It is fair to say that not everybody believed in TamU-K when they first heard that we were going to participate in Kutonen this season. Probably even fewer did a year earlier when we announced that we were going to keep Tampere United alive and play recreational football in Tukifutis in the absence of an ability to do anything else due to the short notice that we had ahead of that season. Yet, here we are preparing for promotion playoffs. We no longer have to answer questions about whether we are serious or not. Everybody has seen that we are.

It is also fair to say that the road to get here has been a tough one. Especially the first half of the season before the July break was a difficult one for us. The team had been built in a short time, and when we started playing competitive matches, many players were still getting to know each other. It is obvious now that the match against Pelikassit came too soon, and ultimately that match is where we lost our chances for direct promotion. Looking back to that time, things could have spiraled out of control if the players had started to doubt themselves, but thankfully the team had the quality to win all the remaining matches except the home match against Ikurin Vire at the end of June.

Still, the spring and fall seasons have been almost like night and day. The most notable difference can be seen in the defensive end. In the spring season we conceded 18 goals in 8 matches, whereas in the fall we have so far only conceded 2 goals. Of course our two big signings, goalie Ilkka Innolla and center back Sami Kriikkula, have played a role in this, but our defense as a whole has improved a lot. Indeed, the whole season has been a growth story for the entire team. Over the season many players have played in several positions, and most positions have seen more than two players starting for a match, but now most players have found the position and role where they are able to contribute the most to the team. The coaching staff obviously deserves credit for this. With 30 players on the roster it has not been an easy puzzle to solve.

Now it is time to show that we are as good as we think we are.

The excitement for the reminder of the season is maximized, and I would like to take this opportunity to give credit to the decision makers in the Tampere District for creating systems that make for exciting football seasons in the lower divisions. Firstly, it is great that everything is based on a double round robin system where everybody plays a match against everybody once home and once away. For example, this season this made our second match against Pelikassit a hugely anticipated event that was attended by many people who otherwise did not see a lot of matches from either team. I bet it was the highest quality football match in Kutonen this season in the whole country, not that I have anything that I can back this up with. That includes the actual match on the field and everything surrounding it off the field.

I also like the fact that only one or two teams per subdivision are promoted. This makes sure that only teams that have won almost all of their matches get promoted. For example, in the bottom division in the Helsinki district they have two subdivisions of 15 teams, and 5 are promoted from each. This makes no sense to me. As an example, Jokerit FC were still dreaming of promotion in Helsinki in August when their record showed four wins, five losses, and two ties. Their hopes were finally crushed when they still had three matches left to play, and in the end they remained ten points short of promotion. The other bad thing is that the system in Helsinki is a single round robin, which removes the excitement of the return match between two teams. They probably think this system makes sense because all teams play within the same city anyway, so competitive fairness does not require home and away matches to be equaled. However, they miss a lot with this system, and there is no reason they could not have four subdivisions with a double round robin format instead. Indeed, they should do that.

In the Satakunta district they have an even weirder system. Like in Helsinki, they have 15 teams in the bottom division. However, after everybody has played everybody once, they divide the league into the top and bottom halves, who both play a second round robin. The bad thing about this system is that it creates a bottom league where none of the teams have anything left to play for. This season Porin Palloilijat (PoPa) was one of the teams that were hard done by the system in Satakunta. They missed the qualification into the top half by losing their last match in the first round robin competition, and ended up having to play many meaningless matches instead of fighting for promotion. Notably, promotion could have been within their reach if they had won that crucial match, and the most painful thing for them must be the fact that they lost the match with the tightest of margins as the score was 2-3.

The reason why I mentioned Jokerit FC and PoPa is that they have a lot of similarities with TamU-K. Both clubs are owned by supporters and played their first competitive season this year. And like TamU-K, both Jokerit FC and PoPa were founded to replace a club that had earlier played in a much higher division. In fact, FC Jokerit used to play in the top division until 2003, but ceased operations after that season. They have a potentially huge fanbase, and indeed their return match in the bottom division in Helsinki was attended by closer to 200 people. However, their example shows how difficult it is to build a team that can seriously fight for promotion. FC PoPa got a little bit closer, but even they did not manage to do what we have already done: fight for promotion until the last match of the season.

What we have done with TamU-K has taken a lot of hard work by several people. It should not be taken for granted. And if Jokerit FC and PoPa return next season – and I really hope they do – they hopefully have a better understanding of what it takes to fight for promotion.

We know it. We have done it. Now it is time to take the last couple steps so that all the work isn’t for nothing in the end.