Mestaruussarja (Championship series) was the top division of Finnish football from 1930 to 1989. It was replaced by Veikkausliiga in 1990.
In 1930 league format was used for the first time to decide the Finnish champion. Before that (1908-1929) the championship was decided by cup competition. The league was dominated by clubs from Helsinki, Turku and Vyborg. The first champion was HIFK Football from Helsinki. In 1935, the four best clubs were from Helsinki; and in 1934 and 1936 the top three clubs also came from Helsinki. From 1908 to 1940, the championship went outside Helsinki on only six occasions. Kuopio was the first inland city to get into the league when Pallotoverit were promoted in 1938. During World War II years the league was sometimes cut short, abandoned or decided with cup competition instead. In 1940s TUL clubs also participated.
The last Mestaruussarja season was 1989 and FC Kuusysi was crowned as the last champions. The new top level division was at first called SM-liiga and later renamed Veikkausliiga.
Mestaruussarja consisted of eight clubs when it was founded. It was later expanded to ten and at the time of dissolution league had 12 clubs. The league's popularity peaked in the 1960s. Ten HJK matches between 1964 and 1969 had more than 10,000 spectators. The highest attendance was 17,293 between HJK and FC Haka in 1965. The highest average attendance was 3,071 in 1967, a figure that is yet to be beaten by the current Veikkausliiga.
Champions
1930: HIFK 1931: HIFK 1932: HPS 1933: HIFK 1934: HPS 1935: HPS 1936: HJK 1937: HIFK 1938: HJK 1939: TPS 1940: Sudet 1941: TPS 1942: HT 1943: Not played due to World War II. 1944: VIFK 1945: VPS 1946: VIFK 1947: HIFK 1948: VPS 1949: TPS 1950: Ilves-Kissat 1951: KTP 1952: KTP 1953: VIFK 1954: Pyrkivä 1955: Kiffen 1956: KuPS 1957: HPS 1958: KuPS 1959: HIFK 1960: Haka 1961: HIFK 1962: Haka 1963: Reipas Lahti 1964: HJK 1965: Haka 1966: KuPS 1967: Reipas Lahti 1968: TPS 1969: KPV 1970: Reipas Lahti 1971: TPS 1972: TPS 1973: HJK 1974: KuPS 1975: TPS 1976: KuPS 1977: Haka 1978: HJK 1979: OPS 1980: OPS 1981: HJK 1982: Kuusysi 1983: Ilves 1984: Kuusysi 1985: HJK 1986: Kuusysi 1987: HJK 1988: HJK 1989: Kuusysi
Top scorers
SeasonPlayerClubGoals 1930 Holger Salin HIFK 9 Olof Strömsten Kiffen 1931 Holger Salin HIFK 11 1932 Lauri Lehtinen TPS 13 1933 Olof Strömsten HIFK 18 1934 Olof Strömsten HIFK 15 1935 Aatos Lehtonen HJK13 Nuutti Lintamo VPS 1936 Aatos Lehtonen HJK14 1937 Aatos Lehtonen HJK25 1938 Aatos Lehtonen HJK 14 1939 Aatos Lehtonen HJK 15 1941 Jussi Valtonen TPS 14 1944 Urho Teräs TPS 9 Leo Turunen Sudet 1948 Stig-Göran Myntti VIFK 15 1949 Yrjö Asikainen Ilves-Kissat20 Kaimo Lintamo VPS 1950 Yrjö Asikainen Ilves-Kissat15 Jorma Saarinen VPS 1951 Åke Forsberg Kiffen16 1952 Mauri Vanhanen KTP16 1953 Rainer Forss Pyrkivä15 1954 Eino Koskinen TuTo16 1955 Yrjö Asikainen Kiffen12 1956 Pentti Styck HJK20 1957 Matti Sundelin TPS 21 1958 Kalevi Lehtovirta TPS17 Kai Pahlman HPS 1959 Matti Sundelin TPS 21 1960 Matti Sundelin TPS 30 1961 Kai Pahlman HPS20 1962 Tor Österlund HIK22 1963 Juha Lyytikäinen HIFK16 1964 Arto Tolsa KTP26 1965 Kai Pahlman HJK22 1966 Markku Hyvärinen KuPS16 1967 Tommy Lindholm TPS22 1968 Tommy Lindholm TPS23 1969 Hannu Lamberg KPV18 Pekka Talaslahti HJK 1970 Matti Paatelainen HIFK20 1971 Pentti Toivola MP17 1972 Matti Paatelainen HIFK16 Heikki Suhonen TPS 1973 Hannu Lamberg KPV13 1974 Erkki Salo TPS17 1975 Reijo Rantanen MiPK16 1976 Matti Paatelainen Haka17 1977 Matti Paatelainen Haka20 1978 Atik Ismail HJK20 1979 Atik Ismail HJK15 Heikki Suhonen TPS 1980 Hannu Rajaniemi Sepsi-7819 1981 Juhani Himanka OPS22 1982 Atik Ismail HJK19 1983 Mika Lipponen TPS22 1984 Mika Lipponen TPS25 1985 Ismo Lius Kuusysi19 1986 Ismo Lius Kuusysi13 Jari Niinimäki Ilves 1987 Ari Hjelm Ilves20 1988 Ismo Lius Kuusysi22 1989 Ismo Lius Kuusysi15
External links Finland - List of League First Level Tables at RSSSF
References