Loic Essomba

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Inter Turku
18 Sep 2028
Monday
Process

Marked for Loic Essomba

110 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

4 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Eero Vuorjoki

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eero Vuorjoki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Inter Turku the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Loic Essomba

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Saikou Touray falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Jussi Niska in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Bismark Ampofo shuts the door

Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Farhah Al-Shamrani

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

No place for Saikou Touray on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Inter Turku pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Player ratings

Jasse Tuominen could have had three

9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.

Match

Inter Turku draw a blank against HIFK

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. HIFK defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

Back issues
109 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

28 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Inter Turku run riot against Ilves

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Martin Kirilov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.14

A mark of 8.14 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Squad

Aykut Ramadan: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Inter Turku have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saikou Touray is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Jussi Niska was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Martin Kirilov

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Martin Kirilov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

No hiding place for Saikou Touray

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saikou Touray, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

One of those days for Johannes Yli-Kokko

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Loic Essomba runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

108 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Inter Turku are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 37 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Diego Espindola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Inter Turku find a way past VPS

VPS made Inter Turku work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

One of those days for Luka Kuittinen

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.41, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Väinö Vehkonen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Henri Salomaa

Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Eetu Huuhtanen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Loic Essomba runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Loic Essomba has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Inter Turku will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

107 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

14 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Eetu Huuhtanen keeps Inter Turku in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Daniel Farías hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Inter Turku can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Vladan Elesin is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Inter Turku is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Diego Espindola wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Martin Kirilov signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Martin Kirilov commits to Inter Turku for another 4 years.

Squad

Diego Espindola in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saikou Touray is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Inter Turku come up short against SJK

SJK left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Loic Essomba

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

106 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 34 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Market

Vladan Elesin puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Inter Turku, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Seth Saarinen has been here 8 seasons

169 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.

Market

Michal Jeřábek has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Inter Turku they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Diego Espindola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Saikou Touray falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

A bad afternoon for Inter Turku against HJK

0‑1 to HJK, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Inter Turku lose Ville Naakka

49 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Boardroom

Inter Turku release $2.3M for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

In brief

100 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

26 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Inter Turku refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 21 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Johannes Yli-Kokko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Kuittinen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Jean Botué was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.21. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

Johannes Yli-Kokko runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Dimitar Pirgov

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

97 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Only the photograph left for Juuso Hämäläinen

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juuso Hämäläinen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Inter Turku the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Johannes Yli-Kokko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Jere Kallinen signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jere Kallinen commits to Inter Turku for another 4 years.

Squad

Luka Kuittinen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Loic Essomba at his very best

Marked 8.89. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Inter Turku.

Match

Inter Turku see off VPS

Three points for Inter Turku, 2‑0 the final word against VPS in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Luka Kuittinen at his very best

Marked 8.73. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Inter Turku.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Martin Kirilov

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Martin Kirilov

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

96 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Inter Turku up to position 2

14 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Kuittinen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Prosper Ahiabu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Inter Turku get the job done against SJK

A 1‑0 win over SJK, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Loic Essomba was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

No hiding place for Jasse Tuominen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jasse Tuominen, and the manager let it.

In brief

95 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

22 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Hemmo Riihimäki keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Inter Turku may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Eero Vuorjoki has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Inter Turku they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Luka Kuittinen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Jussi Niska was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Iiro Järvinen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Loic Essomba runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Inter Turku and HJK cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. HJK came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Jean Botué

Marked 5.70, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

Market

The shop window has Akon Kuek in it

Inter Turku have let the market know Akon Kuek can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

In brief

93 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

8 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Juuso Hämäläinen has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Inter Turku they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Johannes Yli-Kokko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

6 unbeaten for Inter Turku

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Inter Turku did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Henri Salomaa signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Henri Salomaa commits to Inter Turku for another 3 years.

Squad

Luka Kuittinen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Johannes Yli-Kokko the difference as Inter Turku beat IFK Mariehamn

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Johannes Yli-Kokko. 1‑0 against IFK Mariehamn, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Johannes Yli-Kokko in the eights

A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Martin Kirilov is the division's best young player this month

At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Inter Turku will try very hard not to make too much of it.

