It is obvious why Finland’s most famous players – such as Sami Hyypia, Jari Litmanen and Teemu Pukki – aspired to play in a league as credible as the Premier League.

But what about British involvement in Finland – a nation that had not qualified for a major tournament until Euro 2020 – where ice hockey is typically seen as the biggest sport?

Twelve British players compares to none in the top leagues of Norway and Sweden, with eight each in France and Germany, and four in Spain.

IFK Mariehamn took a chance on Jayden Reid – who left Portsmouth last season after two years without making an appearance due to injury – while fellow winger Imani Lanquedoc is on loan at FC Haka from Fulham.

Luke Plange – who Crystal Palace signed for £1 million from a Derby County side battling relegation from the Championship under Wayne Rooney – has since played Champions League qualifying matches for HJK Helsinki.

HJK made a profit from selling last season’s Veikkausliiga top scorer, Bojan Radulovic, to the Championship, so might the club see an opportunity for more business later down the line?

“I think the clubs here assume that if English professionals are willing to come over, they are going to be decent quality,” said Cicale.

“Finnish football can be a very good platform for exhibiting your abilities – and perhaps if things haven’t gone in such a linear fashion throughout your career – it’s a good opportunity here to show what level you’re still at.”

Grieve’s view is that the Finnish league is a secure working environment for coaches – and it attracts a different type of player.

“It is not 100 mph like an EFL game, the technical level here is higher,” he explained.

“It is way more aggressive and more contact and a ‘free for all’ in Scotland or the lower leagues in England – it’s a different sport in all honesty.

“People who want to try and develop their career and develop a style of play might be more inclined to go somewhere like Finland.”

But Coffey has seen a chance to thrive as an unusual type of footballer in the Veikkausliiga.

“I’ve been kicked and pulled around by men in England, whereas in Sweden and Finland, the lads that I’m playing against are quite young,” he said.

“Technically, they’re very good players, but I feel like I’ve got a bit of an edge in terms of physicality and aggression.

“There are many good players in England, but I just don’t think a lot of them want to make the step or they’re quite comfortable living in England and maybe working and playing part-time,” he added.

For most kids aged 14, their thoughts will be on getting their homework done, or playing video games with friends.

But for Sammy Harvey, that was the age he was making his international debut.

The teenage goalkeeper started for the Turks and Caicos Islands last month in their Concacaf Nations League match against Anguilla – whose starting goalkeeper in contrast was 41.

Unfortunately for Harvey that game ended in a 2-0 defeat, but he and his team-mates have the chance to gain revenge when the two sides meet again on Sunday (03:00 BST).

“After the first game, I did cry, knowing that my first game was a loss,” Harvey told BBC Sport.

“[My coach] called me that same night to help me get my head back in it and get my head back up, and I was ready.

“I let it sink in knowing that, yes, I did play international level at 14 with a great experience. Let’s get ready for the next one to go again and prove to them that I can play at this level.”

Harvey says his footballing hero is his national team coach, Aaron Lawrence, who played in goal for Jamaica at the 1998 World Cup.

“I’ve watched a lot of his highlights from the World Cup days,” adds Harvey, who says he also admires Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson and Manchester City’s Ederson.

The teenager says it was his sister who first got him into football at the age of five, but initially he did not play as a goalkeeper.

“I started off as a left and right-back,” he said. “But when coach Aaron joined the programme I was on, his first days there, he put me in a goal and worked on me, my first ever goalkeeper coach.”

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor believes her strong personality and will to succeed come from having to fight to play football when she was younger.

Bompastor, who was the first woman to win the Champions League as a player and manager with Lyon, said French attitudes and prejudice towards women playing the sport spurred her on.

“I wanted to fight against this idea that if you were a girl you couldn’t play football,” she told BBC Sport.

“After that I worked so hard but I enjoyed it so much. At around 18 I realised maybe I could have a good career in my life with football.

“Not a career thinking about winning money, more about enjoying and playing at a high level.”

The 44-year-old has gone on to have a glittering career, winning 11 major trophies during two spells at Lyon as a player before claiming three straight league titles and the 2021-22 Champions League trophy as manager.

Despite Emma Hayes’ success during her 12-year tenure at Chelsea, which yielded 13 major titles, Bompastor’s transition at the club has appeared seamless.

The Blues have won each of their opening two Women’s Super League matches, while they claimed a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in their first Champions League group-stage game on Tuesday.

However, they face a tough test against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in the league on Saturday, in a game which is live on BBC One from 13:15 BST.

“Results have been good but this game will be different. It’s a derby. You have to be prepared,” said Bompastor, who has been impressed with the competitiveness of the WSL.

