Football|According to Lehtelä, supporters’ thoughts about Kanerva’s extension contract are divided between those for and against this injury.
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Supporting the Finnish national football team requires patience, time and money.
Juha Lehtelä spends thousands of euros and vacation days for Huuhkajie’s away games.
Finnish supporters often gather in Irish pubs before matches.
Lehtelä plans to watch all the Nations League matches and next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
Finland supporting the national football team has required a lot of patience and commitment in the past twenty years, when success was waited for years in vain.
In addition to patience, following Huuhkaji in away games also requires a lot of time and money, even if you plan your trips according to the cheapest travel options. Some of the supporters are ready to spend a lot of money on trips in relation to their income level, and some are ready to sacrifice a lot of vacation days for the Huuhkajie.
A meat master from Helsinki Juha Lehtelä50, is a model example of a supporter who spends a lot of time and also money on Huuhkajie’s away games. He also works for other supporters, as he is the events manager of the Finnish national team supporters’ association and a member of the association’s board.
“Pretty much every vacation goes to football. It’s money and time well spent,” says Lehtelä in Athens on the afternoon of the game day.
Leaf calculates that he will spend a few thousand euros to travel to Huuhkaji’s away matches. The amount includes flights, hotels and meals.
“If all the matches were played in the Balkans, traveling would be much cheaper. Eating and drinking costs maybe 50 euros a day. Maybe 50 euros is estimated on the lower end. Here in Athens, you can get by on 50 euros a day.”
How much of a dent will traveling after Huhkajie make in your annual budget?
“Sometimes traveling is just about fudge. This time, the spouse is involved, so that everything is not always just about fudge.”
“Far more than half of the holidays are spent at Huuhkajie’s away matches. I have 4+1 vacation weeks a year. I work shifts, so I can also travel during the week.”
According to Lehtelä, away trips can combine a couple of good things: nice people and football. He usually tries to watch local football in each country with his friends. On Sunday, the program features Greek lower league football.
On Saturday evening, Finland will play the opening match of the Nations League against Greece in the port city of Piraeus. Every time in recent years, when Finland has played against Greece in Athens or Piraeus, supporters have gathered at The James Joyce pub in the Monastiraki district of Athens. Finnish supporters can always be found in Irish pubs during away games.
According to Lehtelä, Irish pubs are usually slightly bigger bars, and it is possible for supporters to get group discounts.
Finnish national team supporter Juha Lehtelä chatted with Finnish supporters Janne Viitala (left) and Jari Kymäläinen at The James Joyce pub, where Finnish supporters gathered before the first Nations League match.
Before the Greece-Finland match, Finnish supporters leave the Monastiraki district of Athens by metro towards the port city of Piraeus at 8:30. The supporters march together to the stadium in the traditional way.
Lehtelä saw the Finnish national football team’s first away match in 2001, when Finland played in Liverpool against England. The purpose of Lehtelä is to see all the Nations League matches this fall, home and away. Next year’s World Cup qualifiers are also in his program, if only his employer allows him to take vacation days at a suitable time. In the previous EC qualifiers, he missed an away match in Kazakhstan.
Now Huuhkaj has a new beginning in a way, when the head coach Markku Kanerva signed a new one-and-a-half-year extension contract in June and got a new coaching team. According to Lehtelä, supporters’ thoughts about Kanerva are divided for and against this wound.
“Some think that maybe it was time to try something new. How much has the union really thought about it, or was it just a matter of money to continue like this? Now let’s see how these Nations League matches go.”
“I had thought that the head coach would have been changed after Finland lost to Wales in the final of the further qualifiers. I myself try to take a positive attitude as long as the head coach gets credit from the union.”
Juha Lehtelä’s best memory of Huuhkajie’s matches is the victory in Liechtenstein that secured the place in the European Championships, and Finland’s away victory over Estonia in 2018 is also a good memory.
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