It has certainly been a year for the football underdog.
Leicester City stunned the world by surging to a remarkable maiden Premier League title last May, before Iceland made it to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 in their first appearance at a major international tournament and Wales went one better to reach the final four.
Finland s IFK Mariehamn winning the Veikkausliiga for the first time in their history may not appear to be on a par with those achievements, but theirs is a story undoubtedly worthy of similar, if not greater, recognition.
Finland s former Barcelona and Liverpool midfielder Jari Litmanen branded Mariehamn the Finnish Leicester for the triumph they completed last Sunday. It is a tag that club chairman Robert Soderdahl accepts, but he feels his side had additional challenges to overcome.
We can be happy with that title [the Finnish Leicester] but we also have to say there are a lot of big differences between Leicester and us, Soderdahl told Omnisport. They are still a big club with a lot of money, but if you look at the surprise factor – yes, I think we are very similar in that sense.
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The doubts Soderdahl has in the comparison primarily lie in the fact Mariehamn, who just 13 years ago plied their trade in the third tier, are based on the Aland Islands, an archipelago located in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden and inhabited by just 29,000 people.
Despite the restricted fanbase to draw upon, there were over 4,500 supporters in attendance at their Wiklof Holding Arena when they wrapped up a maiden championship at home to Ilves, Brazilian Diego Assis striking in the 75th minute to wipe out Tuure Siira s first-half equaliser for the visitors and earn a 2-1 win.
When they equalised everything got a bit more nervous and they are a good side, Ilves, so that moment when Diego for a second I thought he was going to hit it over the bar from half a metre, so when it went in it was a beautiful feeling, recalled Soderdahl, himself a native of the Aland Islands who can understand exactly what the title means for the region.
It s been quite a journey. If you look back, Mariehamn for many, many years played in the lower divisions, they were in the first division in 1977 and 78 but that was a long way ago. For every islander it means a lot. It s something that can we can all be proud of, that we are proud of, something that is now talked about all over the world, actually. It puts our little place on the map.
Underpinning the club s success is a symbiotic relationship with the island s remote public.
After turning professional in 2009, Mariehamn were able to count on the support of local business leaders, who provided leadership training to the coaches, with the programme later rolled out to key players and the remainder of the squad. Furthermore, volunteers contributed their time to help erect temporary seating at the Wiklof Holding Arena to enable a record attendance to watch the season-defining clash against Ilves.
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