The Finnish Football Show

Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2026/09/08/nations-league-2026-and-the-end-of-the-veikkausliiga-runkosarja/

In this episode, Mark W and Keke discuss the upcoming Nations League campaign for the Finnish men's national team, the Huuhkajat, who are in League C Group 1 with San Marino, Belarus, and Albania. They also touch upon upcoming World Cup playoff games against Serbia, for the Helmarit.

They review the recent performances of Finnish players overseas, including Adam Mahiev, Lucas Hradecky and Oliver Antman. The conversation moves on to the Veikkausliiga season, which has just completed its regular season, with the league now splitting into top and bottom six groups. They touched on the recent transfer of Ilari Kangasniemi to Leicester City and the struggles of SJK Seinäjoki.

00:00:00 Intro

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Producer Mark was invited onto the new UK sports radio station, Track Radio, to talk about Finnish football with host (and, it turns out, former Helsinki resident) Russ Williams.

Apart from getting the time of the makkaraminuutti slightly wrong 🤦🏻‍♂️ he did a pretty good job!

📻 https://www.trackradio.com/

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Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2026/06/23/national-teams-in-action-huuhkajat-helmarit-u21-veikkausliiga-update/

IN THIS EPISODE...

Mark W and Keke finally return to action (sorry for going MIA!) to look back at the recent friendlies for the Finland men's national team, as the Huuhkajat played – and lost – away to Germany and Hungary. The women's national team, the Helmarit, had a much more successful summer, two wins to take second place in their World Cup qualifying group. Finland’s U21s, the Pikkuhuuhkajat, also played two friendlies and got two away wins, dominating their Nordic brethren and beating Sweden and Norway 💪🏼

Mark also sheds a little light on some of his other recent multimedia activities: interviewing SJK head coach Jarkko Wiss and fooling around with a couple of YouTubers, making a video for SJK & Veikkaus. And there's still time for a one-off episode of the FFS Book Club – listen on for details.

00:00:00 Intro 00:02:09 What has Producer Mark been up to lately?

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Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2026/03/31/the-fans-preview-of-veikkausliiga-2026/

The FFS 2026 Veikkausliiga preview, in which fans preview their Veikkausliiga team. Includes hopes & fears for this season, players in & out and dislike for new kits (and badges)!! In this episode, we hear from Johan Lindblom on IFK Mariehamn, Jussi on Inter Turku, Ally Manson on HJK Helsinki, Mark & Jules on SJK Seinäjoki and Seppo Kuusinen on FC Lahti.

00:00:00 Intro

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Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2026/03/25/huuhkajat-at-the-fifa-series-2026/

Mark W & Keke return after the winter break to look forward to the FIFA Series. A weekend of practice games, that sees Finland travel to the other side of the world, to play against New Zealand and Cape Verde. Matches that provide World Cup practice for those countries and opportunities for new Huuhkajat players to catch the coach’s attention.

00:00:00 Intro

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Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2025/12/27/highs-and-lows-of-2025/

Mark W, Ally and Rasmus take a look back at the 2025 Finnish football season. This is not just a highlights show, they take a fresh look at their own experiences of the past year and invite some regular contributors to join them. So, we also hear from Jules (SJK Seinäjoki), Joe (Musan Salama), Seppo (FC Lahti & international tournaments) and Keke & Mark H (Huuhkjat under Jacob Friis).

00:00:00 Intro

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Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2025/11/13/huuhkajat-match-previews-veikkausliiga-finale-kups-crowned-champions/

This episode is brought to you by Mark W, Keke, Ally and Rasmus; a full squad for a full episode. They start by looking at the upcoming games for the Huuhkajat, a World Cup qualifier against Malta and a home friendly against Andorra. They also talk about the Finland fans’ feelings about head coach, Jacob Friis.

They then focus on the final few games in the Veikkausliiga season. With KuPS finishing as champions again and doing well in this season’s Europa Conference League. They give a detailed breakdown of the top six teams and what the near future might hold for each club.

00:00:00 Intro

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Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2025/10/20/huuhkajat-match-reports-veikkausliiga-update-haka-relegated/

Mark W & Keke are joined by a couple of guests for a bumper episode. Firstly, Jussi Hartikainen, from Suomen Maajoukkue Kannatajat ry and Football Supporters Europe, comes on to discuss the latest two World Cup Qualifiers for Finland, a 2-1 home win over Lithuania and a 0-4 away defeat to the Netherlands. Jussi also explains about his role and FSE and his involvement in the recent Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Finnish FA and the SMJK supporters group.

All three are then joined by KTP fan Sami Lindfors, who shares his experience of the bottom-of-the-table clash between KTP and Haka, which saw Haka relegated and KTP into a playoff with TPS Turku. They also talk through the current situation in the top half, with only 6 points between the top 4 teams and still 5 rounds of games to be played.

00:00:00 Intro

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Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2025/10/15/in-conversation-with-salim-yussif/

In this episode, Mark W is joined by SJK Seinäjoki defender, Salim Yussif, who talks through his unconventional route to Finland. From a childhood living in a slum in Accra, through teenage years on a football scholarship in the USA, to becoming a regular starter for SJK near the top of the Veikkausliiga. They discuss the challenge of moving countries and making friends, learning how to play Stevie Grieve’s ‘chaos football’ and just what is the Seinäjoki African Community ry. Salim’s a young guy with a long future ahead of him and his eye on a Barcelona shirt (if he’s lucky!)

00:00:00 Intro

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Blog: show notes and links https://finnishfootballshow.com/2025/10/06/huuhkajat-world-cup-qualifiers-ilves-fans-bust-up-in-seinajoki/

Mark W and Keke look at the upcoming World Cup qualifiers for the Finland men's national teams, as the Huuhkajat face Lithuania at home before travelling to play the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Finland need as many points as possible to have any hope of qualifying from group G. Finland’s U21s, the Pikkuhuuhkajat, also have two games over the coming week, a secretive friendly against the USA, followed by a U21 Euros qualifier away to Spain. Challenging weeks for both teams

Keke also asks Mark to explain why Ilves fans had a BUSt-up in Seinäjoki with an old London double-decker Routemaster…

00:00:00 Intro

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