Karl Viljo Halme (24 January 1907 – 21 October 1981) was a Finnish football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. He earned 30 caps for the

Finland national football team The Finland national football team ( fi, Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, sv, Finlands fotbollslandslag) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body ...

and was a member of the Finland squad at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad ( German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi- ...

. Halme is considered one of the all-time best goalkeepers of Finland.

Career

Halme started his career in the

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

working class side Jyry, playing in the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation (TUL) Championship series. Due to the 1918

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

, Finnish football was divided, TUL and the Finnish Football Association (SPL) had their own leagues and the national team was composed of SPL players only. Halme represented the TUL football team at the 1928 Summer Spartakiad in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, although the

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

TUL had forbid its athletes to participate the games of the Communist Red Sports International. All athletes who competed at the Spartakiad were dismissed form TUL, and Halme was left without a team. In 1931, Halme switched to the ″bourgeoisie″

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...

, which made him eligible for the national team. Halme debuted for Finland against Sweden in October 1932. In the Finland squad at the 1936 Summer Olympics, Halme was one of the eight former TUL players who had defected to the Finnish Football Association's side.

Club honours

* Finnish Workers' Sports Federation Championship: 1927

References

1907 births 1981 deaths Footballers from Helsinki Association football goalkeepers Finnish footballers Finland international footballers Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Finland Mestaruussarja players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players 20th-century Finnish people {{Finland-footy-goalkeeper-stub