Football phenomenon Gilla

Gilla playing in Laaksolahti

FC Gilla is formed by popular Finnish social media influencers (Roni Back, Roope Rannisto, Jalmafi etc.). The team includes also popular music artists (JVG, Ege Zulu, Hugo etc.) and former top division football players (Ilari Mettälä, Duarte Tammilehto, Teemu Penninkangas etc.) from Finland. FC Gilla is the most followed Finnish football team in social media, beating also the top division (Veikkausliiga) teams of Finland. Gilla has 69k followers in Instagram and 42k followers in YouTube vs. HJK the biggest club in Finland 47k followers in Instagram and 15k followers in YouTube. The team has won promotion every season and the fourth promotion in row to the 5th level (kolmonen) will be likely achieved. 

The team has gained popularity fast and I decided also to go see their match live. The 6th highest level (Nelonen) football match in Laaksolahti Espoo attracted about 1 000 spectators. Gilla ultras a group of about ten young boys with chants and drums were also present. Matches of Gilla are still free entry so traditional football teams in Finland are still doing better with attracting paying spectators to the stands. 

Gilla has to find new players if they want to climb towards top divisions. The retired top division players and other players with large following have their limitations. The question is are the current players ready to start training football seriously and if they drop out will the club supporters still support Gilla if their favorite players are not playing in the team anymore. One option is to make a reserve team where influencers with large following could play in a suitable level for them but would that decrease the following of the more competitive main team too much. The owners must be thinking what to do.