“The competition between the clubs is so big, so strong. I think something was missing in France, even if France has clubs competing at the highest level if you take Lyon and PSG.

“Here, every weekend you don’t take anything for granted and you have to fight to win the games so this is really good.”

At the 2018 finals in Russia, Zlatko Dalic led a nation with a smaller population than that of Scotland to the zenith of international football when they contested the World Cup final. They would come up short against France on the day.

Croatia reaching that showpiece was a surprise, but Modric is the very embodiment of upsetting the odds.

He and his family had to flee their home near the Dalmatian city of Zadar due to the Croatian War of Independence that provided the backdrop to his childhood.

As a Dinamo Zagreb graduate, 20 years ago, he was sent on loan to Bosnian club Zrinjski Mostar. For a young Croatian, that will have been an eye-opener.

In the ensuing two decades, Modric has won six Champions League titles, five Super Cups, four Spanish titles and five Club World Cups alongside the 180 caps he has proudly amassed in Croatia’s red and white checks.

Yet, when he made big-money moves to Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid, where he has won anything and everything, he was written off by many. He is currently enjoying his 13th season at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“I’m still here, motivated as before,” Modric said last month. “I am most proud to play for Croatia. I think I can still help.”

He was right as he followed up that statement with a complete masterclass against Poland on matchday two in Osijek in which he scored the only goal of the game with a superbly executed free-kick.

Scotland actually have a winning record against the Croats and are unbeaten on their two previous visits to Zagreb.

However, their two victories during the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, including an unexpected triumph in the Croatian capital, came after the qualification horse had long since bolted.

More recently, the Scots were on the receiving end of Modric wizardry in what was their must-win final group match of Euro 2020. Croatia eased to a 3-1 victory at Hampden Park, with the veteran scoring the second, and the game exposed a big gap between the teams.

To remain in contention in the current Nations League section and maintain hopes of a place in pot one or two for next year’s World Cup qualifiers, this is a game Scotland will probably have to win.

The trouble is that Croatia do not lose at home very often. That Scotland victory 11 years ago is one of only seven competitive defeats suffered on their own soil since Croatia entered the Fifa rankings in 1994.

Like Scotland, they had a disappointing European Championship in Germany, exiting at the group stage after conceding late goals against Albania and Italy in a tough group. Eventual winners Spain topped the section.

However, that anti-climax does not detract from the fact this will be a very tough assignment.

Nottingham Forest issued the highly critical post on X about five minutes after full-time in that April match at Goodison Park – which left the club one point above the relegation zone at the time.

In a controversial game, Forest were upset by referee Anthony Taylor ignoring three penalty appeals, including when Everton’s Ashley Young handled in the closing moments of the opening half and then when the veteran tangled with Callum Hudson-Odoi as he raced in on goal.

The Key Match Incident Panel – an independent panel that reviews decisions after each round of Premier League fixtures – found Forest should have been awarded a penalty for Young’s challenge on Hudson-Odoi in the 55th minute.

Forest said they had “warned” the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) that “the VAR is a Luton fan but they didn’t change him”.

“Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept,” the club posted on X, external on 21 April.

“Our patience has been tested multiple times.”

Although they did not name the official, the VAR was Attwell.

Forest were charged by the FA, who sought a fine in excess of £1m over the club’s “egregious, direct and public attack”.

The written reasons for the ruling confirmed that Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of PGMOL, and Mark Clattenburg, then a referee analyst employed by Forest, did discuss the fact that Attwell was a Luton fan during a call on 19 April – two days before the match.

However, the commission says it was “common ground” between the parties that no representations or requests were made to change the VAR for the match.

Attwell gave a statement to the panel which described the “stress, distress, fear and embarrassment caused to him” as a result of the post.

The panel found the impact on the official had “plainly been very significant,” adding: “To Stuart Attwell, the harm has continued well beyond the short period contended for by NFFC.”

Everton’s win over Forest moved them five points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand on Luton, with Forest in deep trouble, only a point ahead of the Hatters.

In the end, both Forest and Everton stayed up while Luton went down.

Clattenburg left his position at Forest on the day the club were charged by the FA, having been given a formal warning himself.

A village club in the eighth tier of English football have had this weekend’s match postponed because of international call-ups.

West Sussex-based Lancing were due to travel to Crawley to face Three Bridges in the Isthmian League South East Division on Saturday.

But two of their players will instead be 3,500 miles away representing Bermuda against Dominica in the Concacaf Nations League.

