Finland was arriving at inevitable changes – the old amateur system was beginning to crack. It was increasingly difficult to maintain teams – the financial pressures were getting stronger and stronger. And the sad process of disintegration took place: clubs merging or giving up competitive football, some were changing names as part of restructuring, all desperate attempts to keep the game afloat, which are still at work. As a result, from a time distance Finnish football is very puzzling – unfamiliar names and hard to tell what is the relation of the old clubs to the contemporary ones. One thing is certain – many cities, rather small, had more than one club playing in the best two divisions back in the 1970s. Oulu had 2 clubs in first division and one in second. Kokkola – one in first and two in second. Turku – 2 in first division. So had Kuopio. Lahti – one in first and one in second. Mikkeli was the same. Helsinki, the likeliest city to have more than one club at top level, had 2 in first divison – less than much smaller towns. It was clear that most of the ‘redundant’ clubs will disappear – and they did. Ikissat (Tampere) merged with TaPa under entirely new name – Ilves. This club won promotion to the first division this season. KIF (Helsinki) changed its name to Kiffen, although the club itself remained KIF, as if deliberately – to confuse foreigners. SePS (Seinäjoki) also renamed itself to Sepsi-78. More footnotes are in order, unfortunately, but for the moment changes seemed to work: Sepsi-78 tried hard to win promotion to first division, finishing 3rd in the Second Division. 4 points ahead from the 4th, MP Mikkeli. Not a small advantage in 12-club league, but quite short from promotion too – the winners finished 3 points clear of Sepsi-78.
The top two spots were decided on goal-difference – two clubs ended with 31 points. KTP Kotka got the second place, enough to return to top flight.
The newly formed Ilves (Tampere) clinched first place, immediately showing ambitious teeth. Aparently, the combined strength of two clubs worked: Ilves started with a title. A second division winners, but still a good beginning. As for KTP, probably they were not disappointed by the season either, for they still won promotion.
First division was divided into 4 groups of teams – a curious partition of small 12-club league, but most teams were secure no matter what: two clubs were hopeless outsiders from the start of the season – even their combined record was only good for the last place.
OTP Oulu was last with 6 points. They won just one match… A relatively young club, founded in 1945, it was already doomed – the neighbours OPS were older, having bigger fan base. And Oulu had other clubs too… the agony was long, but there is no OTP today: in 2002 they plus few other clubs merged into AC Oulu.
A point better than OTP was Kiffen. They had twice the number of victories of OTP – two.
Kronohagens Idrottsforening (abbreviated KIF) are old – formed in 1908. As most continental clubs, it is all-sport club and the football section is just one among many. In the ancient past, KIF won three titles – back in the 1910s. By the 1970s it was no longer a force – not in Helsinki, let alone Finland. They changed the name to Kiffen, as fans called it anyway, but the big change brought nothing… they were relegated. 7 points were 10 points short from safety. The drop continued – Kiffen exists still, but can be found in Third Division.
With outsiders so weak, the rest of the league had nothing to worry about. Four clubs seemingly just went through the motions. Three more – TPS Turku, OPS Oulu, and MiPK Mikkeli – just distanced themselves from the rabble, building a 5-point advantage by the end of the season, but had nothing to do with with the title: they were also 5 points behind from 3rd placed club. Three clubs competed for the title and at the end 2 points separated the champions from the bronze medalists.
Haka Valkeakoski finished 3rd, not a surprise – they were usually strong in the 1960s and 1970s, one of the more familiar names in Europe, for they often played in the European cups.
KPT Kuopio finished second with 32 points – a point better than Haka, and a point away from the title.
This was the best so far season of Kuopion Pallotoverit, as their full name was – or Koparit, as they were also known. They played quite regularly in first division, but also were no strangers to relegation. A great season, but this is a club not to be found today… they disbanded in 1990.
The title was clinched by a point – HJK Helsinki finished with 33 points. Thanks to winning most matches in the league – 13. They did not excell in anything else – KPT Oulu lost the same number of matches, 2; TPS Turky scored more goals than the champions – 57 to HJK’s 52; almsot half the league had better defensive record than the champions, including the 10th placed Pyrkivä Turku. HJK received much goals than their pursuers – 29. Hada allowed 19 and KPT only 15. But no matter – HJK enjoyed the final victory.
HJK were not exactly ‘the big, dominating club’ of Finnish football, but were consistently strong and often winning trophies. So, one more… as for the squad, the names mean very little: Jouko Soini, Atik Ismail, Adil Ismail, Juha-Pekka Laine, Risto Salomaa, Dan Högström, Martti Holopainen, Ari Lehkosuo, Matti Kinnunen, Eero Virta, Juha Dahilund, Pasi Rautiainen, Henry Forssell, Jorma Virtanen, Olli Isoaho, Kalle Niemi, Miikka Toivola. Two foreign names here – Atik and Adil Ismail, most likely naturalized immigrants, for the amateur Finnish clubs had no means to import players. Shirt sponsorship was already common – an obvious effort to bring some cash to the clubs. Good for the boys, though – winning a championship counts.
The Cup final opposed Reipas Lahti to TPS Kuopio. An excellent season for TPS – they were at the top at both championship and cup. Perhaps the best season ever, but… without a trophy. The Cup final was two-legged – Reipas won 3-1 the first match and tied the second 1-1. The best season of TPS meant no trophy – twice second, twice coming very close to winning, but no. Still, given the history of the club – a big success.
In the 1970s it was quite normal to see Reipas winning something or at least coming close to winning. Strong years of the ancient club, founded in 1891. They were weak in the championship this year, finishing 9th, but won the Cup. A purely historic record remains today: neither of the 1978 Cup finalists exists now.