Eron Shuku arrived in Lahti four years ago. A Kosovon national, Shuku did not speak any Finnish and knew hardly anyone in the city.
"I went looking for a [football] team in Lahti and in nearby cities. I sent emails. Most of them didn't even reply," Shuku tells Yle.
After more than a year of searching, he heard from a friend about a team in Lahti set up by two immigrants.
"I heard that the team is international, and that all kinds of people are accepted no matter what your background, nationality or skill level. With English being the team's main language, I immediately thought, 'this is definitely my team'," he recalls.
Flamingo United was founded by Kazeem Busari and Khalil Berbache in 2022, and currently boasts 19 different nationalities among its players. This season marks Flamingo United's third since its establishment, and it has teams competing in the region's fifth and sixth divisions.
The club also plays futsal, or indoor football, during winter.
"We want to take the discipline and the coordination of Finnish football, and combine it with the passion of international football," Busari explains.
A total of 35 new clubs registered with the Finnish FA last year. In many of the new teams, more than half of the players have an immigrant background.
The importance of language
Khalil Berbache tells Yle that many immigrants to Finland want to find a football team where the main language used is English.
"When I played for Kuusysi Lahti, I had difficulties understanding all the instructions and the drills during training. It was very stressful at times," he says.
Said Elkass, who moved to Finland from Morocco twelve years ago, played for several different teams in Finland before joining Flamingo United.
"There are all kinds of flavours here. There are spices! That's why I thought I'd like to try this," Elkass says of joining Flamingo.
Elkass speaks six languages, but notes that communication is about so much more than just understanding and being understood.
Although the team's lingua franca is English, there are plenty of other languages to be heard on the pitch. Elkass says that it is particularly important for him to speak and to hear Arabic.
"You can't be yourself if you don't use your own language. It's the best when I can speak Arabic and have fun with my friends," he says.
Researcher: Finland needs international teams
Karl Hancock, the football coordinator with the Joensuu-based Jomoni multicultural association, runs weekly football training sessions in the city, which are attended by many immigrants.
He also conducts research at the University of Jyväskylä into the impact that football can have on the integration of immigrants.
Hancock tells Yle that the responsibility for integration lies not only with the individual, but also with the host society. It is up to the host society to learn and evolve alongside the cultures that it comes into contact with.
"When people from different cultures meet, it enriches everyone's lives and broadens their worldview," Hancock says.
The aim of the training sessions that Hancock arranges is to provide a safe space for people from immigrant backgrounds to play and meet people in similar situations. Finns are, of course, also very welcome to attend.
"In my research, I'm also trying to find out how the contacts made through football help in other aspects of life," Hancock explains.
Flamingo United, for one, provide an excellent case study in how this can work.
Similar experiences unite people
Iranian-born Yaghoubi Khashayar works as a researcher in Lahti and plays football for Flamingo United in his spare time.
He considers it very important that the team includes people from all over the world.
"The atmosphere within the team is very motivating and that impressed me," Khashayar says. "There is not just one nationality or one attitude. This was very important to me when I was choosing my team."
Yemeni-born Abdulrahman Al Okam agrees.
"For example, today, when we play together, I can become familiar with everyone's culture. I get to learn how other people live in this world," Al Okam says.
For Eron Shuku, playing with Flamingo United has given him a different perspective on the world.
"When I lived in Kosovo, I didn't meet foreigners very often. In an international crowd, there is a kind of blended culture, combining the best from here and there. I've learned a lot and I've tried new things," he says, adding as an example that he has discovered, via a teammate, a previously unknown love for Vietnamese food.
"I don't even recognise what goes into it, but it's probably my favourite dish these days," he says, further noting that it serves as an example of the strength of spirit within the team.
"Maybe there's a shared experience of what it's like to grow up in a country where things are not necessarily as good as they are in Finland," he says.
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