From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for HJK
0‑1 against IFK Mariehamn, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Ville Tikkanen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ville Tikkanen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around HJK the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 23 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
HJK say no — this time
The offer from KTP for Brooklyn Lyons-Foster was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HJK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Teemu Pukki
“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 ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.78 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Marcus Forss obliged against VPS. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is HJK.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Marcus Forss takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at HJK is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: RoPS have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ville Tikkanen. The answer from HJK has not changed — yet.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at HJK
Robert Taylor 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HJK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
Business is business: Pyry Mentu goes
SJK paid $39.0K and HJK took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. HJK have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HJK can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HJK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. HJK have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match8 Aug 2026
HJK find a way past KTP
KTP made HJK work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mouhamed Guèye and HJK agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HJK can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Teemu Pukki commits to HJK for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at HJK
Robert Taylor 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: HIFK have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mouhamed Guèye. The answer from HJK has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Teemu Pukki, and the manager let it.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Matej Marković's contract
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.