Marked for Eetu Mömmö
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market6 Aug 2029
Roope Paunio 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 SJK can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Aug 2029
A fracture rules Tim Lod out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason SJK will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market6 Aug 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around SJK people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Tempers go at SJK
Kelvin Pires 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.
Market6 Aug 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. SJK have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. IF Elfsborg have kept their man, and SJK go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match4 Aug 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sander Lægreid Johansen. 1‑0 against HJK, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Niklas Söderberg 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 ratings6 Aug 2029
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Jul 2029
3‑0, and Kasper Paananen took the headlines on an afternoon when everything SJK tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
A brace, and Kasper Paananen takes the afternoon — 8.62
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kasper Paananen provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market9 Jul 2029
As if he never left: Joas Snellman returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Joas Snellman is a SJK player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Tempers go at SJK
Kelvin Pires 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alenis Vargas and SJK agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
A defender's afternoon for Kelvin Pires
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at SJK training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roope Paunio 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.
Match7 Jul 2029
SJK end the wait against VPS
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
Eetu Mömmö was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Jun 2029
5 matches without a win for SJK
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around SJK are no longer polite ones.
Market2 Jul 2029
Only the photograph left for Prosper Padera
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prosper Padera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around SJK the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Kelvin Pires 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 SJK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alenis Vargas and SJK agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Jul 2029
A goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Roope Paunio now has 25 of them across 169 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.
The dugout2 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at SJK training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eetu Mömmö 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 ratings2 Jul 2029
7.66, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. SJK had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Boardroom2 Jul 2029
Intake day at the SJK academy
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words exchanged at SJK
Kelvin Pires 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.
Boardroom18 Jun 2029
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad18 Jun 2029
A row about effort at SJK
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niklas Söderberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
Marked 7.51. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
Alenis Vargas is still paying for one afternoon at SJK
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Abdu Muchipay
“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.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the SJK dressing room was either.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad18 Jun 2029
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and SJK will feel it on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jun 2029
Tempers go at SJK
Kelvin Pires 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 dugout11 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
A row about effort at SJK
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eetu Mömmö was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom11 Jun 2029
Wages eat 87% of everything SJK earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the SJK dressing room was either.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match9 Jun 2029
Point won or two lost for SJK?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against JIPPO? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Looking ahead11 Jun 2029
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Markus Arsalo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and SJK needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Jun 2029
Prosper Padera has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SJK they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Kelvin Pires 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 SJK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kasper Paananen and SJK agree another 4 years.
Match2 Jun 2029
SJK get the job done against AC Oulu
A 1‑0 win over AC Oulu, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Niklas Söderberg 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 ratings4 Jun 2029
Eetu Mömmö beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
A mark of 7.93, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Albin Björkskog named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Albin Björkskog is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 May 2029
Words exchanged at SJK
Matias Paavola 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.
The terraces21 May 2029
SJK supporters have found a favourite in Abdu Muchipay
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdu Muchipay 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.
Match19 May 2029
SJK get the job done against HJK
A 2‑0 win over HJK, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Marked 8.02 — 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.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 May 2029
Eetu Mömmö 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 dugout21 May 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout21 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noah Rantasalmi, and the manager let it.
Squad21 May 2029
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where SJK would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and KTP waiting with a shirt. Nobody at SJK is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market12 Mar 2029
“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 SJK, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2029
No thanks: Ahmed Adebayo rejects the move
SJK had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at HJK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Haka have kept their man, and SJK go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Danila Bulgakov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at SJK is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at SJK
Sander Lægreid Johansen 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.
Market12 Mar 2029
The phone has started ringing about Prosper Padera again, and this time the name on the line is JäPS. SJK are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market12 Mar 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. SJK will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Jan 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SJK they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at SJK training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armaan Wilson 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 dugout22 Jan 2029
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.
Market22 Jan 2029
The name of Niklas Söderberg keeps appearing in other people's back pages. SJK say nothing, which says plenty.
Market22 Jan 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Eetu Mömmö may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
Johannes Viitala 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Dec 2028
“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.
Market18 Dec 2028
Niki Hasselman has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SJK they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at SJK
Kelvin Pires 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 dugout18 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Danila Bulgakov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at SJK is pretending otherwise.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
Oskari Väistö has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at SJK 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.
Market18 Dec 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Albin Björkskog may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market18 Dec 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Armaan Wilson’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
The SJK production line keeps running
24 graduates out of an academy now rated 9 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.
Squad18 Dec 2028
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Roope Paunio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at SJK is pretending otherwise.
Market11 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at SJK is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A row about effort at SJK
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kelvin Pires was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A falling-out at SJK
Eze Onuoha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“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.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kasper Paananen is on it.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
Haka next, and one man in the SJK dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at SJK would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces20 Dec 2027
Anger at SJK spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market20 Dec 2027
Emil Ingman 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 SJK can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at SJK is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Kelvin Pires 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at SJK
Matias Paavola 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad20 Dec 2027
36 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“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 dugout20 Dec 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces22 Nov 2027
The mood at SJK has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market22 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at SJK is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Kelvin Pires 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
The medical room confirms 57 days on the sidelines for Eetu Mömmö, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at SJK
Ronal Malik 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
19 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Oskari Väistö has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at SJK 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Alenis Vargas 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.
Market22 Nov 2027
The name of Albin Björkskog keeps appearing in other people's back pages. SJK say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Oct 2027
Every point is an argument now for SJK
Position 11 and 20 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Vertti Hänninen: 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.” SJK have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. Roope Paunio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at SJK is pretending otherwise.
Market11 Oct 2027
Samuel James has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SJK they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SJK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at SJK
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armaan Wilson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Prosper Padera and SJK agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I watch every SJK game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ekenäs IF runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eetu Mömmö, and the manager let it.