FC Inter Turku

Football Club International Turku, commonly referred to as Inter Turku and colloquially known as Inter, is a Finnish football club based in Turku that competes in the Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish Football. Founded in 1990 by Stefan Håkans, the club has a rivalry with Turun Palloseura.

FC Inter Turku
Logo of FC Inter Turku
Full nameFootball Club International Turku
Nickname(s)Sinimustat ('Black and Blues')
Founded1990 (1990)
GroundVeritas Stadion
Kupittaa, Turku
Capacity9,372
ChairmanStefan Håkans
ManagerJarkko Wiss
LeagueVeikkausliiga
2023Veikkausliiga, 6th of 12
WebsiteClub website

Inter have won one League title, two Finnish Cups, and one League Cup. They play their home league matches at Veritas Stadion, with a capacity of 9,372 seats for most matches.

History

FC Inter was founded in 1990 by Stefan Håkans, the managing director of the towage and salvage company Alfons Håkans, allegedly after his 11-year-old son could not fit into any of the other youth teams in Turku. The club started out as a youth team, but in 1992 a senior squad was founded and it entered the Finnish league system at the fourth level (Third Division). The following year, the club assumed the place of the financially troubled local club Turun Toverit in the Second Division. Manager Timo Sinkkonen invested in new players, and eventually the club finished first and was promoted to the First Division (Ykkönen).

In 1995, Inter finished first in the Ykkönen and was promoted, as well as reaching the semi-final stage in the Finnish Cup. The squad was strengthened with new players, and in 1996, as both of Turku's better teams were now playing in the Veikkausliiga, the club's attendance records were broken with 8,200 spectators in the local derby between TPS and Inter.

In 1997, the club were relegated after finishing last in the Veikkausliiga, but achieved promotion again the following season. New foreign players were bought to strengthen the squad, such as Richard Teberio and Fernando della Sala. Since then the club has consistently finished between 7th and 4th in the league, and maintained a steady inflow of foreign players as well as young starlets from its own youth academy.

During the 2006 season Inter sacked their manager Kari Virtanen and hired new coach, Dutchman Rene van Eck. After the season van Eck returned to Switzerland to coach FC Wohlen, and another Dutchman Job Dragtsma took over.

In 2008 Inter led the league since early season and clinched their first Finnish championship title after winning against FF Jaro in their final game.

European cup history

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1R Iceland ÍA 0–0 4–0 4–0
2R Croatia NK Varteks 2–2 3–4 5–6
2009–10 UEFA Champions League 2Q Moldova Sheriff 0–1 0–1 0–2
2010–11 UEFA Europa League 3Q Belgium Genk 1–5 2–3 3–8
2012–13 UEFA Europa League 2Q Netherlands Twente 0–5 1–1 1–6
2013–14 UEFA Europa League 1Q Faroe Islands Víkingur Gøta 0–1 1–1 1–2
2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1Q Denmark Brøndby 2–0 1–4 3–4
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1Q Hungary Honvéd 1−2 (a.e.t.)
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Hungary Puskás Akadémia 1–1 0–2 1–3
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q Kosovo Drita 1–0 0–3 1–3

Season to season

Season Level Division Section Administration Position Movements
1992 Tier 4 III divisioona (Third Division) Group 3 Turku District (SPL Turku) 6th
1993 Tier 3 II divisioona (Second Division) West Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd Promoted
1994 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 3rd
1995 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 1st Promoted
1996 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th Upper Group 6th
1997 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 7th Third round 10th – Relegated
1998 Tier 2 Ykkönen (First Division) South Group Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd Upper Group 3rd – Promoted
1999 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 3rd Upper Group 5th
2000 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 7th
2001 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th
2002 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th
2003 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 7th
2004 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2005 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th
2006 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 10th
2007 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 9th
2008 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 1st Champions
2009 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th
2010 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 6th
2011 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd
2012 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd
2013 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 9th
2014 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 10th
2015 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 4th
2016 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 11th
2017 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 9th
2018 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 7th
2019 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd
2020 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 2nd
2021 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 3rd
2022 Tier 1 Veikkausliiga (Premier League) Finnish FA (Suomen Palloliitto) 5th

Current squad

As of 18 April 2023[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Finland FIN Walter Viitala
2 DF Finland FIN Jussi Niska
3 DF Finland FIN Juuso Hämäläinen
4 DF Finland FIN Mikael Almén
5 MF Finland FIN Noah Nurmi
6 DF Ivory Coast CIV Dimitri Legbo
8 MF Finland FIN Matias Ojala
9 FW South Africa RSA Darren Smith
10 MF Finland FIN Petteri Forsell
11 MF Kosovo KOS Arlind Sejdiu
12 GK Finland FIN Matias Riikonen
13 GK Finland FIN Eetu Huuhtanen
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Finland FIN Tommi Jyry
17 MF Ghana GHA Bismark Ampofo
18 DF New Zealand NZL Nikko Boxall
19 MF Finland FIN Iiro Järvinen
20 DF Finland FIN Juho Hyvärinen
21 FW Finland FIN Matias Tamminen
22 DF Finland FIN Luka Kuittinen
23 FW Finland FIN Daniel Rökman
24 FW Finland FIN Timo Stavitski
25 DF Argentina ARG Rodrigo Arciero
26 FW Finland FIN Otto Lehtisalo
27 GK Finland FIN Anton Aaltonen
28 MF Finland FIN Roope Kantola
DF Finland FIN Valentin Purosalo

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Finland FIN Tino Kangasaho (at Pargas until 31 December 2023)

Management

As of 19 January 2021.

Name Role
Finland Jarkko Wiss Manager
Spain Ramiro Muñoz Coach
Finland Lauri Hakanen Coach
Finland Ville Vastamäki Goalkeeping Coach
England David Moore First Team Administrator
Finland Ville Peltonen Physiotherapist
Finland Teemu Ahonen Physiotherapist
Finland Seppo Pajunen Kit Manager

Honours

Winners: 2008
Runners-up: 2019
Winners: 2009, 2017–18
Runners-up: 2020, 2022
Winners: 2008

Player records

  • Most goals scored: Tero Forss (74 goals)
  • Most matches played: Petri Lehtonen (227 matches)

Past managers

  • Finland Anders Romberg (1992)
  • Finland Timo Sinkkonen (1993 – 1994)
  • Finland Hannu Paatelo (1995 – 1997)
  • Finland Tomi Jalo (1997 – 1998)
  • England Steven Polack (1998)
  • Finland Timo Askolin (1999 – 2000)
  • Finland Pertti Lundell (January 1, 2001 – December 31, 2002)
  • Finland Kari Virtanen (January 1, 2003 – September 16, 2006)
  • Netherlands René van Eck (September 16, 2006 – November 16, 2006)
  • Netherlands Job Dragtsma (January 1, 2007 – May 26, 2016)
  • Finland Jami Wallenius (May 26, 2016 – August 3, 2016)
  • Finland Shefki Kuqi (August 3, 2016 – August 3, 2017)
  • Italy Fabrizio Piccareta (August 3, 2017 – June 10, 2018)
  • Spain José Riveiro (January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2021)
  • Spain Miguel Grau (January 1 2022 – September 19, 2022)
  • Spain Ramiro Muñoz (September 20, 2022 – December 31, 2022)

References

  1. "Joukkue FC Inter". Archived from the original on 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
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