Finland was part of the Russian Empire and achieved independence after the October Revolution of 1917. The events we look at here therefore took place in The Grand Duchy of Finland, which was ruled by the Tsar of Russia.
Unsurprisingly football was introduced to the region by the English, sailors playing in Turku in the 1890s. British workers such as George Wylie Easton (Scotland) also helped to develop the club game.
Unitas (Helsinki) was founded in 1905. They played in the first-ever public football match in Finland, against Amateur-Sportverein (aka Sport) from Saint Petersburg, Russia on September 9th 1906.
Sport won 3-0. The above picture reputedly shows the return match in St Petersburg
The following month Unitas arranged a tournament for Finnish clubs.
In 1908 a national championship was held, Five teams entered, four of them from Helsinki, Unitas beating Polytechnics Sports Club (PUS) 4-1 in the final.
