Wednesday 11th June 2025 ko 18:00

Estonian “Tipner” Cup Round of 64

JK TALLINNA KALEV u21 6 (Lasn 28 Väjlas 60 Kirss 69 Oja 78 Tammepöld 80 81)

RL VANA HEA PUUR 0

Att 27 at Sportland Arena, Lilleküla Football Complex, Tallinn

Free Entry

We’d made good use of the Ühiskaart public transport cards. A combination of tram and bus had taken us roughly 6km north of Tallinn centre to the TV Tower in the village of Pirita. It was a fascinating place, built in 1980 to relay footage of the sailing competition of the Moscow Olympics based nearby!

The tower is 313 metres tall with the observation deck at 170 metres. The tower became something of a cause celebre in 1991. A day after the beginning of the putsch against Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow on 19th August the Estonian Supreme Council decided to secede from the USSR and declare Estonian independance. The tower was used to broadcast the news, and soon drew the attention of the Soviet government.

Two days later Soviet military units attempted to seize the tower and stop transmissions. The technicians at the top of the tower blocked the lifts by jamming matchboxes in the door frames, so the doors couldn’t close. That gave the soldiers over 1000 steps to get to the top with added threat of the tower’s oxygen-extraction system fire-fighting being deployed which would have asphyxiated both the soldiers in the stairwell and the technicians alike. The soldiers retreated and in any case the revolt failed on the 22nd August. I’d advise anyone visiting to pause at the monument to the technicians and reflect.

We actually had two attempts at visiting the tower, the first try saw the low cloud obscure the view, so it was fortunate that the tower operates a clear weather guarantee, so our tickets could be reused the next day!

The evening’s entertainment couldn’t have been much more convenient, Lilleküla is just one stop by train from our base at Balti Jaam just before the route divides- one fork to Narva the other to Tartu. The only minor issue was that neither the Tallinn Card nor the Ühiskaart is valid on the trains. Fortunately the ticket inspector understood it was a honest mistake, and sold us two singles each, for around €1.40 each way.

Its about a 10 minute walk from Kitseküla railway station to the Lilleküla Stadium known at the moment as the A. Le Coq Arena for sponsorship reasons. In case you were wondering, no that isn’t where the infamous “One team in Tallinn” game took place in 1996. If you’d forgotten Scotland were in Tallinn for a World Cup qualifying game with Estonia but the match was abandoned after three seconds because the Estonian team were absent due to a dispute over the stadium’s floodlights. That game “took place” at the Kadrioru Stadium which is still in use, but national games moved to the Lilleküla Stadium in 2000.

The Lilleküla Stadium consists of far more than just the main stadium. The issue with it is that the capacity of 14,336 is far too big for the vast majority of clubs such as Flora Tallinn would want to use it. So as part of the complex there’s 3 other grounds that regularly stage games. In reverse order of size there’s the Lilleküla Training Ground, then the Nike Arena with its bleachers and the oddity (to British eyes anyway) the Sportland Arena, with its view of the main stadium.

It’s odd because there’s a pitch length seated stand housing 1,198 but no other spectator access. There are no toilets, turnstiles or catering either and the players change in the main stadium and walk across. Nevertheless the Sportland gets used for top flight games by the likes of Flora, Levadia, Tallinna Kalev and Nõmme United in the winter and early spring months. Part of the reason is down to its artificial turf surface and under-soil heating, but part is due to Estonian football’s low attendances, hundreds rather than over a thousand are typical.

To that end, during the 2022 season the Sportland Arena hosted 51 Premium Liiga matches meaning 28% of the whole league campaign was played here. It seems if you’re a groundhopper, and you’re in Tallinn there’s a very high chance you’ll end up at the Sportland.

The game was interesting. You wouldn’t see an under-21 side (albeit one whose adult team plays in the top flight) play in the FA Cup, but here they were matched with a 6th (bottom) division side who play their home games on the side pitch at JK Tartu’s Tamme Stadium. And the amateurs fought with every fibre but as they tired the young professionals picked them off with increasing frequency, but it was clear that the visitors enjoyed the challenge. It was a shame so few people bothered to come and watch.