Market

Seth Saarinen is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Inter Turku has been clear about where Seth Saarinen stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

92 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Vladan Elesin asks to leave Inter Turku

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Johannes Yli-Kokko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Kuittinen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Loic Essomba in the eights

A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Henri Salomaa

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

No place for Jere Kallinen in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jere Kallinen has his answer from Inter Turku; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Väinö Vehkonen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Loic Essomba rescues a point for Inter Turku

It needed Loic Essomba to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against KTP, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad

When it matters, Luka Kuittinen plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

91 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Luka Kuittinen leads the rout of FC Lahti

4‑1, and Luka Kuittinen took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Inter Turku tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

A day Luka Kuittinen will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Martin Kirilov at 20 — 8.32

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Martin Kirilov did not need any: 8.32, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Match

Nobody wants to play Inter Turku right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Market

Eero Vuorjoki is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Inter Turku is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Luka Kuittinen

Marked 9.87 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Luka Kuittinen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Dimitar Pirgov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Martin Kirilov

At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief

89 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Juuso Hämäläinen is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Inter Turku is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Boardroom

Juuso Hämäläinen has agreed to leave Inter Turku for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Luka Kuittinen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Jussi Niska was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

When it matters, Loic Essomba plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Squad

The manager has not finished forgetting Jean Botué's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

In brief

81 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Kasper Pedersen breaks a bone — 72 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Michal Jeřábek asks to leave Inter Turku

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Inter Turku turn down KTP for Eero Vuorjoki

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Bismark Ampofo falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

VPS are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Inter Turku will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

In brief

70 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Juuso Hämäläinen

88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Inter Turku lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Agustín Mangiaut was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Bismark Ampofo falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

63 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Juuso Hämäläinen damages knee ligaments — 140 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 140 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Inter Turku refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 43 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Agustín Mangiaut in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work
  • Squad Loic Essomba has become a man the manager trusts
59 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Inter Turku are in among the leaders

Position 1 and 43 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

Johannes Yli-Kokko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Kuittinen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

58 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Johannes Yli-Kokko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Getting past Agustín Mangiaut has become the hardest job in the division

14 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.

Squad

Luka Kuittinen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Alie Conteh

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alie Conteh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Inter Turku get the job done against KuPS

A 1‑0 win over KuPS, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Alie Conteh at his very best

Marked 8.37. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Inter Turku.

Squad

The month belongs to Loic Essomba

The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Inter Turku have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.

Player ratings

Bismark Ampofo was immovable

16 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Player ratings

Vincent Ulundu runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 9. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

56 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 31 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Squad

Andre Raymond keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Inter Turku may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Agustín Mangiaut was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Luka Kuittinen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

A bad afternoon for Inter Turku against Ilves

1‑2 to Ilves, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Luka Kuittinen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Loic Essomba

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

The Johannes Yli-Kokko talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Inter Turku know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Jean Botué

Marked 5.37, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

55 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

22 unbeaten for Inter Turku

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 22 matches without defeat is a foundation Inter Turku did not have in the autumn.

Match

Inter Turku are in among the leaders

Position 1 and 39 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Market

Juuso Hämäläinen asks to leave Inter Turku

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Jere Kallinen in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Another one collected away from home

4 on the bounce on the road for Inter Turku. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Kuittinen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Inter Turku see off VPS

Three points for Inter Turku, 2‑1 the final word against VPS in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Loic Essomba

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Loic Essomba has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

Loic Essomba was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.51. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

In brief

54 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Still nobody has beaten Inter Turku

The unbeaten run reaches 21. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Market

Vincent Ulundu hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Inter Turku can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Jere Kallinen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Bismark Ampofo falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Alie Conteh

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alie Conteh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Loic Essomba the difference as Inter Turku beat SJK

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Loic Essomba. 2‑0 against SJK, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Market

Michal Jeřábek is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Inter Turku has been clear about where Michal Jeřábek stands, which is more than many ever get.

Match

Another one collected away from home

3 on the bounce on the road for Inter Turku. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.

Squad

Jere Kallinen gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

53 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Still nobody has beaten Inter Turku

The unbeaten run reaches 20. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Match

The run at home goes on for Inter Turku

11 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Squad

Jere Kallinen in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Kuittinen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Agustín Mangiaut

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Agustín Mangiaut has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

Agustín Mangiaut shuts the door again

12 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Iiro Järvinen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Bismark Ampofo shuts the door

Defensive actions: 14, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Loic Essomba

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

51 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

18 unbeaten for Inter Turku

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 18 matches without defeat is a foundation Inter Turku did not have in the autumn.

