England’s Nations League match against Finland in Helsinki on Sunday marks the first time in 24 years that the Three Lions have played in the Nordic country.
But Finland’s men’s domestic league, the Veikkausliiga, is home to 12 footballers from the United Kingdom and one manager.
Only during the 1996 season has that number of players been higher.
Many of them have found a home that they never anticipated, having faced hurdles when trying to make it in the English Football League.
“It’s been a pretty crazy ride,” AC Oulu striker Ashley Coffey told BBC Sport.
The 30-year-old was released by League Two side Bradford City’s academy aged 15 after being told he was “too slow”.
A trial as a centre-back at boyhood club Leeds United followed, where Neil Warnock was managing.
“I was a season ticket holder at the time, so it was a bit surreal going on trial for three weeks, seeing players that I watched in the stands,” said Coffey, who had also been a mascot at Elland Road as a child.
“I didn’t get a contract, so from there, I just thought, ‘this is kind of over in terms of professional football, I’ll get a qualification at university’.
“I think I probably went out and drank and partied too much, but thoroughly enjoyed it.”
‘Away trips are brutal’
Coffey played in the Northern League while working as a tutor, before a Swedish girlfriend suggested he try his luck by emailing clubs in her country.
“I think it was around 50, 60 teams and maybe two or three got back to me,” he recalled.
Then came a trial in Sweden’s fourth tier. After watching one training session, Huddinge IF offered him €200 (£167) a month, a transport ticket and a free pair of boots.
The following year, in 2020, he broke the third-tier goalscoring record with 28 goals in 29 games for IFK Haninge, before signing the first professional contract of his career with AFC Eskilstuna in the second tier, aged 27.
“I realised that if I was going to do anything in football, I needed to really switch on and commit,” said Coffey, who had been teaching at an English School before signing that full-time deal.
“It was quite surreal, the first three four months I found really hard because I’d worked for something all my life and then instantly, you are just kind of living your dream.”
Finally, the offer of top-flight football in Finland came last year. Coffey did not need any convincing.
“I made a bit of a gamble, but it’s paid off and I’ve loved it,” he said.
“I didn’t realise how harsh the winters were going to be – January, February was like -30C – we train in an inside dome, but in winter that’s freezing as well.
“Away trips are pretty brutal. There’s one trip to Mariehamn that’s on its own little island – that’s about 13 hours just to get there,” he added.
‘I needed someone to give me an opportunity’
VPS Vaasa midfielder Alfie Cicale spent three years at Norwich City as a teenager, but returned home to London in a move he thought would help with his GCSE studies.
His academic efforts were rewarded with a place at Oxford University, where he enjoyed playing at a more recreational level.
“I knew I wanted to go to university and that wasn’t a given in academy football,” Cicale told BBC Sport.
The 22-year-old graduated with a first-class history degree last summer, but then endured a frustrating nine months of trying to get into higher-level football.
“It was gruelling,” he admitted. “A lot of my friends were going off to good jobs and I had committed to the fact that I believed I could still get a professional contract.
“A lot of people told me that it’s not going to happen.”
Then, a door opened. Northampton Town’s chairman, Kelvin Thomas, had been at Oxford’s Varsity match against Cambridge and invited Cicale for a trial after his final exams.
“I got half an hour against Leicester in a pre-season friendly against [Jamie] Vardy and some Premier League winners,” said Cicale.
“The feedback was that I performed very well and kind of outperformed expectations, but no one could justify giving a player who had never played a professional minute, a professional contract.”
Cicale did not give up hope, even when an offer from Neuchatel Xamax in Switzerland did not bear fruit as his work visa was declined.
“By the time the VPS call came, I was just keeping myself fit and waiting for my agent to see if he could convince anyone just to have a look at me,” he said.
“I was desperate. I went [to Finland] for a 10-day trial with one bag, I signed and didn’t go home for four months.
“I just needed someone to give me an opportunity to get on the pitch – it didn’t matter to me where I was – as long as I felt welcomed.”
