The calendar spring has already arrived, but many matches still take place in the snow. For some clubs, playing in a snowstorm is commonplace. One of them is a unique «Santa Claus» from Finland.
The club is based in Rovaniemi, the business center of Lapland. In the same place, as you know, is the residence of Santa Claus. In 1993, according to legend, the leaders of the new team came to him with the question: «Can I name the club after you?» Grandpa approved.
«Santa-Klaus» performs at the four-thousand-seat arena and shares it with the RoPS team, which has won medals in the top division of the Finnish championship several times. «Santa» even has a principal rival — «Kolari» from Western Lapland. for tourists. The club spent most of its life in the third division of Finland, and once they were only one victory short of reaching the second league.
The club's connections with Santa are not limited to one name. Colors are red and white. And Santa's phrases often appear on different sets of uniforms. A year ago, the famous «Ho Ho Ho» flaunted on the away set.
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"The real Santa cheers for us and really worries if we lose. From time to time he is distracted from his business and comes to our home matches. He also helps us to participate in charity events,” said the head of the press service of “Santa Claus”.
The club has an official motto: «Never stop believing». The fans dreamed of the top flight, but the club was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. It got to the point that «Santa Claus» was closed due to financial problems.
World Champions in the lineup
The team was revived in 2021. The players had to be recruited on a new basis and entered into the semi-amateur sixth Finnish league. Now the club has managed to rise to the fifth division, but amateurs who have their main job continue to play for it. «/
The «Santa Claus» includes a policeman, a carpenter and a photographer. But the most interesting thing is that among the players several people work for Santa at once. A couple of football players help him receive letters from children and answer them.Several world champions in snow football play for the club at once. The guys were in the team that won the recent world championship, held just in Finland.
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"After the disbandment, we realized that being a big and successful club is not the most important thing for us. Now we consider ourselves a club that exists for entertainment. Our main football goal is to give practice to young local guys so that they can enjoy the game,” the team’s press officer explained.
So in the last couple of years the club has been working more on marketing than on the football component. The team has signed a sponsorship deal with a company from China, and attending a Santa Claus match is already considered a must for tourists visiting Lapland. It got to the point that even Alessandro Del Piero and Michael Owen were guests.
Probably, soon people will talk more about the unusual Finnish club. If «Santa Claus» develops correctly, then in terms of media coverage it will be able to bypass local clubs that have achieved great success on the football field.