TUK ry

Tampere Unitedin kannattajat ry (TUK ry) is a registered association that was founded by supporters of Tampere United on September 11, 2009 as a supporters’ trust. The aim was to bring together the whole TamU community and to join forces to help the club in the dire financial situation it had run into, and to raise funds to be used for purchasing stocks of Tampere United. At the same time the supporters’ trust brought the club and its supporters closer together.

The original purpose of the the supporters’ trust had to change when the Finnish FA controversially banned Tampere United from competitive football in 2011. The supporters’ trust took it upon itself to return the blue and green colors into the local football scene, and already in summer 2011 it entered a team into a recreational football league.

TamU-K

When it became clear that Tampere United would not enter a team into the lowest level of Finnish football or get a spot in a higher level in the 2012 season, the supporters’ trust decided to enter its own team into competitive football for the 2012 season. The team operates under the name TamU-K, and in 2012 it got promoted from the lowest tier of Finnish football (Kutonen). The promotion final against Tahmelan Vesa was played at Pyynikki Stadium in the heart of Tampere in front of about 450 friends of Tampere United.

In 2013 TamU-K played in the sixth division (Vitonen), and gained promotion to the fifth division (Nelonen) by Finishing at the top of the table 16 points ahead of the second-place team. The second team TamU-K 2 played in the same recreational league where TamU-K started in 2011. In 2014 the first team played in Nelonen, the second team played in the seventh division (Kutonen), and the third team played in the recreational league. In addition, the club started several youth teams. For the first team the season ended in a promotion match away at FC Rauma. More than one hundred supporters traveled to the match to witness a bitter loss on penalties.

In 2015 the first team will again play in Nelonen with the goal of getting promoted. The second team has the same goal in the bottom division Kutonen, and the youth system of the club will be solidified and expanded. The club continues to be the proud representative of the colors of Tampere United in Finnish football.

Tampere United Makes a Comeback

In the spring of 2015 TamU-K and Tampere United announced, that the supporters will take over the original club. The old board lead by Honorary Chairman Jyrki Laiho will step into a supporting role. The 2015 season is a period of transition, during which the necessary preparations for Tampere United to come back in 2016 are made. When that happens, the club that has won Finnish Championship three times and the Finnish Cup once – not to mention the many successful adventures in European cup competitions – will again play football.

Read to the joint press release from TamU-K and Tampere United at www.tampereunited.fi/tampere-united-makes-a-comeback.