Football Season Guide

Haka had a pretty average 2024 with only 10 wins in 22 rounds during the regular season. This was still enough for fifth place. Dropped to sixth in the play-offs. Then needed extra times to eliminate Inter Turku and penalties to defeat Gnistan in the Conference League play-off tournament. Unfortunately, failed to steal the last available visa for Europe as they lost the final 3:4 on aggregate against SJK. In what was Smith’s first year in charge Haka displayed toothless attack early in the season and shaky defending in the autumn. The team’s finances also suffered a major hit last summer when one of the main sponsors pulled out. With significantly reduced budget Haka were forced into a major overhaul this off-season. They parted ways with 16 players and almost the entire group of regular starters. Found 14 new players already but many of them are downgrades as Haka had to look for cheaper options. With so many changes the early months of the season can be challenging. Smith is already under pressure and only the fact he had to be paid a large compensation if sacked saw him save his job at the end of 2024. He will need good results early. However, he is yet to figure out his best line-up, used 7 different starting XIs and 4 different formations in the 7 pre-season matches played, must make him nervous. Haka’s owners also put the club for sale in March so this situation will need to be monitored closely as the year progresses. No buyer could mean further budget cuts, new rich owner could change the landscape completely though.