2017 Veikkausliiga

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
RoPS (12 April)
Lahti 6–2 Mariehamn (29 July)
2016

The 2017 Veikkausliiga was the 87th season of top-tier football in Finland. IFK Mariehamn were the defending champions.

Fixtures for the 2017 season were announced on 19 January 2017.[1] The season started on 5 April 2017 and ended on 28 October 2017.[2]

Teams

PK-35 Vantaa were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2016 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions JJK.

FC Inter as 11th-placed team regained their Veikkausliiga spot after beating the second-placed Ykkönen team TPS 2–0 on aggregate in a relegation/promotion playoff.

Stadia and locations

RoPS
Location of teams in 2016 Veikkausliiga
Club Location Stadium Turf Capacity
FC Inter Turku Turku Veritas Stadion
Natural
10,000
FC Lahti Lahti
Lahden Stadion
Natural
15,000
HIFK Fotboll Helsinki
Telia 5G -areena
Artificial 10,770
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi Helsinki
Telia 5G -areena
Artificial 10,770
IFK Mariehamn Mariehamn Wiklöf Holding Arena
Natural
4,000
FC Ilves
Tampere Tammelan Stadion
Natural
5,040
JJK Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Harjun stadion
Natural
3,000
Kuopion Palloseura Kuopio
Savon Sanomat Areena
Artificial 5,000
Palloseura Kemi Kings
Kemi Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto
Natural
4,500
RoPS
Rovaniemi Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Artificial 4,000
Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho Seinäjoki OmaSP Stadion Artificial 6,000
Vaasan Palloseura Vaasa Elisa Stadion Artificial 6,000

Personnel and kits

Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsors
FC Inter Italy Fabrizio Piccareta Finland Timo Furuholm Nike Alfons Håkans
FC Lahti Finland Toni Korkeakunnas Finland Mikko Hauhia Umbro BE Group
Lahti Energia
Halton
HIFK Finland Antti Muurinen Finland Mika Väyrynen
Puma
Aktia Bank
HJK Finland Mika Lehkosuo
Rafinha
Adidas Apu
IFK Mariehamn Finland Peter Lundberg[3] Finland Jani Lyyski Puma Hotell Arkipelag
Ilves Finland Jarkko Wiss Finland Antti Hynynen Adidas Various
JJK Finland Juha Pasoja Finland Tommi Kari Nike Harvia
KuPS Finland Jani Honkavaara Finland Sebastian Sorsa Puma Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas
PS Kemi Finland Jari Åhman Finland Lassi Nurmos Stanno Various
RoPS Finland Juha Malinen Finland Antti Okkonen Puma Saraware
SJK Scotland Brian Page
Finland Toni Lehtinen
Estonia Mihkel Aksalu Adidas LähiTapiola
EPKK
Prima Power
VPS Finland Petri Vuorinen Finland Veli Lampi Puma Various

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment Table
KuPS Finland Marko Rajamäki End of contract n/a Finland Jani Honkavaara 17 October 2016[4] Pre-season
SJK Finland Simo Valakari Sacked 17 February 2017[5] Finland Sixten Boström 20 February 2017 Pre-season
SJK Finland Sixten Boström Sacked 2 June 2017[6]
Manuel Roca
2 June 2017 8th
FC Inter Turku Finland Shefki Kuqi Sacked 3 August 2017[7] Italy Fabrizio Piccareta 3 August 2017 9th
SJK
Manuel Roca
Sacked 9 September 2017[8] Scotland Brian Page
Finland Toni Lehtinen
9 September 2017 5th

