1 | Veikkausliiga (Premier League) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 14th | Relegated | |
| 2011 | Tier 2 | Ykkönen (First Division) | Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) | 1st | Promoted |
- 12 seasons in VeikkausliigaVeikkausliigaVeikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Veikkausliiga is currently ranked as the 28th best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name...
- 3 seasons in YkkönenYkkönenYkkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system , although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland.-Competition:...
Current squad
Notable players
Joonas Jokinen Jari LitmanenJari Litmanen
Jari Olavi Litmanen is a Finnish footballer, currently playing for HJK. He is the current vice-captain of Finland national football team, where he served as a first choice captain between 1996–2008...
Petri Pasanen Mika Väyrynen
Mika Väyrynen
Mika Väyrynen is a Finnish footballer who plays for English Championship side Leeds United. He is a Finland international.-Club career:...
Petri Tiainen
Petri Tiainen
Petri Tiainen is a retired Finnish football defender.He played for Kuusysi Lahti from 1984 to 1986, AFC Ajax from 1986 to 1989, HJK Helsinki from 1989 to 1992, MyPa from 1994 to 1997 and FC Lahti in 1998. He was capped 13 times for Finland, scoring 2 goals. He won the Finnish Footballer of the...
Pekka Lagerblom
Pekka Lagerblom
Pekka Lagerblom is a Finnish footballer who currently plays for RB Leipzig.- Career :Lagerblom is a versatile midfielder who started his career at home-town club FC Lahti in Finland's Veikkausliiga. In January 2004 he moved to Werder Bremen, and won the Bundesliga and German Cup double with the...
Njazi Kuqi
Njazi Kuqi
Njazi Kuqi is a Finnish footballer of Kosovar Albanian origin who plays in the Greek Superleague for Panionios....
Tuomas Haapala
Tuomas Haapala
Tuomas Haapala is a Finnish footballer who is currently playing for Tampere United in the Veikkausliiga as a defensive midfielder....
Berat Sadik
Berat Sadik
Berat Sadik born 14 September 1986 in Skopje, FYR Macedonia) is a Finnish footballer playing for HJK of the Finnish Veikkausliiga.- Early life :...
Michał Sławuta
Michał Sławuta
Michał Sławuta is a Polish football goalkeeper currently playing for FC Haka in Veikkausliiga, the premier level of football in Finland.-References:...
Péter Kovács Marko Kristal
Marko Kristal
Marko Kristal is a former football midfielder with an outstanding career for the Estonian national team.-Club career:...
Indrek Zelinski
Indrek Zelinski
Indrek Zelinski is an Estonian football manager and retired football striker.-Club career:When he was 12 years old, he started his career under a youth coach, Märt Siigur, in his hometown...