SANTA CLAUS
After beating Iives 5-3 and with HIFK also beating Iives, 2-1, it meant the winners of the game between FC Santa Claus and HIFK would win the group and gain promotion.
Unfortunately, FC Santa Claus lost the game 1-0 and remained in the Kakkonen. It was the only time they had the opportunity to gain promotion to a tier that high.
In the club’s history, they have won five pieces of silverware, including a Kakkonen III title, and three Kakkonen IV Division titles, while also winning the Midnattsolscupen Cup in 1994, an invitational cup that is held in Sweden.
As part of the club’s worldwide promotion, they played various friendlies against clubs from different countries, including English clubs such as Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and West Ham.
Even with their global exposure and clever media and advertising exploits, the club declared itself bankrupt in 2012, with all club activities transferred to a new association using the name FC Santa Claus Arctic Circle.
Despite requesting to the Finnish FA that would like to remain in the third tier, it was denied as the governing body pointed out they were still in considerable debt that the ‘previous’ club had not paid.
While the club said they would honour their debts of up to £20,000, it was dismissed and the club was relegated to the fourth tier.
They remained there until 2015 when they gained promotion. However, their existence was hanging by a thread, with new sponsorship deals being done every year to keep the club afloat.
On the field, the team struggled and in 2016 they were related to the fourth tier after winning only two of the 22 games they played, conceding a whopping 102 goals in the process.
That season saw the club record their worst-ever defeat when they were beaten 16-0 by AC Kajaani.
It was all downhill from there and even though the club toured China in an attempt to gain more sponsorship, they eventually saw themselves relegated to the sixth tier of Finnish football.
However, they didn’t play in the division and the club was disbanded at the end of 2019.
It wasn’t the end of the club, however. The magic was brought back in 2021 when the club entered the Finnish football system as FC Santa Claus. While their first season saw them finish bottom of the sixth tier, they gained promotion the following year and now play in the Nelonen, the fifth tier of Finland’s pyramid.
The sheer fact they are back playing in the football world is magic. The club also does a lot of good work. A percentage of the money made from shirt sales worldwide is donated to charities, while some of the players participate in working at the local post office at Christmas time, sorting out letters that have been sent by children across Finland and the world (A bit like actual elves).
One thing about FC Santa Claus is that it truly buys into its legend and heritage - and I think they should always be in existence.
What hope does any football club have if FC Santa Claus cannot survive? While this one nearly disappeared, it just needed a few people to keep believing in the project and keep it alive.
Maybe one day they will reach the top flight of Finnish football. The key is ‘ Don’t Stop Believing’. Merry Christmas!