It was more than six weeks ago when we celebrated promotion in Viiala, yet the season somehow stretched all the way to last Friday. This

was when we had our end of season party and gave awards to some of the best players of the year. It was a great party with local bands performing at Vastavirta-Klubi. Voimaryhmä was certainly the headliner, but for many Vala’s performance was the highlight. After all, it is a band made up of Tampere United supporters, and one of the songs in their new album is a subtle reference to that fact. ”Whatever you say, this city is ours!”

As far as the player awards, for the most part it seemed to be a toss-up between Petri Vadén, Timo Kauppinen, and Mika Kytöviita. In the end Vadén was the one who emerged with three of them, but perhaps the most prestigious award went to Timo Kauppinen. The supporter group Sinikaarti has selected the best player of the season every year since 2002, and now Timo has been added to that honorable list.

Petri Vadén won the three awards that came from the club. The first one was based on the best player selections at each match over the course of the season: after each match three players were awarded with three, two, and one star awards. As these stars were accumulated, Vadén emerged at the top with 20 stars. This shows the kind consistency and reliability that were probably a factor in the two other awards: best player of the season as selected by the coaching staff and by an online vote at the club website.

In the end Mika Kytöviita had to settle for the top goal scorer honors. In the popular vote for the best player of the season he was second after Vadén right before Timo Kauppinen. The margins were small, and any of these three could have won and would certainly have deserved it.

Juha Kumara ended up being the only player getting an award outside of these three. It was no surprise of course that he got the pelimies award from Sinikaarti. I suppose a short description of this award could be ”supporters’ player of the year”. Not necessarily the best player, but somebody who won the supporters’ hearts.

In terms of football, we had our last match on Sunday a week ago. The club got invited to play in a match against racism against Tampere African Sports (TAS), and of course we said yes. Being a club that has had several players that come from immigrant backgrounds, we have seen first hand that there is underlying racism in lower league football, and unfortunately sometimes it comes right to the surface too. Sadly I missed this match as I was visiting our ECS friends in Seattle at the time, but from what I heard it was a nice event. The conditions were a bit wintry (see photos in the official match report), but there were nevertheless some nice goals in a match that we ended up winning 5-2.

The match was also an opportunity to take a look at a player that we hope to sign for next year. Andrea Milanti was in our sights last year too, but he ended up choosing to stay with his old club that plays in the fourth tier. Hopefully he’ll choose us this time. Certainly his one goal and one pass in the TAS match indicate that he will be able to make a great impact for us next season.

There are some rumors about other players as well, and the levels where they played last season go all the way up to Veikkausliiga (first tier). In fact, I have heard talk of three players that have experience on that level. We may not be able to sign any of them for next season, but the fact that we are talking to such players and they listen feels great in and of itself. With each promotion there is a better chance of signing these players, so who knows what will happen.

Indeed, the silly season is even sillier now than it ever was before. For the most part we are talking about players that have experience in tiers three to five, but the possible range is even wider. At this point you should not be surprised by anything. As a reminder, one of our best signings for this season was from the seventh tier.

So far the club has not announced any new signings, but the core of the team that got us promoted this season has been signed for next year. The latest additions were center back Juha Kumara, midfielder Joonas Kupiainen, and forward Mika Kytöviita. With that we have 11 players signed for next season, and these were arguably our top 11 contributors this year. The club also announced that Ahmed Lakra, Retu Harju, Kemal Dedic, Adnan Omerovic, and Nawar Karikuss won’t continue with the team in winter training. Personally I’m sad to see all of them go, and can only hope that they will stay with the club and play for the second team next year.

Finally, if you missed head coach Mika Suonsyrjä’s letter to our international friends, you should read it. Especially if you happen to be from Seattle.