Today was a big day in the history of the club. The second team TamU-K /2 played their first match, and with that the growth of the club has been set in motion in a concrete way. The result was a perfect 3-0 victory, but that is not what made the day special, although it certainly made it even better.

For me Tampere United was proven to be a true club when it became evident that the disappearance of the team in 2011 did not result in the demise of the club. Of course this fact had been known to me and many others for years, but many outsiders surely equated the team that played in the top tier Veikkausliiga with the club, and expected the whole club to die with the team.

Of course we did not let that happen, and the reason it did not happen is that enough people not only cared about the club, but also felt that they were a part of the club. For me and many others this does not require a formal membership or anything else like that, but merely an emotional investment into the club. There is no higher stake than that.

Simply put, a club is not made up of owners or investors, and not even the players. These are all people that inevitably come and go in and out of the club. The supporters though, they are there year after year, and form the true backbone of any club.

And for those who do not believe in what I wrote above, people who think a club is defined by having multiple teams, preferably youth teams too – well now they too see how the club is growing in terms of the number of teams. It is not much of course with just two teams, one of them playing recreationally, but believe me when I say this: today is just a mere beginning. There is a vision for something quite extraordinary, and I believe that we have the people – the club – that will see that through in years to come.

The result today was a 3-0 victory over FC Los Santos. The crucial 1-0 goal was scored by Joonas Niemelä from a setup by Mika Suonsyrjä. Then Antti Pettinen scored from a pass by Heikki Wilen, who later scored 3-0 from a pass by Matias Palo. Four of these people scored for the first team last season in Kutonen, and all of them have active roles in the club today as well (including chairman and head coach). Everybody in the first team today can remain confident that even if one day they no longer have a role there, they can find another role in the club either on or off the field. And that is one of the key things about being a club: we are a Community.

Today it was great to see a good chunk of that community out there to support the second team. I was particularly pleased to see first team players, several of them off the field and a couple on the field as well. Indeed, today my belief that we are building something very special is stronger than ever.