The Isthmian League agreed to postpone the match with Bermuda midfielder Knory Scott and forward Luke Robinson, both 25, missing out, while Charlie Gibson and Sam Bull will be playing six-a-side for England at the World Minifootball Federation (WMF) U23 World Cup in Croatia.

“It’s ridiculous for a club at this level,” Lancing chairman Barry Sutton told BBC Sport.

“To have one person called up [Scott, last year] was something we celebrated, but to have four off in the same week is unheard of.”

After Callaghan poked an effort wide after the restart, the deserved winner came in the 52nd minute when Maxwell’s cross drifted into the bottom corner to give the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.

Finnegan fired over as the Reds looked for a second, and substitute Kirsty McGuinness saw an effort parried away by Harvey-Clifford.

The Crues had a huge chance to level the game with 20 minutes to play when Rebecca Mann raced through on goal but the substitute hooked her effort wide.

McGuinness forced Harvey-Clifford into a superb diving save, and further chances fell to Caitlin McGuinness, who hit over from Katie Markey’s cross, and Maxwell, who fired narrowly wide.

The game fizzled out in the closing stages, with the Reds perhaps having one eye on Saturday’s cup final but when the final whistle blew, the Cliftonville bench ran onto the pitch to celebrate with their team-mates.

Elsewhere in the Women’s Premiership, Glentoran were held to a 1-1 draw by rivals Linfield.

Rhyleigh Marks opened the scoring for the Blues before Emily Wilson fired home an equaliser.

Lisburn Rangers warmed up for the Irish Cup final with a 3-0 win away to Mid Ulster, who will be relegated after finishing bottom of the table.

Caoimhe Mullholland and Ellie-Mae Dickson netted in the second half for Rangers before an own goal by Niamh McDonnell secured the win.

It has been a superb first season in the top flight for Lisburn Rangers, who finished fourth behind Cliftonville, Glentoran and Linfield.

Victory in Helsinki will help ease some of the early pressure on Hallgrimsson following last month’s defeats by England and Greece.

The Irish players were booed by sections of their home fans at the Aviva Stadium following the loss to Greece while the travelling supporters voiced their frustration in Helsinki after Nathan Collins’ woefully underhit backpass gifted Finland the opening goal.

However, Azaz insists he and his team-mates are blocking out the noise as they bid to secure back-to-back competitive wins on the road for the first time since November 2021.

“I am going out there to do my job, that’s what I am trained to do, so I try to ignore the outside noise, we all try to do that. That’s how you have to be,” said the Westminster-born 24-year-old, who qualifies for the Republic of Ireland through his Cork-born grandparents.

“We do hear criticism but that’s part of the job. You need a strong mentality to ignore the noise and hopefully this win will help us gain even more confidence. We have a lot of belief.”

Azaz, who was replaced by Jamie McGrath for the final 20 minutes against Finland, added: “I didn’t hear any boos at half-time. It was a tough game and a tough first half, but you need to show respect to the opposition.

“We are a good team. I felt we could push on at half-time and that’s what we tried to do in the second half.

“With Nathan, mistakes happen and we are ready for that. We didn’t need to say anything to him, he’s an experienced player. We just focused on the positives and had that positive energy for the second half.”

However, in his latest correspondence to clubs, Masters says: “There have been many club conversations over recent days, with constructive and informative feedback provided.

“We now have a comprehensive set of information and data which is helping to inform our recommended approach and rule amendment drafting.

“We are taking the necessary time to develop our proposals and the associated draft rule amendments for club consideration.

“We will circulate these to clubs when fully considered and ready, which may impact on the scheduling of our planned meetings with Financial Controls and Legal Advisory Groups, and all clubs next week.”

Earlier this week, City claimed the Premier League‘s summary of the panel’s ruling was “misleading” and contained “several inaccuracies”, in an escalation of the dispute.

In a letter sent to top-flight clubs and the Premier League, City wrote that the rules were now “void”, that the club had “concern [over] the Premier League’s suggestion that new APT rules should be passed within the next 10 days”, and signalled possible further legal action if there was a “knee-jerk reaction”.

The league declined to comment.

Clubs approached by the BBC have expressed different views over the situation. One referred to “general concern at the potential destabilising effect of this ongoing dispute”.

Another said: “We want to move forward… there will obviously be modifications to the rules and it needs to be done in a thoughtful way and we go on. We want to focus on the football.”

Several others declined to comment.

The league has also written to the tribunal panel to get further clarity on the status of the APT regulations.

This case is not directly related to the Premier League disciplinary commission, which will hear 115 charges against City for allegedly breaching its financial regulations, some of which date back to 2009. City deny wrongdoing.