Aylesford FC in Finland 1948

[redhel]

Evening
Got my doubts on any replies to this one but here goes.

I’m compiling records of all foreign teams who have played any sort of game in Finland. 99% of the research is looking through old newspapers as very few clubs keep any sort of record.

There is a football forum in which I have found a list of the Finnish team Valkeakosken Haka’s ‘International’ games. One of these games is:

Haka v Aylesford C 13.6.1948 (that’s exactly how it is listed but I’m guessing it should be FC)

Google tells me that Aylesford FC were formed in 1970 so obviously not them so was it Aylesford Paper Mills?

Another thing that puzzles me more is that a match report in the local Helsinki paper after the game reads ‘Haka – Albert Reed 2-2’

Who was Albert Reed, and what is the connection to Aylesford?

I’m completely stumped on this.

Can anyone help me move this forward. Who were Aylesford C who toured Finland in 1948?

Very knowledgeable people on this forum but I’ll be amazed if anyone can help me on this

Peter

[colchestersid]

So here's my guess

- Messrs. Albert E. Reed and Co were a paper mill in Aylesford
- Most raw materials (and expertise) were imported from Scandinavia, especially Finland, after the war. Of course paper was still rationed in UK at this time
- Haka are from the town of Valkeakoski which is the heart of the Finnish paper industry. I went there in 2000 to see England U21s play and it was surrounded by forests. It's also home to a football museum!
- I would assume then that this was a game between FC Haka and Aylesford Paper Mills themselves or perhaps a scratch XI made up of employees of Albert E Reed and Co

https://www.suomenjalkapallomuseo.fi/

[colchestersid]

Albert himself was the founder of what is now RELX - a huge conglomerate with roots in printing and publishing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Edwin_Reed

[overlap]

Aylesford Paper Mills FC are now known as K Sports FC, and their nickname is The Paperboys.
There is a potted history of the club here below, but no mention of a tour of Finland, although APM FC were having some relative success around that post-war period, being promoted to the Kent League Division One.

Maybe you can contact K Sports FC and ask if they have a club historian there who might know about any Finland tour? There is a contacts page on their website.

https://www.ksports-fc.co.uk/clubinfo/About%20Us

[redhel]

'Got my doubts on any replies to this one but here goes'

I should have known better shouldn't I. This forum never fails to deliver!

Colchestersid. Not a bad 'guess' if you don't mind me saying

It fits perfectly with the few details I had....or as close as I'm going to get anyway.

Overlap. The icing on the cake. I will try to contact K Sports FC and see if anything comes of it.

Thank you both so much, made my day