Yesterday was filled with pride for my club. Despite the fact there was nothing on the line in the match competitively, we made our final day in Vitonen a special one. It was billed as a celebration of our promotion, and celebrate we did. The supporter section was more or less as strong as it has ever been, and the rest of the stands had plenty of people with Tampere United scarfs. Granted, the attendance of 116 was a bit below our average (137 after this match), but I’m not one to look down on such an attendance in an essentially meaningless match in a sixth tier league.

Life around TamU-K has been all about celebration lately. A few weeks ago the supporter group Sinikaarti celebrated the ten year anniversary, and the following week we celebrated promotion in Viiala. Tomorrow will mark another celebration, as the team returns home to Pyynikki for the first time since our promotion was confirmed. Since it is also the end of the regular season for us, it seems like a perfect time to enjoy what we have achieved this season.

As the night got darker on Friday night at Kaukajärvi, I kept imagining what it would be like if we had had promotion on the line in this match. Of course playing such a match at Kaukajärvi would have been kind of a let down, but if we had had 200 people in there coupled with such high stakes on the field, the night would have been quite incredible. As it was, just over 60 people watched a lackluster match and a 1-2 win for the boys in blue. All goals were scored within five minutes in the first half, and considering that HST desperately needed the points to avoid relegation, the rest of the match was surprisingly unspirited from both teams.

Rain, autumn temperatures, and flood lights: these are going to be the elements of tonight’s match. Add an opponent desperately fighting against relegation and a home team where three or four players are fighting for the title of top goal-scorer in the team, and it should be a good night of football. We have already reached our goal as a team this year, but there’s still plenty of football left in the season.

Promotion felt inevitable the whole season long, and it makes sense that we took the final step with a crushing victory over the only team that was able to mount any sort of resistance on the table. A 1-7 (1-3) victory away at Viiala leaves no questions to be asked. We were by far the best team this season and thoroughly deserved our promotion. The only complaint that I can think of is that promotion was a bit too inevitable, and it does not feel as awesome as it did last year. But to make that complaint would be quite unreasonable, wouldn’t it?

It is finally here. For the past couple months, at least, we have been wondering when we would play the match where promotion is on the line. Now that we know that it happens in Viiala in a match against the second-place team ViiPV, I think many would say it could not have been a more appropriate match. Of course in a sense it would be nice to have the first shot at promotion in a home match, but to be completely honest, having already experienced one promotion in Pyynikki a year ago, going to the nearest rival’s home ground with a plan to celebrate promotion is awesome. It would indeed be hard to top last year’s promotion final, and now we get to do something different.

Sunday’s match was designated by Sinikaarti as the ten year celebration of the group, and as I predicted, the team gave us the best possible present to mark the occasion. Victory was never in doubt against VesVi, and the five goals in the second half led to a very comfortable 6-0 (1-0) victory. It was in fact the highest margin for us this season, and especially in the second half everything seemed fun and easy for the boys in blue.

Tonight’s match is a big one. Not only is it an important one with regard to promotion, but perhaps even more importantly, it has been designated by Sinikaarti as the group’s ten year anniversary match. This should result in a highly motivated team and three points.

Thursday’s away trip to Sääksmäki gave us what we needed: three points and a confident feeling going into the final stretch of the season. Mika Kytöviita scored our first two goals in the 3-1 (1-1) victory, and Lauri Heittola got the third one from a free kick almost 25 meters out. The conditions were much better than feared: the field was small, but the stories about its bumpiness were highly exaggerated. Not surprisingly there were no spectator stands, but the rural landscapes on both sides of the field were pretty in the evening sun.

Next up we have an away match against Sääksmäen Sopu. This is one of the shorter ones as away trips go, only about 40 km (25 miles), so even if it is on a Thursday, most supporters will have no excuse to not be there.