PK-35 (women)

This article is about the Kansallinen Liiga team in Helsinki. For the Kansallinen Liiga team in Vantaa, see PK-35 Vantaa (women).

For the current men's football team in Helsinki, see PK-35 (men). For the former men's football team in Vantaa, see PK-35 Vantaa (men).

Pallokerho-35 (PK-35) Naiset is the representative women's football team of the Helsinki-based football club Pallokerho-35 (PK-35). The team debuted in Finland's top-level league, the Kansallinen Liiga, for the 2020 season. They gained promotion at the end of the previous season, winning the 2019 qualifier against IK Myran. PK-35 had previously reached the ascending qualifier in the 2018 season but lost to Oulu Nice Soccer (ONS).^[1]

PK-35

Full name	Pallokerho-35 Naiset
Nickname(s)	Punamustat (The Red-blacks)
Founded	1978
Ground	MagneCit Areena Pihlajamäki, Helsinki
Manager	Jeff Barck
Coach	Rami Rantanen
League	Kansallinen Liiga
2024	6th
Website	https://www.pk-35.fi
Home colours Away colours

PK-35's home ground is MagneCit Areena in the Pihlajamäki (Swedish: Rönnbacka) sub-district of Malmi, Helsinki. They also play home matches at the Pihlajamäen tekonurmi (Pihlajamäki astroturf), which has a capacity of 300 spectators.^[2]

History

PK-35’s women’s football team was established in 1978, and the team played its first match at Pihlajamäki Field on June 12, 1978. The team first participated in an organized league in 1982. In 1992, PK-35 reached the Naisten I-divisoona qualifiers but did not secure promotion that season.

In 1994, the third-tier Naisten I-divisoona was renamed Naisten Kakkonen, and PK-35 earned promotion to the renamed league for the 1999 season. The team competed in Naisten Kakkonen until the end of the 2007 season when, under head coach Mitri Pakkasen, they ascended to the second-tier Naisten Ykkönen.^[3]

At the end of the 2008 season, the PK-35 men’s and women’s representative teams were relocated to Vantaa, where they became the men’s and women’s representative teams of the newly-created club, PK-35 Vantaa. The transfer was done in the hope that the teams would have access to better resources in Vantaa. However, representative team activities carried on in Helsinki and the Helsinki-based PK-35 women’s team continued in the fourth-tier Naisten Kolmonen.^[3]

PK-35 earned promotion to the Naisten Ykkönen for the 2018 season after beating Malmin Palloseura and winning the club‘s seat. Rami Rantanen, who had previously coached the PK-35 junior-B girls team, took over as head coach of the women‘s representative team prior to the 2018 season.^[4][5] In 2018, PK-35 ranked second in the Naisten Ykkönen but lost the two-game qualifier against Oulu Nice Soccer and remained in the Ykkönen.^[6] In the following season, the team finally earned promotion to the Naisten Liiga after beating IK Myran in the qualifier. The first qualification match between PK-35 and IK Myran ended in a 2–2 tie. No goals were scored during regulation time of the second qualification match and the match dragged on to the penalty shootout. PK-35 eventually claimed a 4–2 victory after the penalty shootout.^[7]

Players and personnel

Updated 30 May 2020^[8]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FIN Nea Vidgren 2 DF  FIN Julie Forss 3 DF  FIN Martta Laitinen 6 DF  FIN Jade Bergius 7 FW  FIN Pia Tavi 8 MF  FIN Krista Hakala 9 DF  FIN Inka Hiltunen 10 FW  FIN Anita Abu 11 DF  FIN Olivia Kåhre 12 GK  FIN Tanja Kotoaro 13 MF  FIN Elisa Ikonen 14 MF  FIN Natalia Kusmin 15 DF  FIN Vilma Oksanen

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  FIN Neea Hassinen 17 FW  FIN Mette Barck 18 DF  FIN Dolma Gurung 19 MF  FIN Minea Lassas 20 FW  FIN Emilia Kupsanen 22 DF  FIN Heljä Jokela 23 DF  FIN Johanna Grönlund 24 DF  FIN Ada Lindroth 25 MF  FIN Suvi Kärkkäinen 26 MF  FIN Maija Markkanen

Coaches and staff

• Head Coach: Rami Rantanen
• Assistant Coach: Krista Dahlberg
• Assistant Coach: Anne-Maria Weckström-Rantanen
• Goalkeeping Coach: Henrik Salmelainen
• Doctor, caretaker: Jan-Patrik Wiksten
• Team Manager: Karolina Hurmerinta