HIFK has gone through some major changes in the last years. While we have a lot of good memories from the last 10 years, it has been a decade covered by financial problems. To understand what has happened since 2021 – the last time we had updates in English – and the situation HIFK is in now, we need to go back 10 years.
The fairy dust wears off
The atmosphere was euphoric on the 4th of October. HIFK had just been promoted to the highest tier of Finnish football after an absence of 42 years. It had gained back-to-back promotions and the squad was described by media outlets as “a group of friends that just made it to the highest tier”. The organisation off the pitch was nowhere near the level it needed to be. To cope with the new demands in the Veikkausliiga, the club organised a share emission, inviting minority shareholders to buy shares in the operating company, HIFK Fotboll Ab. With this money it almost made a profit for the year 2015. The budget for 2016 was a moderate one, and everything looked well until the team started struggling on the pitch and action was needed.
It was deemed that relegation to the (then) Ykkönen would be catastrophical and a position in the highest league was crucial for long term success. While HIFK managed to secure a position for the 2017 Veikkausliiga, it did not secure one for the 2018 season. It lost in the relegation playoffs against FC Honka – or technically HIFK drew, but were relegated because of FC Honka’s away-goal advantage. To make up for the deficit that arisen from HIFK:s attempts to stay in the league, it organised a new share emission, looking to secure 100 000€ at the end of the season 2017. By mid-November 2017 it hade received 120 000€.
Down, up and into a new era
Ykkönen is, like the highest league, a national league. This means travel costs alone are high. But the exposure is significantly smaller and the financial opportunities are remarkably scarce, compared to those at the highest level. A quick return to the Veikkausliiga was deemed to be the best option for HIFK, as a prolonged stay in the Ykkönen would have been financially draining and eventually catastrofical. At the top tier, HIFK would atleast have a chance to live up to its potential – ticket revenue from the Stadin Derby (against HJK) alone was nearly 10% of the company’s revenue.
HIFK’s season 2018 was a big risk. On the pitch it was succesful, HIFK were promoted right back to the Veikkausliiga. But it came at a price. A very costly price. Heading into the season 2019, its financial situation was, once again, dire. HIFK were looking for an investor to aquire the club and bring it some long needed financial stability.
At this point HIFK Soccer rf owned 81,63% of HIFK Fotboll AB, with the rest of the shares being owned by roughly 1000 shareholders (through share emissions in 2015 and 2017).
In may 2019 it was announced that Impress London Europe Ltd, acompany registered in London and fronted by the Chinese national Chang Jin, would aquire 51,9% of HIFK Fotboll Ab. “Lucas” Chang Jin also owned a football club in the Danish top league, Vejle BK, which had prospered under Mr. Jin’s ownership. It seemed like there was clear synergies for all parties involved. Mr. Jin’s business model was to sign young players and sell them for a profit once they were developed. As a former player agent who had helped with numerous high profile transfer to China, he was well connected. Players that were not (yet) good enough for the Danish top league could earn valuable playing time at HIFK. This seemed like a good arrangement with clear synergies – especially for HIFK who were in extreme need of cash influx.
But not everyone was excited about the fact that HIFK falling into the hands of foreign investors. Serious doubts about the motives of the new owner and his associates were cast by long time supporters. Safeguards were put in place as part of the buy-out, to assure that the brand of HIFK was secure.
Promising future turns into disaster
The season 2019 came along and the much needed cash influx from the new owners meant improvements. The team were playing well and for the first time in a very long time, HIFK were in a situation where it could sign contracts for the next season while stil playing the current one. HIFK finished 7th in the league, and things were genuinely looking promising for the 2020 season. IFK were hiring new staff for the back office and signing star players, like the former Finland international Sakari Mattila. There was even rumours that HIFK could potentially sell some players. Relegation battles felt like a thing in the past and some were already wondering wether HIFK could make it into the top 4 and clinch a spot in Europe.
