The Helsinki Wolverines are a Finnish

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

club based in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and was founded in 1995. The clubs Top Men's Team plays in the

Vaahteraliiga The Vaahteraliiga (Maple League) founded in 1980 is the highest level of American football in Finland played under American Football Association of Finland. The winner of the Vaahteraliiga is the Finnish champion. The Vaahteraliiga season is play ...

of the

American Football Association of Finland American Football Association of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Amerikkalaisen Jalkapallon Liitto, abbreviated SAJL) is the national governing body of American football in Finland. It was founded in 1979 and it is a founding member of the European Federa ...

which is the highest ranking level of

in all of Finland. The league in Finland was established in 1980.

History

Helsinki Wolverines was founded on 10 October 1995. The team played its first official game in 1996 season of 2nd Division, a third tier american football league in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, against the Lahti Jets. The first Wolverines team was mainly made up of former Helsinki Whips players and the first head coach was Jimmy Lawson. In five seasons Wolverines rose from 2nd Division to

, the top american football league in Finland. The Wolverines have strong rivalry with other teams from

: the

Roosters The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

and the 69ers. The Wolverines chose their colors, maize and blue, as an homage to the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Helsinki Wolverines took their only

(Maple League) title so far in 2011, when they beat

Seinäjoki Crocodiles The Seinäjoki Crocodiles are an American football team from Seinäjoki, Finland. The team plays in the Finnish Maple League and it has also played in the European Football League The European Football League (EFL) established in 1986, was a ...

Sonera Stadium Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in Finland, ...

in a close match by a score of 30–27. Stephen Stokes from Wolverines was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the final.

Club structure

Wolverines' Men's first team plays in

(Maple League), the premier league of

american football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

in Finland. Men's second team, Wolverines II, plays in 2nd Division, a third tier league. Men's third team plays in 4th Division, a fifth tier league. Wolverines also have 5 boys' youth teams: U20, U17, U15, U13 and U11. Women's first team was founded again in 2014 after years of inactivity. The team participates in Women's Finnish Championship Series (Maple League) and has recently won 4 consecutive titles in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The club also has two cheerleading teams.

Season by season

* denotes promotion
Updated as of season 2020.

References

External links

Official website

Helsinki Wolverines on FacebookHelsinki Wolverines on TwitterVaahteraliiga
{{Vaahteraliiga American football teams in Finland Sports clubs and teams in Helsinki 1995 establishments in Finland American football teams established in 1995 Vaahteraliiga teams

History

Club structure

Season by season

See also

References

External links