Marked for Aaro Soiniemi
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Dosis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
IFK Mariehamn sign 6 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Matias Riikonen
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Matias Riikonen has come out of that comparison in the side, and IFK Mariehamn have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Half-satisfied: Paulus Uronen on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Defensive actions: 13, 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 ratings5 Jul 2027
Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match3 Jul 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. KuPS will be the happier side with the point.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for IFK Mariehamn
Position 10 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what IFK Mariehamn can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Sebastian Dahlström 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at IFK Mariehamn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Dosis 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Aaro Soiniemi makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Paulus Uronen was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the IFK Mariehamn dressing room was either.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Nikos Dosis dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Andrea Crisci slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Andrea Crisci is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Adam Larsson beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Matias Riikonen
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Dosis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.15 — 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.
Match1 May 2027
Inter Turku held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. IFK Mariehamn answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The dugout3 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Paulus Uronen to a room that had heard them before.
Squad3 May 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Aaro Soiniemi
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Aaro Soiniemi has come out of that comparison in the side, and IFK Mariehamn have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Market3 May 2027
Yeboah Amankwah is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at IFK Mariehamn has been clear about where Yeboah Amankwah stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout3 May 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
The knee: Nikos Dosis out for 20 days
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IFK Mariehamn lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Sebastian Dahlström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tuomas Koivisto and IFK Mariehamn agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market23 Nov 2026
The Rui Monteiro talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. IFK Mariehamn know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Aaro Soiniemi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at IFK Mariehamn 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” IFK Mariehamn may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market26 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at IFK Mariehamn is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at IFK Mariehamn
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pontus Lindgren will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around IFK Mariehamn the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Sebastian Dahlström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Sep 2026
IFK Mariehamn are still strangers to each other
13 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Rui Monteiro asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market28 Sep 2026
The Rui Monteiro talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. IFK Mariehamn know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.