A well-travelled coach with ambition
Stevie Grieve’s journey in football is also unusual. The 37-year-old SJK Seinajoki manager never played professionally, but has a wealth of experience in scouting and analysis.
He was head of performance and recruitment at current National League side Forest Green Rovers last season and has also worked in Scotland, the United States, Canada, Switzerland and India.
Grieve was even given his own television show in India, which included analysing Champions League matches.
“I’ve been fortunate – not many people have the opportunity to work in so many different countries,” he reflected.
“Finland is a very different type of society. How they respond under different types of pressure or adversity is obviously different from somebody from India or Canada or Switzerland.”
Grieve helped Forest Green recruit fellow Scot Duncan Ferguson as their manager last year, before leaving to become boss of SJK’s B team in Finland’s second tier.
“We nearly got the academy team promoted to the top division – we lost to a 96th-minute goal in what turned out to be the play-off final because [former Veikkausliiga side] Honka went bankrupt,” Grieve explained.
The Finnish Football Federation has since changed the rules to stop B teams getting promoted to the Veikkausliiga, leaving him to joke that he “caused chaos”.
Grieve then landed his maiden first-team management role with SJK this season, while studying for his Uefa pro licence.
He hopes to one day manage in the Champions League, rather than just talking about it on TV.
“Everybody wants to try and reach whatever their ceiling is,” he said.
“Whether it takes two years or 10 years, it’s not something that I can control.”
Why are so many British players in Finland?
It is obvious why Finland’s most famous players – such as Sami Hyypia, Jari Litmanen and Teemu Pukki – aspired to play in a league as credible as the Premier League.
But what about British involvement in Finland – a nation that had not qualified for a major tournament until Euro 2020 – where ice hockey is typically seen as the biggest sport?
Twelve British players compares to none in the top leagues of Norway and Sweden, with eight each in France and Germany, and four in Spain.
IFK Mariehamn took a chance on Jayden Reid – who left Portsmouth last season after two years without making an appearance due to injury – while fellow winger Imani Lanquedoc is on loan at FC Haka from Fulham.
Luke Plange – who Crystal Palace signed for £1 million from a Derby County side battling relegation from the Championship under Wayne Rooney – has since played Champions League qualifying matches for HJK Helsinki.
HJK made a profit from selling last season’s Veikkausliiga top scorer, Bojan Radulovic, to the Championship, so might the club see an opportunity for more business later down the line?
“I think the clubs here assume that if English professionals are willing to come over, they are going to be decent quality,” said Cicale.
“Finnish football can be a very good platform for exhibiting your abilities – and perhaps if things haven’t gone in such a linear fashion throughout your career – it’s a good opportunity here to show what level you’re still at.”
Grieve’s view is that the Finnish league is a secure working environment for coaches – and it attracts a different type of player.
“It is not 100 mph like an EFL game, the technical level here is higher,” he explained.
“It is way more aggressive and more contact and a ‘free for all’ in Scotland or the lower leagues in England – it’s a different sport in all honesty.
“People who want to try and develop their career and develop a style of play might be more inclined to go somewhere like Finland.”
But Coffey has seen a chance to thrive as an unusual type of footballer in the Veikkausliiga.
“I’ve been kicked and pulled around by men in England, whereas in Sweden and Finland, the lads that I’m playing against are quite young,” he said.
“Technically, they’re very good players, but I feel like I’ve got a bit of an edge in terms of physicality and aggression.
“There are many good players in England, but I just don’t think a lot of them want to make the step or they’re quite comfortable living in England and maybe working and playing part-time,” he added.
The 12 Veikkausliiga players
AC Oulu: Ashley Coffey (from England), Calum Ward (England), Danny Barrow (Wales), Jake Dunwoody (Northern Ireland)
FC Haka: Imani Lanquedoc (England), Liam Hughes (Northern Ireland)
HJK Helsinki: Brooklyn Lyons-Foster (England), Lee Erwin (Scotland), Luke Plange (England)
IFK Mariehamn: Jayden Reid (England)
SJK Seinajoki: Lewis Strapp (Scotland)
VPS Vaasa: Alfie Cicale (England)
