2008 Veikkausliiga
 | This article includes a KuPS |
← 2007 → | |
The 2008 season of Veikkausliiga was the 78th season of top-tier football in Finland. It started on 27 April 2008 and ended on 26 October 2008. The defending champions were Tampere United.
Promotion and relegation
RoPS
competed in a two-legged relegation play-offs for one spot in 2008 Veikkausliiga. RoPS won 2–1 on aggregate and therefore were promoted to Veikkausliiga.
Overview
Location of teams in Veikkausliiga 2008
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Haka | Valkeakoski | Tehtaan kenttä | 3,516 |  Olli Huttunen
|
HJK
|
Helsinki | Finnair Stadium
|
10,770 | Antti Muurinen
|
| FC Honka | Espoo | Tapiolan Urheilupuisto
|
6,000 | Mika Lehkosuo
|
| FC Inter | Turku | Veritas Stadion | 10,000 |  Job Dragtsma
|
| FF Jaro | Jakobstad | Jakobstads Centralplan | 5,000 | Mika Laurikainen
|
| FC KooTeePee | Kotka | Arto Tolsa Areena | 4,780 | Tommi Kautonen
|
KuPS
|
Kuopio | Magnum Areena
|
3,500 | Kai Nyyssönen
|
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahden Stadion
|
15,000 | Ilkka Mäkelä
|
| IFK Mariehamn | Mariehamn | Wiklöf Holding Arena | 1,600 | Pekka Lyyski
|
MYPA
|
Anjalankoski | Saviniemi
|
4,067 | Janne Lindberg
|
RoPS
|
Rovaniemi | Keskuskenttä | 4,000 |  Valeri Bondarenko
|
| Tampere United | Tampere | Ratina Stadion
|
17,000 | Ari Hjelm
|
| TPS | Turku | Veritas Stadion | 10,000 | John Allen
|
| VPS | Vaasa | Hietalahti Stadium | 4,600 | Tomi Kärkkäinen
|
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Inter (C) | 26 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 46 | 12 | +34 | 54 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | FC Honka | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 46 | 23 | +23 | 50 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | FC Lahti | 26 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 44 | 24 | +20 | 48 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | HJK | 26 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 47 | 29 | +18 | 47 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round[a] |
| 5 | MYPA
|
26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 33 | 21 | +12 | 42 | |
| 6 | TPS | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 45 | 36 | +9 | 42 | |
| 7 | Tampere United | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 41 | 34 | +7 | 36 | |
| 8 | Haka | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 35 | |
| 9 | FF Jaro | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 35 | |
| 10 | RoPS
|
26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 30 | |
| 11 | VPS | 26 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 29 | −11 | 29 | |
| 12 | IFK Mariehamn | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 24 | 40 | −16 | 26 | |
| 13 | KuPS (O)
|
26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 56 | −30 | 19 | Qualification to relegation play-offs |
| 14 | FC KooTeePee (R) | 26 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 14 | 57 | −43 | 8 | Relegation to Ykkönen |
Source: veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- Finnish Cup 2008, thereby qualifying for the second qualifying roundof the UEFA Europa League.
Relegation play-offs
Veikkausliiga 2009
. KuPS won 2–1 on aggregate and thereby retained their league spot for 2009.
KuPS | ||
|---|---|---|
Jäntti  12' |
Report (in Finnish) |
Koljonen 28' Venäläinen 32' |
KuPS | 0 – 0 | FC Viikingit |
|---|---|---|
| Report (in Finnish) |
Magnum Areena, Kuopio
Results
Top goalscorers
Source: veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleksandr Kokko
|
Honka | 13 |
| Henri Myntti
|
Tampere United | 13 | |
| 3 | Mikko Hyyrynen
|
Jaro | 11 |
| Toni Lehtinen
|
Haka | 11 | |
| Mikko Paatelainen
|
TPS | 11 | |
Rafael
|
Lahti | 11 | |
| 8 | Jarno Parikka
|
HJK
|
9 |
| Hermanni Vuorinen
|
Honka | 9 | |
| 10 |  Tarmo Neemelo
|
MYPA
|
8 |
| Mika Ojala
|
Inter Turku | 8 | |
| Paulus Roiha
|
HJK
|
8 |
Annual awards
Source: Veikkausliigan parhaat kaudella 2008 nimetty (in Finnish)
Players' Association's awards
- Player of the Year: Dominic Chatto (Inter Turku)
- Young player of the Year: Aleksandr Kokko (Honka)
- Referee of the Year: Tero Nieminen
Veikkausliiga's awards
- Goalkeeper of the Year: Patrick Bantamoi (Inter Turku)
- Defender of the Year: Jos Hooiveld (Inter Turku)
- Midfielder of the Year: Mika Ojala (Inter Turku)
- Attacker of the Year: Aleksandr Kokko (Honka)
External links
- Official website (in Finnish)
- soccerassociation.com