FC Santa Claus
FC Santa Claus is a football club from Rovaniemi, Finland that currently plays in the Nelonen, the sixth tier of the Finnish football league system. The club has played as high as the third tier, Kakkonen, where they have played a total of 14 seasons. They were nearly promoted to the second-tier, Ykkönen, but lost their promotion playoff match to HIFK in 2010. The club plays at the Saarenkylän Stadion. Previously, they played at the Keskuskenttä Stadium, which seats 4,000 spectators, of which 2,800 are covered. They shared that stadium with Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS), who played in the top tier Veikkausliiga, until their relegation at the end of the 2020 season.
| Full name | FC Santa Claus | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Santa | ||
| Founded | 1992 (as FC Santa Claus Rovaniemi) 2012 (re-founded as FC Santa Claus Arctic Circle) 2021 (third edition as FC Santa Claus) | ||
| Ground | Saarenkylän Stadion, Rovaniemi, Finland | ||
| Chairman | Juha Eteläinen | ||
| Coach | Santtu Pätäri | ||
| League | Nelonen | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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The club was formed as FC Santa Claus Rovaniemi in 1992, through the merger of Rovaniemen Reipas and Rovaniemen Lappi. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2012, the club was re-formed as a new entity under the name FC Santa Claus Arctic Circle. In 2021, the youth club re-founded a senior men's side, as simply FC Santa Claus, following the club's disbanding following the 2019 season.