FC Santa Claus is a football club from Rovaniemi, Finland that currently plays in the Nelonen, the fifth tier of the Finnish football league system.[1] 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 in past years, which seats 4,000 spectators, of which 2,800 are covered,[2][3] which they shared with Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS),[4] who played in the top tier Veikkausliiga, until their relegation at the end of the 2020 season.
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.
The origin of the name stems from the legend that Rovaniemi, Finland, is the home town of Santa Claus.[5][6] They chose to use the English name of Santa Claus, as opposed to the Finnish translation Joulupukki, since English is the most commonly spoken language in the world, allowing for increased awareness of the club.[7] The club receives regular coverage from media outlets around the world, especially during the Christmas season.[8]
Despite playing in the lower divisions, the club has fans around the world due to the unique circumstances of their name.[9] FC Santa Claus developed a legend about how the club was formed that claimed that the club was founded by Santa's elves kicking a leather football in the snow, when they were not wrapping Christmas presents.[10] The club states that they had to ask permission from Santa to use his name, which was granted after Terho Iljin, the club's founder, made the request.[11] In addition, Santa Claus serves as their honorary coach[2] and he attends the team's first match of every season to launch their campaign and often shows up at games during the season as well.[9][12]
The club's colours are red and white, the colours of Santa Claus,[5] with their alternate kits being white and green, another Christmas themed colour.[13][14] Their motto is "Don't Stop Believing", referring to the belief of children in the legendary figure.[15] The club is heavily involved with multiple charities, including UNICEF, donating proceeds from their jersey sales to the charity.[16]
The players of the club are mostly made up of local students or workers, who are often involved with the local Christmas market and helping out at the local post office, which receives all of the Finnish letters to Santa,[17][18] although they have had professional and foreign players in the past. 2021 manager and head of the youth division, German-native Ralf Wunderlich, described FC Santa Claus as the second team of the city of Rovaniemi, with Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) being the more successful and competitive club, but supporting "the spirit of Christmas".[19][20]