Join Mark W, Mark H, Rich and Keke for the Finnish Football Show, where 4 old blokes sit and talk about football in Finland. In English.
The FFS team reconvenes for the Nations League qualifying match between Wales and Finland. Winner takes all and finishes top of group B4 (although, technically, a draw is good enough for Wales.) Join Mark W, Mark H, Rich & Keke to will hear our pre-match predictions, our half-time thoughts and our full-time reaction.
The first in a new format of FFS show, as the team get together for the Nations League qualifying match between Bulgaria and Finland. You will hear our pre-match predictions, our half-time thoughts and our reaction at full-time.
In this episode, firstly, we look back at the historic win for Finland away to France. We then turn our attention forward to this week’s Nations League fixtures. There are two away games for the Huuhkajat, who take on Bulgaria and Wales in the final two games in the 2020 Nations League.
We’ll also look back at the Veikkausliiga season, which was cut short after the 22 'regular season' games (as we'd speculated in the last show). We'll look at the winners, the losers, the surprise packages and the predictably average.
In answer to a question on Facebook from Kevin Moseley, who asked "Is there an episode of the podcast in which you each discuss how your passion for Finnish football came to be? I’d be interested to hear about it - if the topic hasn’t been covered previously, perhaps you could consider including it in a future show!"
Well Kevin, you asked for it...
Mark H, Keke & Mark W get together (with a cameo from Rich) for a quick chat to look back at the three recent games for the Finland National team. Starting with a 5-1 friendly defeat away to Poland, followed by two Nations League wins; 2-0 over Bulgaria and 1-0 over the Republic of Ireland, both at home in the recently renovated Olympic Stadium in Helsinki.
In this episode, we will look forward to this week’s Nations League fixtures. There are two home games for the Huuhkajat, who take on Bulgaria and Ireland, before two away games in November.
We will also glory and commiserate with Rich, about the progress of KuPS Kuopio in Europe. We’ll discuss their performances in both the Champions League and the Europa League.
Finally, we’ll close the show with an overview of the recent action and current league positions in the Veikkausliiga, with teams having played about 18 games of 22, in the regular season, before it splits into two closing series; the Mestaruussarja (Championship series) and the Haastajasarja (Challenger series).
Keke & Mark W are joined by another legend of Finnish football, former international goalkeeper, Antti Niemi. He explains why he loves both Glenn Kamara and the city of Edinburgh equally. He exposes Sami Hyyppiä as a bad loser and explains his FA Cup final gamble. He also outlines why Markku Kanerva is the new Roy Hodgson. Finally, he discusses his new venture ,marketing and selling the 'Sport Shot 0.03' made from Finnish beetroot juice.
Mark H, Keke & Mark W get together for a quick chat to look back at the two recent Nations League games for the Finland National team; a 1-0 defeat at home to Wales, followed by a 1-0 win away to the Republic of Ireland.
The FFS team has a full squad to select from this week, and no difficult selection problems EVERYONE can play. This is a special occasion too, because we promised an episode between the European clubs games and the Nations League and that is EXACTLY what you are going to get. So, for once, I have nothing to apologise for. At least, not at the start – that may have changed by the end of the show!
We will be joined today by a returning special guest. Mikko Laitinen from the Finnish FA (Palloliitto) has come to tell us about the new Finland national team kit that was launched today! We will then look forward to the upcoming Nations League matches for Finland. We will also discuss the recent games in the Champions League and Europa League for Finnish club sides. And we’ll wrap everything up with a brief summary of the position in the Veikkausliiga.
In this episode, the FFS team is missing one or two key players. Not because of injury or poor form, but because of holidays. Mark has a had a challenging summer and is taking a well-earned break. Similarly, Keke seems to have ventured overseas for a family vacation.
But we didn't want to keep you waiting, so this episode is Mark W and Rich, possibly joined by Keke. We will discuss our recent predictions competition (if a survey that collects answers but offers no prize can be called a competition!) We will then look at how the opening 7 rounds of Veikkausliiga action has panned-out. Who is leading the table? Who has already fallen behind? And why does Rich keep trolling me about the form of SJK?
I have to also give a shout out to Kevin Cumming in our Facebook group. He found us recently and has listened to the entire back catalogue. Kevin - THANK YOU! 🙏🏻
You can read Kevin's full review of five-and-a-half shambolic years of FFS: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FinnishFootballShow/permalink/2628245217275512/
(Check the Show Notes for beautiful colour charts & graphs)
Suomen Cup winners 2020
Veikkausliiga champions 2020
Europa League qualifiers 2020
Relegated 2020
What are you most looking forward to in the 2020 season?
