- Mestaruussarja
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Mestaruussarja (Championship series) was the top division of Finnish football from 1930 to 1989. It was replaced by Veikkausliiga in 1990.
In 1930 league format was used for the first time to decide Finnish champion. Before that from 1908 to 1929 the championship was decided with cup competition. The league was dominated by clubs from Helsinki, Turku and Vyborg. The first champion was HIFK from Helsinki. In 1935 four best clubs were from Helsinki and in 1934 and 1936 top three clubs also came from Helsinki. From 1908 to 1940 the championship went outside of Helsinki on only six occasions. Kuopio was the first inland city to get into the league when Pallotoverit were promoted in 1938. During World War I years the league was sometimes cut short, abandoned or decided with cup competition instead. In 1940s TUL clubs also participated.
The last Mestaruussarja season was 1989 and FC Kuusysi was crowned as the last champions. The new top level division was at first called SM-liiga and later renamed as Veikkausliiga.
Mestaruussarja consisted of 8 clubs when it was founded. It was later expanded to ten and at the time of dissolution league had 12 clubs. The league's popularity peaked in 1960s. Ten HJK matches between 1964 and 1969 had more than 10,000 spectators. The highest attendance was 17,293 between HJK and FC Haka in 1965. Highest average attendance was 3,071 in 1967, a figure that is yet to be beaten by current Veikkausliiga.
Champions
Top scorers
Season Player Club Goals 1930 Holger Salin HIFK 9 Olof Strömsten KIF 1931 Holger Salin HIFK 11 1932 Lauri Lehtinen TPS 13 1933 Olof Strömsten HIFK 18 1934 Olof Strömsten HIFK 15 1935 Aatos Lehtonen HJK 13 Nuutti Lintamo VPS 1936 Aatos Lehtonen HJK 14 1937 Aatos Lehtonen HJK 25 1938 Aatos Lehtonen HJK 14 1939 Aatos Lehtonen HJK 15 1941 Jussi Valtonen TPS 14 1944 Urho Teräs TPS 9 Leo Turunen Sudet 1948 Stig-Göran Myntti VIFK 15 1949 Yrjö Asikainen Ilves-Kissat 20 Kaimo Lintamo VPS 1950 Yrjö Asikainen Ilves-Kissat 15 Jorma Saarinen VPS 1951 Åke Forsberg KIF 16 1952 Mauri Vanhanen KTP 16 1953 Rainer Forss Pyrkivä 15 1954 Eino Koskinen TuTo 16 1955 Yrjö Asikainen KIF 12 1956 Pentti Styck HJK 20 1957 Matti Sundelin TPS 21 1958 Kalevi Lehtovirta TPS 17 Kai Pahlman HPS 1959 Matti Sundelin TPS 21 1960 Matti Sundelin TPS 30 1961 Kai Pahlman HPS 20 1962 Tor Österlund HIK 22 1963 Juha Lyytikäinen HIFK 16 1964 Arto Tolsa KTP 26 1965 Kai Pahlman HJK 22 1966 Markku Hyvärinen KuPS 16 1967 Tommy Lindholm TPS 22 1968 Tommy Lindholm TPS 23 1969 Hannu Lamberg KPV 18 Pekka Talaslahti HJK 1970 Matti Paatelainen HIFK 20 1971 Pentti Toivola MP 17 1972 Matti Paatelainen HIFK 16 Heikki Suhonen TPS 1973 Hannu Lamberg KPV 13 1974 Erkki Salo TPS 17 1975 Reijo Rantanen MiPK 16 1976 Matti Paatelainen Haka 17 1977 Matti Paatelainen Haka 20 1978 Atik Ismail HJK 20 1979 Atik Ismail HJK 15 Heikki Suhonen TPS 1980 Hannu Rajaniemi Sepsi-78 19 1981 Juhani Himanka OPS 22 1982 Atik Ismail HJK 19 1983 Mika Lipponen TPS 22 1984 Mika Lipponen TPS 25 1985 Ismo Lius Kuusysi 19 1986 Ismo Lius Kuusysi 13 Jari Niinimäki Ilves 1987 Ari Hjelm Ilves 20 1988 Ismo Lius Kuusysi 22 1989 Ismo Lius Kuusysi 15 External links
Categories:- Football competitions in Finland
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