But then disaster struck. The COVID-19 virus effectively shut down all sports in the world. This effected HIFK both directly, through the loss of sponsorships, ticket sales and much more, but also indirectly since the businesses of Impress London Europe Ltd and Vejle BK were also not making any money. With no sports, there were no players being sold. When the sports started again, it was with extreme caution. It was clear it would take some time for the market to recover, so drastic measures were taken. The interpretation was that HIFK was to become merely a subsidiary of Vejle BK and the local management of HIFK would have little to say in the clubs running. It would be made up of mostly players with no real attachment to HIFK, at the most to Vejle BK. This would have meant a massive loss in identity and values.
This was deemed as a breach of the contract between HIFK Soccer rf and Impress Limited London Europe Ltd. In Finland it is standard practice that the a limited liability company is used for the day-to-day operations of a Veikkausliiga club, but the actual league license is always registered with a non-profit association. This was also the case with HIFK. HIFK Soccer rf. owned the licence, but were lending it to HIFK Fotboll AB, a company it was still a major shareholder (albeit not the majority shareholder) of.
HIFK Soccer rf took action by revoking the Veikkausliiga-license from HIFK Fotboll Ab. What followed was a legal battle that ultimately ended in a settlement, which would cost HIFK a lot of money. It was once again time for another share emission, this time for minority shareholders to increase their ownership of HIFK Fotboll Ab.
Trying to start over
Because of the legal issues HIFK and uncertainty, HIFK could not sign new players and were off to a late start for the 2021 season. HIFK announced Joaquin Gomez as their head coach on the 10th of January. Money was still tight, but through Gomez’s connections HIFK managed to get a number of high profile players and staff, including former Finland international Antti Niemi.
The season 2021 would turn out to be HIFK’s best in the Veikkausliiga ever, and best finish in roughly 60 years. Gomez’s methods and high demands had created a professional enviroment despite being given very limited resources.
But off the pitch it had been another tough season. COVID had not budged, and throughout the season there were lots of social distancing rules in place and football as a game had not recovered. Season ticket sales and ticket sales were nowhere near the levels of the teams pre-COVID times. Though HIFK played two derbies against HJK, neither of them would have more than 5000 spectators. In general people were cautious. At the end of the 2021 season rumours started going around about players being payed late, and eventually the rumours were that players and staff had not been payed at all.
Consortium as owners
But it wasn’t long before these problems seemed to have been squashed once again. Less than a month after the end of the season 2021, HIFK announced that it had new owners – through the share emission started in May of 2021. This time a consortium of domestic owners, led by Mr. Heikki Pajunen.
HIFK had been saved, again. Loads of smaller investors joined, and as always with HIFK there was a bit of optimisim at the beginning of the season. On the pitch though, things were not looking bright. It was announced that HIFK’s newly appointed Portuguese head coach would part ways after just a few matches, Mr. Tavares citing “personal reasons” being why. A few days later he was appointed the head coach of a Indonesian team. By then HIFK had appointed the former Finland national team coach Mika-Matti “Mixu” Paatelainen as head coach.
The global market had been in decline in response to the shocking news that Russia had invaded Ukraine. With inflation skyrocketing and the markets declining, it was maybe not a big surprise that this had clearly affected potential sponsors attitudes.
In June the new leadership announced that it did not have enough means to keep the club playing to the end of the season. This time they were not issuing a share emission but looking for a more direct resolution: asking people to buy tickets, 20 000 of them, in order to keep HIFK playing through the season.
This was achieved, but it was becoming clearer and clearer that the HIFK was not going to cope with its debts and growing budget deficit. After the 2022 season ownership of the club changed, a new consortium with close ties to the previous majority shareholders took over the club. To add to a growing list of problems, HIFK were dead least in the Veikkausliiga 2022, and were relegated to Ykkönen.
The season 2023 started off somewhat promising. Club legend Sami Okkonen was appointed head coach and former Finland international Paulus Arajuuri joined the club in addition to loads of ambitious players looking to make a name out of themselves. But, the financial problems kept adding up.
Ykkönen is a very expensive league and years of negative coverage and the fact that it was the second highest tier were taking its toll. In september it was announced that HIFK would, you guessed it, launch a share emission. This time it was in critical need of 300 000 €. It received 200 000€.
