Visual and technical rebuild of a football club's website.
- Design
- Development
- WordPress
- Performance
- Integrations
Overview
IF Gnistan is a Helsinki football club founded in 1924, based in the Oulunkylä district. We rebuilt their website both visually and technically: updated the look to match the club's current brand, materially sped up the site, and replaced an outdated sports-club plugin with a custom player roster. In the same project we delivered a TASO API integration that pulls the club's matches automatically from the Finnish FA's system.
The WordPress-based site brings the club's news, teams, matches and club information together into a clear whole. The main navigation was split into two distinct sections: information (news, matches, teams, club) and actions (tickets, shop, corporate packages, membership).
Challenge
IF Gnistan's website was outdated both visually and technically. Load speed was slow, the look no longer matched the club's current brand, and the main menu had grown unwieldy over the years. The third-party sports-club plugin used to present players and teams had fallen out of maintenance and started to limit what the site could do.
Solution
We replaced the heavy homepage carousel with a lighter static content section, stripped out unnecessary plugins, and built a custom player roster that lives as part of the site's own structure. Media was converted to WebP and SVG with lazy loading, which showed up directly in load times. The main menu was restructured into two clear sections (information and actions) so visitors find both the club's content and the conversion paths quickly. A TASO API integration pulls the club's matches automatically from the Finnish FA's system, and an Instagram feed was built into the site's look so it refreshes with no upkeep.
The fans' voice
In spring 2025 we ran a fan survey with IF Gnistan called “Fanien ääni kuuluviin” (Let the fans' voice be heard). 93 fans responded, giving the rebuild both a concrete measurement and a clear roadmap for future iterations.
- Overall satisfaction with the rebuilt site: 8.4 / 10. The most recurring descriptions: clear, stylish, informative.
- Mobile is the dominant channel: 91% of respondents use the site on a phone, and 87% said the mobile experience works well. Direct validation of the rebuild's mobile-first focus.
- Top future wish: “all match info in one place” (mean 8.78 / 10, 86% rated it 8+). The menu restructure and elevating the match section into its own area address this head-on.
- Most-wanted content: player interviews (40 mentions), fan-exclusive content (38), and match previews/reports (36). The custom player roster gives this content a natural home.
“We are very satisfied with the collaboration. You executed our plans with quality, bringing your own professional insights. The project reached the finish line excellently.”
Frans Enala
Marketing & Communications Manager
IF Gnistan
Highlights
- Load speed improved materially: First Contentful Paint –65%, Largest Contentful Paint –62.5%, Cumulative Layout Shift –100%
- A custom player roster replaced an outdated sports-club plugin and brought player profiles into the site's own structure
- TASO API integration pulls the club's matches automatically from the Finnish FA's system
- The main menu was restructured so information (news, matches, teams, club) and actions (tickets, shop, corporate packages, membership) are clearly separated
Interested?
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