The Helsinki Red Room museum is currently only open for private events, but its collection can be admired at the exhibition of the TAHTO museum on September 25. until.
Since then, Virtanen has collected 35,000 Manchester United-themed items for himself. Nowadays, he has a private museum called Helsinki Red Room in Hernesaari, Helsinki.
It is possibly one of the largest Manchester United-centric collections in the world.
Virtanen describes himself as one of the team’s most intellectually free fans.
– I’m just the tip of the spear, part of a big puzzle. There are millions of people involved in this, says Virtanen.
Manchester United, which reached 144 years of age, is one of the most followed football teams in the world, with thousands of fans in Finland as well. The Hernesaari museum hides many kinds of stories from the British team’s journey.
It is the stories that have made Virtanen see all the effort it takes to collect such a large collection.
Eric Cantona’s drawing is the Mona Lisa of the collection
When you look around in this space of about 200 square meters, you can see cleats, trading cards, jerseys and newspaper clippings from the entire history of the team.
Cantona drew a picture of himself with studded shoes hanging on the wall and wrote a message to the boy: \”Don’t be sad\”.
– After all these years, the drawing ended up here in Helsinki, Virtanen says.
Of course, a large amount of money has also sunk into such a large amount of goods. According to Virtanen, it’s easier to get there if you don’t think about the exact amount.
– A few marks have gone into this, he says with a laugh.
A weekend full of football-related programs is coming
Virtanen will also hear stories this weekend, when a group of former Manchester United players arrive in Finland.
On Friday, a friendly match between the United Legends and Finland All Stars teams will be played at the Töölö football stadium. The museum will also be visited by the team’s legends, and there are also plans for a joint evening together with fans and players.
There will be an \”opening\” of the museum, when about a hundred fans of the international team will arrive in Finland to watch the game and visit the museum. kun noin satakunta kansainvälistä joukkueen fania saapuu Suomeen katsomaan peliä ja vierailemaan museossa. However, the doors of the Helsinki Red Room cannot be opened to the general public yet.
Instead, the Cultural Center for Sports and Physical Activity, or TAHTO, has organized an exhibition where about 50 objects related to Manchester United collected by Virtanen are on display.
– Maybe next year, you can also visit the Red Room on an open-door basis, says Virtanen.