Tampere United
| Logo | |||
| Full name | Tampere United | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 | ||
| Dissolved | 2011 | ||
| Ground | Ratina Stadion, Tampere | ||
| Capacity | 17,000 | ||
| Chairman | Jyrki Laiho | ||
| Manager | Ari Hjelm | ||
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Tampere United was a Finnish football club from the city of Tampere. The club had a team in Veikkausliiga, the premier football league in Finland, until the end of the 2010 season. It was excluded from participating in Finnish football during the 2011 season amidst suspicions of money laundering, and is currently not playing in any league. The Pirkanmaa District Court first exonerated the club from money laundering charges, but the Turku Court of Appeal found the former CEO Deniz Bavautdin and the former Chairman of the Board Harri Pyhältö guilty of money laundering. The current Chairman of the Board Harri Laiho has previously stated that the club plans to return to playing football after the legal processes have been finished, but with the guilty verdicts the club's future is unclear. The supporters group founded a new phoenix club TamU-K in 2009.
Contents
History
The club was formed in July 1998. The initial plan was to join two local football clubs FC Ilves and TPV but TPV decided to continue as its own team. FC Ilves continued to play in lower divisions and Tampere United inherited its place in the second highest division.
In their first season, 1999 they won promotion to the top division, 15 months after the formation of the club. During season 2000 they reached sixth place in the league. In their third season 2001 they won the Finnish championship. In 2002, they finished in fifth place, and in 2003, third place. In 2006, Tampere United won their 2nd Finnish Championship and one year later, in 2007, they were the champions yet again taking home their 3rd title.
During the 2007 season, Tampere United also reached the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Tampere defeated Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia 2–0 on aggregate in the second qualifying round. Tampere United failed to reach the Champions League group stage when Rosenborg BK defeated them 5–0 on aggregate. In the UEFA Cup first round, United lost to Bordeaux 4–3 on aggregate.
On 14 April 2011 the club were suspended indefinitely by the Football Association of Finland because they had received money from a dubious company based in Singapore, known for involvement in fixed games and money laundering. The club was excluded from the 2011 season of Veikkausliiga.[1] Players under contract were released due to lack of funds.
The club did not participate in any league in 2012 or 2013. In April 2013 the Turku Court of Appeal found the former CEO Deniz Bavautdin and the former Chairman of the Board Harri Pyhältö guilty of money laundering. At the moment the future of the club is unclear.
Supporters of Tampere United founded a supporters' trust in 2009 after the club had hit financial difficulties. The aim was to help fans gain a voice within the club and to buy shares of the club. In 2012 the supporters' trust founded a new team named after the supporters' trust, TamU-K, In 2012 the team played in Kutonen, the bottom division in Finnish football, and gained promotion to Vitonen. The promotion playoff match that decided promotion had the attendance of 441.[2] After another promotion in 2013, TamU-K will play in Nelonen in the 2014 season.
Honours
- Veikkausliiga: Winners (3)
- Finnish Cup: Winners (1)
- 2007
- Finnish League Cup: Winners (1)
- 2009
Tampere United in Europe
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Score (home-away) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-03 | UEFA Champions League | Q1 |  Pyunik F.C. |
0–4, 0–2 |
| 2003 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1 |  Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț |
1–0, 1–2 |
| 2 |  FK Sutjeska Nikšić |
0–0, 1–0 | ||
| 3 |  HNK Cibalia |
0–2, 1–0 | ||
| 2004 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1 |  CS Grevenmacher |
0–0, 1–1 |
| 2 |  Inter Baku |
3–0, 0–1 | ||
| 3 |  OFK Beograd |
0–0, 0–1 | ||
| 2005 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1 |  Skála ÍF |
2–0, 1–0 |
| 2 |  R. Charleroi S.C. |
1–0, 0–0 | ||
| 3 |  SS Lazio |
1–1, 0–3 | ||
| 2006 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1 |  Carmarthen Town |
5–0, 3–1 |
| 2 |  Kalmar FF |
1–2, 2–3 | ||
| 2007-08 | UEFA Champions League | Q1 |  SS Murata |
2–0, 2–1 |
| Q2 |  PFC Levski Sofia |
1–0, 1–0 | ||
| Q3 |  Rosenborg BK |
0–3, 0–2 | ||
| 2007-08 | UEFA Cup | 1 |  Girondins de Bordeaux |
2–3, 1–1 |
| 2008-09 | UEFA Champions League | Q1 |  FK Budućnost Podgorica |
2–1, 1–1 |
| Q2 |  FC Artmedia Petržalka |
1–3, 2–4 |
Season to season
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UEFA ranking
Current Club Ranking
Current National League ranking
References
- ↑ http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Start+of+Veikkausliiga+season+may+have+to+be+postponed+amidst+wrangles+over+clubs+eligibility+/1135265365302
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- (Finnish) Official website
- (Finnish) Sinikaarti - Unofficial supporter group
- (English) Unofficial website
- (English) Football in Finland - Blog
- Use dmy dates from November 2011
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with Finnish-language external links
- Tampere United
- Football clubs in Finland
- Association football clubs established in 1998
- Association football clubs disestablished in 2011
- 1998 establishments in Finland
- 2011 disestablishments in Finland
