Away The Lads: The Finnished Article

As a Sunderland fan he has seen his team perform miracles but as a footballer he has experienced it like no other.

Matias Hanninen from Finland is an avid Black Cat fan who knows exactly what it’s like to be a fan off the pitch and a player on it.

Growing up in Helsinki, Matias has always been a huge football fan but it wasn’t until 1997 when he was six years old that Sunderland came into his life, thanks to a friend named Subway Jones.

“I started following Sunderland after my teammate, Subway Jones, mentioned them in relation to our local team FC Kontu, who he nicknamed Kontu Sunderland. After that I started following the club and in 1999 I got my first kit” said Matias.

“Finnish television didn’t show the Premier League games and I didn’t have a computer so I followed them on Teletext. Saturday was always my favourite day because it was the football pools day and I always had a little bet with my dad that Sunderland would win.

“I always remember seeing Kevin Phillips’ name pop up on Teletext, he was my real hero.”
As a footballer himself, Matias plays for HIFK in his native homeland and in a remarkable underdog story his team were promoted from the third tier of Finnish football to the Veikkuasliiga in under three years.

Speaking about the experience Matias said: “At first I was just enjoying playing football with my friends in the lower leagues and suddenly we were in the second highest tier of Finnish football.

“I played for free during that season as the club was very poor and in the biggest surprise of Finnish football we were promoted into the Premier League of Finland. It was sensational and we are still in the top division now.

“Looking back the 2014 season was my best season to date, I played as a left back and scored six goals and was the one of the best left backs in the league. I never thought that my skills would be good enough but I guess nothing is impossible.

“I believe I will play for the Finnish national team one day and my big dream is to see Sunderland win the Premier League but first we have to develop into a bigger and more balanced club.”