Santa Claus has a team – AS.com

For

Whether it is December 25th as if one goes on August 15, it doesn’t matter –except for the temperatures, the options to see an aurora borealis and the prices–, there is a place in the world where every day is Christmas. With its town of Santa Claus –Joulupukki, as it is known in such latitudes–, whom we can visit and greet, some cute bungalows like a hotel each with its fir tree on the porch, an endless store full of everything imaginable for these Holidays, and even with the line that delimits the Arctic Circle. And also with a football clubPerhaps the only one that has more fans around the planet than in his own country.

Its about FC Santa Claus, the most Christmas football team in the world, whose headquarters is based on Rovaniemi, the Finnish city that marks the beginning of Lapland, through which that imaginary line passes where the sun (and the night) reaches 24 hours in a row and, above all, the one that is considered Santa’s house. Or santa claus. All the employees of this humble but famous club that, obviously, wears red and white work for him. AS has chatted with its main protagonists. “The Christmas spirit is in our hearts every day, For a reason we have been chosen for five years as the happiest country in the world”, Underlines Juha Eteläinen, spokesman for the club.

Although, for elections, the name of the club, which was given in 1992 when the Rovaniemi Reipas and the Rovaniemi Lappi were merged, “And they decided that FC Santa Claus was the most appropriate.” “Of course,” Eteläinen jokes. they also consulted him to the”. Very soon in 1993, they were presented with the option of move up to the first division, which disappeared, as in 2010. On the other hand, its major milestones include the The Midnight Sun Cup (or Cup of the Midnight Sun) from 1994 and the friendlies that played against Crystal Palace (in 1997) and Nottingham Forest (1998).

“The football situation in Finland is tough, lack of funding because there are not enough sponsors, spectators or support ”, he analyzes Ralf Wunderluch, coach of the 14 teams that make up the training structure of FC Santa Claus, from youth, and also the women, from the first team. A position that this former German footballer who set foot in the country for the first time on an Erasmus, 14 years ago, was proposed in the spring of 2020, in the midst of a pandemic.

“The Juniors – that’s what this whole structure is called – has stable finances. Our motto is ‘Santa approves it’So if we have any questions, we ask him, ”Wunderluch agrees. And third Eteläinen, on the first team: “In terms of sponsorships, we have kept silent due to the scourge of COVID but here We always say ‘don’t stop believing’ so soon there will be surprises“, let it fall. One step further goes another fundamental actor, the president of Juniorit, Jose Hiltunen: “Our goal is to grow and become the biggest club in Lapland”.

The first team counts, currently playing in the Finnish sixth division, with footballers who they combine sports with studies, with work –Many related to tourism– and that come from Brazil, Argentina, Austria, Romania, Albania … And from Spain. It is the case of Jesus Vicente de Vera, who after playing in the Spanish Third and finishing his studies in Health and Sports Sciences decided to live a new experience and improve his English.

He landed at the end of September this year in Rovaniemi, he works as an ‘au pair’ with a family and it was precisely because of them that he learned of the existence of FC Santa Claus: “The child I am taking care of plays in the lower categories, and they invited me to join their senior team at some training”. “The level would be equivalent to that of a Spanish First Regional. It does not stop being an ‘amateur’ team in order to enjoy and have a good time”, He clarifies.

And they have to do it, yes, over an intense cold. “Our milestone in winter is a tournament that we play on snow, one meter thick and minus 30 degrees”Explains Hiltunen, the president. “Temperature is not a problem for training, since we have closed pavilions”, Vicente de Vera intervenes. But not everything are advantages.

“In Lapland, in addition to the cold and the lack of light, there are huge distances between cities, which prevents playing leagues in winter“, Wunderlich narrates,” so if in Germany the preseason lasted six weeks, here are six months”. “It is quite a challenge to keep the players happy and stimulated for so long,” he admits. And the Spanish player supports him: “It is difficult to find motivation when you know there are many months left for a match official, so they try to make the workouts as enjoyable and dynamic as possible. The biggest handicap is getting a decent number of players for each training session ”, he reveals.

“I have realized that it is a friendly club, which falls well in the city”, Points out Jesús Vicente de Vera, who values ​​how“advertising events and social purposes that take place together with Santa Claus are common”. “We want to be friends from all over the world“, Says the president, Jose Hiltunen, to which the coach Ralf Wunderlich culminates:” Our support of fans is not in Finland, but around the world. Is wonderful to be a universal club and spread the magic of Christmas every day”.