Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi

HJK Helsinki
Full nameHelsingin Jalkapalloklubi
Nickname(s)Klubi (The Club)
Founded19 June 1907; 117 years ago (1907-06-19)
GroundBolt Arena
Capacity10,770
ChairmanOlli-Pekka Lyytikäinen
ManagerToni Korkeakunnas
LeagueVeikkausliiga
2024Veikkausliiga, 3rd of 12
Websitewww.hjk.fi
Current season

Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (lit.'Helsinki's Football Club'), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (Swedish: HJK Helsingfors), or simply as HJK (Finnish pronunciation; hoo-jii-koo), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history in the top tier of Finnish football. The club's home ground is the 10,770-seat Bolt Arena, where they have played their home games since 2000.[1]

Generally considered as Finland's biggest club, HJK is the most successful Finnish club in terms of championship titles with 33. The club has also won 14 Finnish Cups and 6 Finnish League Cups. Many of Finland's most successful players have played for HJK before moving abroad. The club has also similar success with women's Kansallinen Liiga.

HJK is the only Finnish club that has participated in the UEFA Champions League group stage. In 1998, they beat Metz in the play-off round to clinch their place in the competition for the following season. HJK have also participated twice in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League in 2014–15 and 2022–23 respectively, along with appearing three times in the UEFA Europa Conference League. The club's highest score in a European competition came during the 2011–12 season, with a 13–0 aggregate victory over Welsh champions Bangor City, which included a 10–0 home win.

HJK's traditional kit colours have long been blue and white striped shirts with blue shorts and socks. The club's crest has been nearly untouched for a century, it has only undergone one minor font change in order to modernize it.

  1. ^ "HJK Helsinki – HJK.fi". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2015.