Helsingin Ponnistus
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| Full name | Helsingin Ponnistus |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Ponnistus, Ponnarit, Telakka(the dock), Ponteva(vigorous) |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Ground |
Töölön Pallokenttä, Helsinki, Finland |
| Capacity | 4,000 |
| Chairman |
 Riitta Hanganpää |
| Coach |
Timo Valtonen Matti Hartikainen |
| League | Kolmonen |
Helsingin Ponnistus (abbreviated Ponnistus) is a football club from Helsinki, Finland. The club was formed in 1887 making it the oldest football club in Finland. The men's first team currently plays in the Kolmonen (Third Division) and their home ground is at the Töölön Pallokenttä.
The sports club was founded on 6 September 1887 by Viktor Damm (1864–1944) supported by 5 other young men. In its early days the club specialised in gymnastics and athletics. Nowadays football is the main sport.
The club has also been playing bandy. It was the runner-up for the bandy championship of the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation in 1948.
Ponnistus have had a variable degree of success in the Finnish football league and have participated in all four top tiers of Finnish football since the war years. The club have played in the Mestaruussarja, which was then the top tier of Finnish football on 4 separate occasions in 1948, 1968, 1973 and as recently as 1995 in the Veikkausliiga. Each time their stay was short-lived and they were relegated back to the second tier at the end of the season.
Ponnistus have played 28 seasons covering seven periods in the Ykkönen or Suomensarja (First Division), the second tier of Finnish football in the years 1949–55, 1958–63, 1965–67, 1969–72, 1974–77, 1993–94 and 1996–97. They also have had four spells covering 21 seasons in the third tier, the Kakkonen (Second Division), in 1978–83, 1985–92, 1998–2002 and 2005–06.
In 1995, Ponnistus won the final of Työväen Urheiluliiton Cup (Workers' Sports Federation Cup) for the first time in their history.
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