FC Honka is a Finnishfootball club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club will play in Kakkonen in the 2024 season, after Esport Honka filed for bankruptcy in November 2023. The club previously played in the Finnish premier division (Veikkausliiga), having been promoted for the first time in their history at the end of the 2005 season. It plays its home matches at the Tapiolan Urheilupuisto.
FC Honka is largely renowned in Finland for its extensive youth scheme with over 1,000 youth players playing in various age groups. It also has a women's team in the Kansallinen Liiga.
History
Until 2005 FC Honka was thought of as a "nearly, but not quite" team, a promising but always underachieving side in the Finnish First Division (Ykkönen). In the late 1990s the objective was promotion, but year after year they failed. At the beginning of the 21st century FC Honka almost went bankrupt but was saved at the last moment.
In early 2005 the club was taken over by Jouko Pakarinen and Jouko Harjunpää, who had a plan to turn FC Honka from underachievers to a UEFA Champions League candidate.
In the first year of their take-over of FC Honka, the new management succeeded in assembling a squad which won the First Division (Ykkönen) with ease and also made the semi-finals of the Finnish Cup where they eventually lost 1–0 to FC Haka.
FC Honka was able to fight for top positions instantly, but narrowly missed the top three in their first two seasons. In 2007 the team reached the Finnish Cup final, losing to Tampere United on penalties after extra time. As Tampere United also won the league title that season, FC Honka qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. In 2008, FC Honka achieved its highest place by finishing 2nd in the league.
Financial difficulties
FC Honka won the Finnish Cup in 2012. However, due to financial difficulties the team was relegated to the third tier Kakkonen in 2015. In 2015 the fitness center company Esport bought the club and after that, the club has also been known as Esport Honka. The club dominated their first season in the Kakkonen in 2015 and lost only two games, but were defeated in the promotion battle. After the 2016 season, the team was promoted to the second tier Finnish First Division (Ykkönen). After the 2017 Ykkönen season Honka was promoted to the highest Finnish tier (Veikkausliiga) after Promotion playoffs against HIFK.
Financial problems again and the bankruptcy
On 31 October 2023, it was widely reported in Finnish media, that with no prior announcement or warning, Honka hadn't paid the salaries for the staff or the players on time.[1] Kurt Möller, the head of development and public relations of Esport, the company currently running the club, stated that Esport Honka had ran out of money. On 5 November 2023, it was further reported that the severe financial difficulties might force Honka into bankruptcy, as it's probable that the owner Färid Ainetdin is not willing to keep covering the annual losses of millions of euros anymore.[2][3] Möller or Hexi Arteva, the General Manager of the club, did not comment on the reports in media.[4]
On 8 November 2023, it was reported that the General Manager Hexi Arteva had resigned from his job two days earlier, with no announcement or comments.[5]
On 10 November 2023, it was reported that Honka is unable to fulfill the requirements for the league license of Veikkausliiga and will not play in the top tier in the 2024 season. Henri Aalto, the former captain of Honka who announced his retirement from his professional career after the 2023 season, criticized the club in an interview with Yle: "Every time, when Honka faces financial difficulties, I am frustrated by how poorly things are communicated and solved with the players, coaches and the rest of the staff. Nothing is announced beforehand. And when something negative happens, even then you have to be the one asking for information and to live in uncertainty."[6]
On 15 November 2023, when Honka wasn't able to get a league license for the second or the third tier, Henri Aalto commented on a case again to Finnish media. The players and the staff were still yet to get their salaries and bonuses. Foreign-born players are still stuck in the country clueless of the future. The owner Färid Ainetdin hasn't commented a word on the situation, and no one has managed to get a contact to him.[7]
Finally on 16 November 2023, Färid Ainetdin spoke to a small free local newspaper Länsiväylä. He stated that the reason for the sudden cutting of funding of the club, is the long delay in the new stadium project in Tapiola, and he is not ready to fund the club for four more years and waiting for the possible new stadium to be built and completed. According to Ainetdin, there are no financial conditions for Honka to keep playing in any of the three highest tiers of Finnish football. He also wishes that the players would get their salaries soon via insurance.[8] On the same day, Esport Honka filed for bankruptcy at the Court of Länsi-Uusimaa.[9] On 21 November 2023, Esport Honka was declared for bankruptcy.[10]
2024: New era
On 16 November 2023, after Esport Honka had filed for bankruptcy, the club, FC Honka ry, announced that Honka will continue playing in Kakkonen, which will be the fourth-tier division starting in 2024. Honka will gain the division position of its former reserve team Honka II, and use the name Honka Akatemia.[11] On 24 November 2023, the club announced that Mika Väyrynen will be the new first team head coach.[12]
As runners-up in the 2007 Finnish Cup to Tampere United, who had also won the league title, FC Honka qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, beating the Icelandic club ÍA 4–2 in the 1st qualifying round and the Norwegian club Viking in the 2nd. In the first round of actual competition, they were drawn against Racing Santander and lost 0–2 on aggregate.
Next year, Honka qualified for the new UEFA Europa League, starting from the second qualifying round. The club beat Welsh side Bangor City F.C. 3–0 on aggregate but lost 1–3 to FK Karabakh from Azerbaijan in the third qualifying round.
For the 2010–11 season, FC Honka was again drawn against Bangor City in the second round but lost 3–2 on aggregate.
