Turku Stadium
Tuesday 1 July 2008
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Turku Stadium (©Football Association of Finland/Jussi Eskola)
Club: FC International Turku/FC TPS Turku
Capacity: 9,000 (expanded).
Matches: Four group matches, quarter-final
Distance from Helsinki: 150km
Population: 175,000
Website: www.turku.fi
The stadium
The Turku Stadium, home to both the city's top-flight clubs, was built to stage events at the 1952 Olympic games and revamped in 2003, in time for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Finland. A further 1,600 seats are being installed for UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™. The record crowd there is around 15,000 for a 1987 UEFA Cup tie between TPS and FC Internazionale Milano while local derbies involving the two Turku clubs regularly sell out.
The clubs
TPS are the older of the two clubs. Founded in 1922, they won the Finnish championship eight times, most recently in 1975, and lifted the Finnish Cup in 1991 and 1994. They also have a women's team in the top Finnish division. Inter, set up in 1990, reached the top division for the first time six years later and have become one of the strongest sides in the nation, taking their first league title in 2008.
The city
Turku is the oldest and fifth largest city in Finland with a population of around 175,000. A major port, it is the capital of the region of Finland Proper. At times it has been the largest Finnish city, capital until 1812, and was a major centre during the days of the Swedish Empire. The town continues to have a large Swedish population; appropriately that nation will play all their group games in Turku.
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