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.

It will all start in Pyynikki of course, with a match against Janakkalan Pallo (JanPa). The supporters will start even before the match kicks off, and the team will hopefully add their flair to the party with a few nice goals on the field. Regardless, the party will go on in our partner bar Kaijakka immediately after the match. The players will join the supporters there before going to their own well-deserved party at a sauna somewhere.

The match as such does not matter too much, but for Mika Suonsyrjä it will be one of the most memorable ones in his career. All good things must come to an end, and after playing almost twenty years in various lower league teams between tiers four and seven, Mika has decided to end his playing career. He has played two years for TamU-K, and has been one of the most influential individuals in our early success. Last year his role as a leader on the field was crucial, but even then he was a big help in the coaching department. Now of course he is the head coach and will continue in that role next season as well.

Two years with a club is not such a long time in the grand scheme of things, but Mika entered at a very special time. His hard work and dedication towards our club is almost without comparison, and also since he is a figure known to almost everybody in lower league football in Tampere, his connections have been quite helpful in acquiring new players. One of the most important ones was that he was able to talk Ilkka Innola into joining us midway through last season, which in turn certainly made it easier for other players from higher divisions to join us.

I bet both the team as well as the supporters in the stands will want Mika to get a good match to finish off his career. The opponent is one of the better teams we’ve faced this season, so all indications point to that being possible. I really hope that we’ll see a big crowd and a relaxed party atmosphere. Certainly the vibe I get around the interwebs seems to point to that direction.

The season won’t end altogether tomorrow though, since we still have the championship match against the winner of the other Vitonen subdivision FC Melody a week later. Incidentally, this is the club Mika Suonsyrjä used to play for before joining us, and indeed has many more seasons with them than us. To me it only seems right that he decided to not play in that match.

A victory tomorrow will guarantee that we will host the championship match. It may not be the biggest championship this club will win, but it would still be nice to host the match and make it a slightly bigger event than it would be as an away match. And yes, winning a trophy, however insignificant in comparison to getting promoted, would be nice too.

But first we’ll play against JanPa tomorrow. Be there for a 4 pm sharp kickoff!