FC Inter Turku

:"This article is about the football club from Turku, Finland. For the Milan football club, see Internazionale."

Football club infobox
clubname = FC Inter Turku


fullname = Football Club International Turku
nickname = "Sinimustat" ('Black and Blues')
founded = 1990
ground = Veritas Stadion, Kupittaa, Turku
capacity = 9,000
chairman = Stefan Håkans
manager = flagicon|Netherlands Job Dragtsma
league = Veikkausliiga
season = 2007
position = Veikkausliiga, 9th
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leftarm1=0000FF|body1=000000|rightarm1=0000FF|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=_whiteborder|pattern_b2=_whiteshoulders|pattern_ra2=_whiteborder
leftarm2=FF0000|body2=FF0000|rightarm2=FF0000|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

Football Club International Turku (commonly known as FC Inter or Inter Turku) is a football club based in Turku, Finland. It was founded in 1990, and has played in the "Veikkausliiga", the highest level of Finnish football since 1996. Together with TPS, it is one of the two teams from Turku playing in the "Veikkausliiga". The two teams also share their home venue at Veritas Stadion.

FC Inter's 'B team' is Sinimustat, which currently plays in the "Kakkonen", or the third level of football in Finland. FC Inter also operates 14 youth teams and a youth academy in association with the city of Turku.

History

FC Inter was founded in 1990 by Stefan Håkans, the managing director of the towage and salvage company Alfons Håkans, allegedly after his 11-year-old son couldn't fit into any of the other youth teams in Turku. The club started out as a youth team, but in 1992 a senior squad was founded and it entered the Finnish league system at the fourth level (Third Division). The following year, the club assumed the place of the financially troubled local club Turun Toverit in the Second Division. Manager Timo Sinkkonen invested in new players, and eventually the club finished first and was promoted to the First Division (Ykkönen).

In 1995, Inter finished first in the "Ykkönen" and was promoted, as well as reaching the semi-final stage in the Finnish Cup. The squad was strengthened with new players, and in 1996, as both of Turku's better teams were now playing in the "Veikkausliiga", the club's attendance records were broken with 8,200 spectators in the local derby between TPS and Inter.

In 1997, the club were relegated after finishing last in the "Veikkausliiga", but achieved promotion again the following season. New foreign players were bought to strengthen the squad, such as Richard Teberio and Fernando della Sala. Since then the club has consistently finished between 7th and 4th in the league, and maintained a steady inflow of foreign players as well as young starlets from its own youth academy.

During the 2006 season Inter sacked their manager Kari Virtanen and hired new coach, Dutch Rene van Eck. After the season van Eck returned to Switzerland to coach FC Wohlen, and another Dutchman Job Dragtsma took over.

Current squad

Records

* Best league position: 4th (2004)
* Most goals scored: Tero Forss, 74 goals (1993 - 2001)
* Most matches played: Petri Lehtonen, 227 matches (1993 - 2002)

Past managers

* Anders Romberg (1992)
* Timo Sinkkonen (1993 - 1994)
* Hannu Paatelo (1995 - 1997)
* Tomi Jalo (1997 - 1998)
* Steven Polack (1998)
* Timo Askolin (1999 - 2000)
* Pertti Lundell (2001 - 2002)
* Kari Virtanen (2003 - 2006)
* René van Eck (2006 - 2006)
* Job Dragtsma (2007 -

Notable former players

* Luciano Álvarez
* Marcel Mahouvé
* Serge N'Gal
* Ari Nyman
* Artim Sakiri
* Joakim Jensen
* Magnus Bahne
* Richard Teberio
* Aristides Pertot
* Steven Polack (1995-98)

External links

* [http://www.fcinter.com fcinter.com] - The club's official site.
* [http://ultraboyz.net/ UltraBoyz] - A supporters' club in Turkish.