Match

Inter Turku refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 29 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Bismark Ampofo

24 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Match

Inter Turku make home a hard place to visit

10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Prosper Ahiabu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bismark Ampofo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Loic Essomba

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Loic Essomba has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Inter Turku find a way past IFK Mariehamn

IFK Mariehamn made Inter Turku work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

44 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Alie Conteh leads the rout of VPS

4‑0, and Alie Conteh took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Inter Turku tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

Andre Raymond breaks a bone — 41 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

3 goals for Alie Conteh

The match ball belongs to Alie Conteh, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Match

Whatever happens, Inter Turku do not lose

11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Johannes Yli-Kokko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Alie Conteh in the eights

A performance of 9.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Alie Conteh

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alie Conteh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Bismark Ampofo

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

In brief

43 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Andre Raymond breaks a bone — 48 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Inter Turku refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 13 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Match

Whatever happens, Inter Turku do not lose

10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Johannes Yli-Kokko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Ahiabu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Inter Turku see off SJK

Three points for Inter Turku, 2‑1 the final word against SJK in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

No hiding place for Prosper Ahiabu

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Prosper Ahiabu, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Alie Conteh at his very best

Marked 8.68. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Inter Turku.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Henri Salomaa

Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

40 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Andre Raymond out for 70 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Inter Turku will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Michal Jeřábek was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Whatever happens, Inter Turku do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Alie Conteh

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alie Conteh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Market

Prosper Ahiabu is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Inter Turku has been clear about where Prosper Ahiabu stands, which is more than many ever get.

Match

Inter Turku see off IFK Mariehamn

Three points for Inter Turku, 2‑0 the final word against IFK Mariehamn in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

No hiding place for Vladan Elesin

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladan Elesin, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Loic Essomba

Marked 8.50 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

39 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Andre Raymond breaks a bone — 78 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Prosper Ahiabu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bismark Ampofo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

No hiding place for Jere Kallinen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jere Kallinen, and the manager let it.

Match

Henri Salomaa rescues a point for Inter Turku

It needed Henri Salomaa to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against KTP, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Player ratings

Loic Essomba runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

38 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Andre Raymond breaks a bone — 86 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Johannes Yli-Kokko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Ahiabu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

37 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Andre Raymond breaks a bone — 93 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Jere Kallinen keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Inter Turku may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Inter Turku

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad

Bismark Ampofo falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

One of our own: Paulus Uronen joins the Inter Turku first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Paulus Uronen is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Inter Turku promote Amos Uronen from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Amos Uronen has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

One of our own: Tim Raitala joins the Inter Turku first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tim Raitala is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Antti Hoskonen steps up from the Inter Turku academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antti Hoskonen has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

In brief

29 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Johannes Yli-Kokko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Vladan Elesin

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

25 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Bismark Ampofo falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Vladan Elesin gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

21 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Michal Jeřábek asks to leave Inter Turku

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Jere Kallinen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Luka Kuittinen falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

20 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

A European night to remember for Inter Turku

2‑1 against FC Copenhagen, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.

Match

Loic Essomba wins it after the whistle should have gone

94 minutes played. Loic Essomba found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and FC Copenhagen went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Squad

Jere Kallinen in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter Turku this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Kuittinen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Alie Conteh

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

Loic Essomba in the eights

A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Henri Salomaa gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

No place for Vladan Elesin on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Inter Turku pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Player ratings

Iiro Järvinen runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

18 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

A European night to remember for Inter Turku

1‑1 against Tromso, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.

Match

9 matches without a win for Inter Turku

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Inter Turku are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Inter Turku

Prosper Ahiabu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Inter Turku training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Kuittinen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The terraces

Inter Turku supporters have found a favourite in Loic Essomba

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Loic Essomba has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

13 Edition

The Inter Turku Gazette

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Michal Jeřábek hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Inter Turku can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Inter Turku come up short in Europe

0‑2 away to the standard of Galatasaray. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.

Match

The wait goes on for Inter Turku

7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Vladan Elesin keeps Inter Turku in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Seth Saarinen: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Inter Turku have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Prosper Ahiabu falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief