Sedu Koskinen’s empire of night-time entertainment replaces Valkeakoski’s storied paper mill as Haka’s prime source of funding. Whether this will translate into success on the pitch remains to be seen.

Restaurateur Sedu Koskinen's attempts to glamourise Veikkausliiga stalwarts Haka looks trickier than he'd expected it to be.

Since Haka were taken over by SK-Ravintolat owner Sedu Koskinen, the town of Valkeakoski has found that most of it's night-time entertainment will contribute to the upkeep of the football club via the new Koski ravintolat company.

The closure of Dolly's and Angels, the town's well-loved Irish pub, to be replaced by a bar open only on Fridays and Saturdays, has not impressed the workers at one of the few non-Koski Ravintolat watering holes the town has left.

“Yes, irkkubaari [Irish bar] was a nice place, but Sedu didn't want it,” said the girl behind the counter at Mama's Cafe. “He has bought everything round here.”

Sedu's vision for the new Haka even extends to a renovated Pavilion, within the ground, that looked a little sad during the pre-match build-up for the Haka-Honka game. Haka coach Olli Huttunen came to speak to the assembled guests, but the customers only just outnumbered the Haka board of directors at their centre table.

White Linen

This table, the only one in the room to be adorned with white linen, was also joined by chat show host and long-time Haka fan Arto Nyberg, doing his best to fulfil Sedu's ambition of bringing celebrities to Valkeakoski as a PR tool.

As the PA crackled and eventually gave up the ghost, and the crowd slowly filtered into Tehtaan Kenttä (or ‘factory pitch’, in honour of the paper mill at one end of the ground that funded the club before the money dried up and Sedu stepped in), thoughts inevitably turned to the contrast between the visitors and the home team.

Honka play a passing game with a lot of pace, and have a young side, with a solitary, quality foreigner: 20 year old Gambian Demba Savage. Haka have several foreign players on their books, but they have been under-utilised, with Argentinian centre back Diego Corpache the only one to take part in the Honka match.

Abdullah Ishika is to return to action soon, but it remains to be seen whether coach Huttunen will put him into the team, as confusion reigns over who actually signed Ishika, Cherno Samba and Brian Gilmour.

Foreign Legion

They arrived late last season as the first wave of Sedu's foreign legion who were intended to inject glamour into proceedings. As that dream dies, Sedu has been in the press again proclaiming that he will bring Haka the best foreigner ever to play Veikkausliiga football. After three days that story was put on the back burner as the Argentinian target was dumped in favour of Zambian starlet Given Singuluma.

Whatever happens with Haka's transfer targets, wherever the newly purchased, Haka-logo festooned golf carts end up, the success or failure of Sedu Koskinen's venture 'back home' in Häme will depend on his team's performance. On the evidence of the Honka match they have a lot of work to do, as Haka's disjointed build-up and leaden attack repeatedly failed to break down Honka.

Although they scrambled an equaliser late on, the scorer was Jani Bäckman, on loan from the Espoo side, and it was clear that Honka will be much closer to the championship than Haka this season. As for the Sedu show, that will involve more celebrities, more golf carts, more of everything in this gruff little factory town as the season progresses. A crowd of just 1,166 indicates that the jury is still out.

Egan Richardson
Lehtikuva - Jussi Nukari