The icing on the cake was when it became clear that FIFA had ruled that HIFK would have to pay Mr. Fabrizio Piccareta 96 000 € for outstanding wages. According to Mr. Piccareta, an agreement about his employment had been made in april of 2022 (after Mr. Tavares left HIFK and Mr. Paatelainen was signed). HIFK argued that no contract had been signed, so no employment agreement had been finalised. FIFA’s interpretation was that employment had been agreed upon, and as such HIFK owed Mr. Piccareta for outstanding wages for 2022 and 2023.
Discussions with new investors, including foreign ones were held, but an agreement could not be reached. The company had been saved from the brink of bankruptcy in 2019, 2021 and 2022. It had share emissions in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021,2023 and an additional rescure campaign in 2022. It was finally time to let go and start over. On January 4th of 2024 HIFK Fotboll AB declared bankruptcy.
One last obstacle before starting over
But this was not the end of HIFK, merely the company that operated the first team football. Finnish football is a tough business and sadly HIFK Fotboll Ab was not the first football company to go bankrupt. Pretty much standard practice is for clubs to start over from whatever division its second team is. For HIFK Fotboll this was in the Third Division, which – by now – somewhat confusingly was the fifth highest tier of football in Finland. Season tickets went on sale and during the first month nearly 400 were sold, once again showcasing the devotion and dedication of HIFK’s fans. Was this the moment HIFK would rise from the ashes? Rebuild from the ground? Not yet, because along came yet another challenge to overcome.
But whereas Finnish law saw HIFK Fotboll Ab and HIFK Soccer rf as two different legal entitys where ones bankruptcy would not affect the other, FIFA saw them as the same club. So HIFK did not get to start over, as many clubs before, but instead received a transfer ban for not paying Mr. Piccareta.
HIFK protested, but FIFA would not budge. A transfer ban was put into effect, meaning that no men or boys over 15 could join HIFK. Arguments were had publicly over wether HIFK should budge or sit out the transfer ban. The fact was that that HIFK Soccer rf did not have 92 000 €, so paying was not an option. A loan was out the question.
On the 7th of June of 2024, HIFK announced that it had agreed with Mr. Piccareta on a sum of 35 000 €. Significantly less than 92 000 €, but still a lot of money. Money that would have to come from HIFK’s fans. But IFK fans saw a light at the end of a tunnel, and felt that this could actually be the last challenge before HIFK could start to properly heal and rebuild. It took almost a month, but the “Forwards”-campaign reached its goal of 35 000€. Thre weeks later HIFK’s transfer ban was cleared.
Which leads us to where HIFK is right now. It’s rebuilding. The season 2024 was tough and it almost ended up in catastrophy: HIFK were nearly relegated to the sixth highest division. But it managed to narrowly escape disaster and secure a spot in the Kolmonen for 2025.
During the 2024 season a group of HIFK fans who saw a vision for a better future, gathered and started discussing a new model of ownership for HIFK. Something to stabilize the financial situation, but keep the decision making of the fans. Inspiration was drawn from clubs like AFC Wimbledon, Heart of Midlothian, Swedish and German clubs and their 50+1 -rules as well as Tampere United. HIFK was to become a supporter owned – and run – football club.
The fans have always been there for HIFK. Their money too. It’s ironic that this new model is indeed, also a share emission, once again. But some things are signifcantly different this time. First off, the reason for the share emission is not to make up for a deficit or pay a debt, it’s to build a future. Secondly, this time supporters get a vote that matters. They get a voice. In the end, very few clubs can actually run without its supporters money. Sponsorship deals, ticketing, hospitality, merchandise – that’s essentially also supporters money, just indirect. So we need to embrace that and finally understand that HIFK is its supporters.
It would be lovely if someone would come along and donate a few million to the club, but we’ve learned that that’s not going to happen. And the having investors as owners hasn’t worked out, atleast so far. So for now let’s try something new, and lean on its fans to start the ball rolling on its comeback. But let’s make one thing clear: we’re in no hurry to get back to the Veikkausliiga. The most important thing now is a good foundation. On the pitch and off the pitch.