From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at VPS
Emmanuel Okereke 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at VPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miika Niemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at VPS, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josep Nuorela, and the manager let it.
Market26 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simon van Duivenbooden signs something — a contract at VPS or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Paulo Lima knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at VPS, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at VPS
Martti Haukioja 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Will Wilson commits to VPS for another 3 years.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at VPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miika Niemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at VPS
Martti Haukioja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mikael Pohjanpalo 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. VPS lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at VPS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Oct 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at VPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miika Niemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad5 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and VPS are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 86% of the VPS income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at VPS
Martti Haukioja 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Miika Niemi 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.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I watch every VPS game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at FF Jaro runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market28 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simon van Duivenbooden signs something — a contract at VPS or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Miika Niemi has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Miika Niemi has written the date down.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Akon Kuek knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Akon Kuek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at VPS
Martti Haukioja 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Joonas Vahtera
“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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Akon Kuek knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at VPS, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at VPS
Henri Salomaa 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Saku Kamara 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at VPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miika Niemi 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
A promise honoured at VPS
Something was said to Yassin Daoussi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Akon Kuek
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
VPS and Akon Kuek are talking past each other
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at VPS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Sep 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Sep 2026
RoPS take the points off VPS
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Miika Niemi 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
10 new faces, and VPS are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Will Wilson
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Will Wilson has come out of that comparison in the side, and VPS have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Paulo Lima 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at VPS
Martti Haukioja 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 ratings31 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 7.16 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, VPS had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonathan Muzinga, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
Match29 Aug 2026
Point won or two lost for VPS?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against IFK Mariehamn? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead31 Aug 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and VPS needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market31 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simon van Duivenbooden signs something — a contract at VPS or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Aug 2026
5‑1, and Jabir Abdihakim Ali took the headlines on an afternoon when everything VPS tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.39, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.24 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Will Wilson has a hand in both — 7.74
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.74, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at VPS
Martti Haukioja 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
6 goals as VPS and KTP go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between VPS and KTP, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at VPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miika Niemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 5‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joonas Vahtera, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put VPS out
Out, 0‑1 to FC Lahti, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
16 days out for Rasmus Pukki after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. VPS will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market17 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. VPS have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
VPS close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Akon Kuek has agreed to leave VPS 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at VPS
Martti Haukioja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Inter Turku, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Miika Niemi 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
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Player ratings
Will Wilson was the difference for VPS
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Mamadou Jalloh
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Aug 2026
A hiding for VPS
Beaten 0‑3 by FF Jaro, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Rasmus Pukki out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason VPS will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market10 Aug 2026
Akon Kuek has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around VPS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at VPS
Martti Haukioja 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$60.0K was the most the club would pay and HJK were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jaakko Soiri 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Juho Joronen 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.
In brief
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Market
Rasmus Pukki steps up from the VPS academy
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Boardroom
Nobody left the VPS dressing room in a hurry
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Squad
10 new faces, and VPS are still learning each other
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad3 Aug 2026
There were 7 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
IA come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and VPS did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Martti Haukioja and VPS agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for VPS against KuPS
0‑1 to KuPS, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at VPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jabir Abdihakim Ali 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Simon van Duivenbooden’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Lassi Pohjanpalo to a room that had heard them before.