Tampereen-Viipurin Ilves-Kissat


Tampereen-Viipurin Ilves-Kissat is a Finnish football club from Tampere. The club plays in Group B1 of Vitonen, the seventh tier of Finnish football. As of 2025, the club has 269 registered players.

History

The club was originally founded as Urheilu-Pojat in Viipuri in the year 1932. The name of the club was changed to Viipurin Ilves in 1934 and as a result of the Winter War, the club was relocated to Tampere in 1940. However, there was a club called Ilves in Tampere, so the club had to change its name to Ilves-Kissat in December of 1944.
Ilves-Kissat were promoted to the Mestaruussarja, the top flight of Finnish football, for the 1949 season and were champions in 1950. The club was relegated in 1951. In 1970 Ilves-Kissat became the first club in Tampere to play in a European tournament when they played against Sturm Graz as a part of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
In 1974 Ilves-Kissat and Tampellan Palloilijat merged with Ilves Tampere, which became fully involved in football. Ilves-Kissat discontinued its activities in the sport but on the lower tiers of Finnish football the club was, in a way, represented by its sister club called Kissalan Pojat.
Ilves-Kissat guild was founded in 1975 to preserve the clubs roots in Viipuri and the guild has arranged trips to Viipuri after the fall of the Soviet Union. In the autumn of 1986 former players and supporters of Ilves-Kissat decided to re-establish the club and Ilves-Kissat started playing in the lower divisions of Finnish football.
In the autumn of 2004 with the clubs football team in the 6th Division, the management of the club decided to make a push for higher tiers and in the autumn of 2010 the club achieved promotion to Kakkonen, the third tier of Finnish football. For the 2011 season Ilves-Kissat entered an arrangement whereby they became the farm team for FC Haka of Valkeakoski, but the season ended with relegation to the 3rd Division.
After the 2023 season in Kakkonen, reports about the clubs financial troubles emerged. The club had to get 18 000 € in under two weeks of the announcement and ultimately failed in achieving that. However, Ukrainian Pavlo Ostrenko decided to acquire the club and saved the club from bankruptcy. Ilves-Kissat played the 2024 season in Kakkonen and was relegated to Kolmonen at the end of the season.
During the 2024 season suspicions about the club being involved in match fixing started to appear. After a risk assessment by the Finnish national gambling company Veikkaus, the company decided not to allow gambling on games where Ilves-Kissat was playing. The possible match fixing committed by the club has been evaluated to be up to millions of euros. After the relegation from Kakkonen, the owner of the club Pavlo Ostrenko decided to stop funding the club and ceased the clubs first teams operations. After 2024, the club is mainly focused on junior football but it also has an amateur team in Vitonen which is the seventh tier of football in Finland.

Season to season

SeasonLevelDivisionSectionAdministrationPositionMovements
1936Tier 3Maakuntasarja EastFinnish FA 'Promotion Playoff
1937Tier 3Maakuntasarja 'EastFinnish FA '
1938Tier 2Itä-Länsi-Sarja 'East League, Southern GroupFinnish FA '2nd
1939Tier 2Itä-Länsi-Sarja 'East League, Southern GroupFinnish FA '3rd
1940-1944Wartime - No participation
1945Tier 2SPL Suomensarja 'Groub BFinnish FA '3rdFirst season in Tampere - Relegated
1945-46Tier 3Maakuntasarja 'Häme GroupFinnish FA '1stPromotion Playoff - Promoted
1946-47Tier 2SPL Suomensarja 'South GroupFinnish FA '5th
1947-48Tier 2SPL Suomensarja 'North GroupFinnish FA '2ndPromotion Group 3rd
1948Tier 2Suomensarja 'South GroupFinnish FA '1stPromoted
1949Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '7th
1950Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '1stChampions
1951Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '10thRelegated
1952Tier 2Suomensarja 'West GroupFinnish FA '10thRelegated
1953Tier 3Maakuntasarja 'West Group BFinnish FA '1stPromotion Group West 2nd - Promoted
1954Tier 2Suomensarja 'East GroupFinnish FA '2nd
1955Tier 2Suomensarja 'West GroupFinnish FA '1stPromoted
1956Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '4th
1957Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '5th
1958Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '8thRelegation Playoff - Relegated
1959Tier 2Suomensarja 'West GroupFinnish FA '4th
1960Tier 2Suomensarja 'North GroupFinnish FA '6th
1961Tier 2Suomensarja 'West GroupFinnish FA '7th
1962Tier 2Suomensarja 'West GroupFinnish FA '2nd
1963Tier 2Suomensarja 'West GroupFinnish FA '1stPromoted
1964Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '7th
1965Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '7th
1966Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '8th
1967Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '12thRelegated
1968Tier 2Suomensarja 'South GroupFinnish FA '1stPromotion Group 2nd - Promoted
1969Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '6th
1970Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '10th
1971Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '14thRelegated
1972Tier 2Suomensarja 'West GroupFinnish FA '1stPromoted
1973Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '10th
1974Tier 1Mestaruussarja 'Finnish FA '12thRelegated
1975-86Merged with TaPa
1987Tier 4III Divisioona 'Group 5 - Tampere & Central FinlandTampere District '6th
1988Tier 4III Divisioona 'Group 4 - Tampere & SatakuntaTampere District '9th
1989Tier 4III Divisioona 'Group 5 - Tampere & Central FinlandTampere District '9th
1990Tier 4III Divisioona 'Group 5 - Tampere & Central FinlandTampere District '6th
1991Tier 4III Divisioona 'Group 5 - Tampere & Central FinlandTampere District '12th
1992Tampere District 'Unknown
1993Tampere District 'Unknown
1994Tier 8Seiska 'Tampere District '8th
1995Tampere District 'Unknown
1996Tampere District 'Unknown
1997Tier 6Vitonen 'North GroupTampere District '9th
1998Tier 6Vitonen 'Tampere District '11th
1999Tampere District 'Unknown
2000Tampere District 'Unknown
2001Tier 7Kutonen 'Group 2Tampere District '6th
2002Tier 7Kutonen 'Group 2Tampere District '10th
2003Tampere District 'Unknown
2004Tier 7Kutonen Group 2Tampere District '1stPromoted
2005Tier 6Vitonen 'South GroupTampere District '8th
2006Tier 6Vitonen 'North GroupTampere District '5th
2007Tier 6Vitonen 'Group 3Tampere District '1stPromoted
2008Tier 5Nelonen 'Tampere District '2ndPromoted
2009Tier 4Kolmonen 'Tampere District '3rd
2010Tier 4Kolmonen 'Tampere District '1stPromotion Playoff - Promoted
2011Tier 3Kakkonen 'Group BFinnish FA '11thRelegated
2012Tier 4Kolmonen 'Tampere & SatakuntaTampere District '3rd
2013Tier 4Kolmonen 'Tampere & SatakuntaTampere District '1stPromoted
2014Tier 3Kakkonen 'Western GroupFinnish FA '7th
2015Tier 3Kakkonen 'Southern GroupFinnish FA '9thRelegated
2016Tier 4Kolmonen 'Tampere & SatakuntaTampere District '2nd
2017Tier 4Kolmonen 'TampereTampere District '2nd
2018Tier 4Kolmonen 'TampereTampere District '3rd
2019Tier 4Kolmonen 'TampereTampere District '2nd
2020Tier 4Kolmonen 'Western Group BFinnish FA '1stPromotion Playoff - Promoted
2021Tier 3Kakkonen 'Group BFinnish FA '10th