Finland's Bandy Association (Finnish: ''Suomen Jääpalloliitto'', Swedish: ''Finlands Bandyförbund'') is the governing body for the sport of bandy in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Bandy was one of the sports for which the Ball Association of Finland, founded in 1907, was created. The present Finnish Bandy Association was founded on 18 March 1972, to take over bandy from the Ball Association of Finland, which from then on concentrated on association football only.

History

Bandy came to Finland from

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in the 1890s. The first club was Viborgs Skridskoklubb in

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

, which was Finnish back then. At the

Nordic Games The Nordic Games were the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports, and were held at varying intervals between 1901 and 1926. It was organized by Sweden's Swedish Central Association for the Promotion of ...

held in Sweden in 1901 (a predecessor of the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

), bandy was included in the programme and in 1907, similar winter games were held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

and bandy was again included. Finland was represented by the club

Polyteknikkojen Urheiluseura Aalto University Sports Club, AaltoUS, (Finnish ''Aalto-yliopiston urheiluseura''), formerly known as ''Polyteknikkojen urheiluseura'' (‘Polytechnics Sports Club’) or PUS, is a Finnish sports club founded in Helsinki in 1903. The club was t ...

(PUS) at the 1907 games, but the winner of the competition was a combined team from Sweden, which defeated PUS as well as the team from St. Petersburg. The first Finnish Championships were played in 1908; in the finals, PUS beat Helsingin IFK 8-3. Bandy was the first team sport, for which a Finnish championship was created. Finland became independent in 1918 and

's first international as an independent country was against Sweden in 1919, which Finland won 4-1. The first game between two ladies' teams known to have been played in Finland was in March 1916, Åbo Simklubb vs Helsingfors Damhockeyklubb, 3-1. Finland was one of the founding members of the

Federation of International Bandy The Federation of International Bandy (FIB; french: Fédération internationale de bandy, russian: Международная федерация хоккея с мячом, sv, Internationella Bandyförbundet) is the international governing bo ...

in 1955 and in 1957 the very first

Bandy World Championship The Bandy World Championship is a competition between bandy-playing nations' men's teams. The tournament is administrated by the Federation of International Bandy. It is distinct from the Bandy World Cup, a club competition, and from the W ...

was held at the

Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium ( fi, Helsingin Olympiastadion; sv, Helsingfors Olympiastadion), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used ...

. In 2008 the Finnish bandy league, Bandyliiga, celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Presidents

* Erik Berner, 1972–1978 * Pentti Seppälä, 1978–1983 *

Mauno Forsman Mauno Veikko Forsman (1928-2006) was a Finnish politician (Social Democrat), Member of Parliament 1971-1983 He was a deputy Minister of Finance 1981–1982. From 1983 to 1987 he was the chairman of Finland's Bandy Association Finland's Bandy Asso ...

, 1983–1987 * Carl Gerhard Fogelberg, 1987–1992 * Michael Sandbacka, 1992–1996 * Risto Suves, 1996–1998 * Juha Hilmola, 1998–2008 * Topiantti Äikäs, 2008–

Domestic play

Finnish Championship

The Finnish bandy championship has been played annually since 1908. The winning team of the Bandyliiga play-off is named champion. There is also a Finnish Championship for women's teams.

Finnish Cup

The Bandy Association also arranges the

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...

. The first Finnish Cup was played in 1960.

National teams

* Men's team * Women's team

References

External links

Finnish Bandy Federation
Federation of International Bandy members Bandy governing bodies Bandy in Finland Bandy {{Finland-sport-stub