The stadium of Finnish football club FC Haka was destroyed in a fire last Sunday, two months after the club was relegated to second division of Finnish football. As local broadcaster YLE reported, according to the police findings the fire was intentional.
All three suspects are under 15 years old, and one of them has admitted to the police that they set fire to an item that sparked the fire that destroyed the wooden stand and part of the artificial pitch of the 3,516 seat stadium, named Tehtaan kenttä.
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FC Haka, one of Finland's best teams, last won a big title in 2005
FC Haka, located in Valkeakoski, is one of the most condecorated clubs in Finland, winning nine league championships and 12 Finnish Cups. They last won the league in 2004 and have been relegated several times, the last time in 2019, when they won the Ykkönen, or second division (now third division after the creation of a new second-tier league in 2022, the Ykkösliiga, which is were they will compete in 2026).
The fire did not destroy the bigger stand. The club has launched a fund-raising campaign to help them rebuild the stand and the artificial pitch before the next edition of the Veikkausliiga, which runs from spring to fall.