Wikipedia

Veikkausliiga

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by C12H22O11 (talk | contribs) at 10:20, 19 June 2005 (→Clubs: removed FC Honka & FC Hämeenlinna). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Veikkausliiga is the top division of Finnish football (soccer), comprising the top 14 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name. The Veikkausliiga was founded in 1990, and it took the place of the First Division (Ykkönen) as Finland's top division.

Unlike football leagues in most other countries, the Veikkausliiga matches are played mainly in the summer, with a schedule usually from April to September or November. Each team plays all other teams twice, both at home and away. At the end of the season, the lowest-placed (14th) team is relegated to the Ykkönen, or the second level of Finnish league football, with the top team being promoted to the Veikkausliiga. The team placed 13th will play a two-legged knockout tie with the second-placed team in the Ykkönen to determine whether it stays up.

Clubs

The clubs in the Veikkausliiga in the 2005 season are (with their home towns in brackets):

Champions

The following clubs have won the Veikkausliiga (between 1990 and 2004) or the Finnish First Division (between 1908 and 1989).

Notes:
1 Kuusysi and Lahden Reipas merged in 1997 to form FC Lahti, taking Kuusysi's place in the Veikkausliiga.
2 Before 1999, Tampere United was known as Ilves. Ilves was formed by the merger of Ilves-Kissat and TaPa in 1975. The predecessors' wins are included here in the figure for Tampere United.
3 Prior to 2001, FC KooTeePee was known as KTP.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Veikkausliiga&oldid=17561978"