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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

. He earned 30 caps for the

Finland national football team The Finland national football team (, ) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team ...

and was a member of the Finland squad at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

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

Career

Halme started his career in the

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 ...

working class side Jyry, playing in the

Finnish Workers' Sports Federation The Finnish Workers' Sports Federation (, ''TUL'', , ''AIF'') is a Finland, Finnish amateur sports organization founded in 1919. In addition to the competitive sports, TUL focuses on youth activities and youth education as well as offering activit ...

(TUL) Championship series. Due to the 1918

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, 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

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, although the

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TUL had forbid its athletes to participate in the games of the Communist Red Sports International. All athletes who competed at the Spartakiad were dismissed from 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 Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...

, which made him eligible for the national team. Halme debuted for Finland against

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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 Men's association football goalkeepers Finnish men's footballers Finland men's international footballers Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Finland Mestaruussarja players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players 20th-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-footy-goalkeeper-stub