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 HJK (C) 33 23 7 3 78 16 +62 76 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 KuPS 33 16 8 9 51 36 +15 56 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[a]
3
Ilves
33 15 11 7 39 35 +4 56
4 Lahti 33 12 13 8 46 31 +15 49
5 IFK Mariehamn 33 13 10 10 44 42 +2 49
6 SJK 33 13 8 12 42 47 −5 47
7
RoPS
33 12 6 15 43 51 −8 42
8 VPS 33 9 12 12 38 51 −13 39
9 Inter Turku 33 10 8 15 54 57 −3 38
10
PS Kemi Kings
33 8 8 17 38 59 −21 32
11 HIFK (R) 33 6 11 16 37 54 −17 29 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
12 JJK Jyväskylä (R) 33 6 8 19 32 63 −31 26 Relegation to the Ykkönen
Updated to match(es) played on 28 October 2017. Source: Veikkausliiga (in Finnish), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Play-off
(Note: Play-off is only played if need to decide champion, teams for relegation or UEFA competition and will be played on a neutral ground).
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Since HJK, winners of the 2016–17 Finnish Cup, qualified for the Champions League first qualifying round, the spot awarded to the cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) is passed to the next best-placed team (in this case to the fourth-placed team).

Results

Each team plays three times against every other team, either twice at home and once away or once at home and twice away, for a total of 33 matches played each.

Relegation play-offs

First Match

FC Honka0–0HIFK
Tapiolan Urheilupuisto, Espoo
Attendance: 2,674
)

Second Match

FC Honka won 1-1 on away goals.

Statistics

Awards

Month Coach of the Month Player of the Month
April[9] Finland Mika Lehkosuo (HJK) Colombia Alfredo Morelos (HJK)
May[10]
KuPS
)
Colombia Alfredo Morelos (HJK)
June[11] Finland Mika Lehkosuo (HJK)
PS Kemi
)
July[12] Finland Toni Korkeakunnas (FC Lahti) Finland Santeri Hostikka (FC Lahti)
August[13]
Ilves
)
Finland Akseli Pelvas (HJK)

Annual awards

Award[14] Winner Club
Player of the Year Slovenia Filip Valenčič HJK
Goalkeeper of the Year Russia Aleksandr Vasyutin Lahti
Defender of the Year Finland Juha Pirinen HJK
Midfielder of the Year Ghana Anthony Annan HJK
Striker of the Year Slovenia Filip Valenčič HJK
Breakthrough of the Year Finland Kaan Kairinen Inter Turku
Coach of the Year Finland Mika Lehkosuo HJK

Team of the Year

Team of the Year[15]
Goalkeeper Russia Aleksandr Vasjutin (Lahti)
Defence Finland

Albin Granlund (Mariehamn)

Finland

Hannu Patronen (HJK)

Ivory Coast

Hamed Coulibaly (KuPS)

Finland

Juha Pirinen (HJK)

Midfield Finland

Rasmus Karjalainen (PS Kemi)

Ghana Anthony Annan (HJK)

Slovenia Filip Valenčič (HJK) Finland

Santeri Hostikka (Lahti)

Attack Finland Aleksei Kangaskolkka (Mariehamn) Cameroon Ariel Ngueukam (Ilves)

References

  1. ^ "Veikkausliigan otteluohjelma 2017 julkistettu". www.veikkausliiga.com. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  2. ^ Otteluohjelma | Veikkausliiga
  3. ^ "Kari Virtanen fortsätter i rådgivarroll för IFK". IFK Mariehamn (in Swedish). IFK Mariehamn. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Jani Honkavaara on Kuopion Palloseuran uusi päävalmentaja". KuPS (in Finnish). KuPS. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Simo Valakari on vapautettu SJK:n päävalmentajavastuusta". SJK (in Finnish). SJK. 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Sixten Boström ei jatka SJK:n päävalmentajana". SJK (in Finnish). SJK. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Tiedote: Shefki Kuqi ei jatka Interin päävalmentajana". FC Inter Turku (in Finnish). FC Inter Turku. 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Brian Page ja Toni Lehtinen vetävät kauden loppuun". SJK (in Finnish). SJK. 9 September 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  9. ^ Veikkausliigan kuukauden parhaat valittu (in Finnish)
  10. ^ Morelos jälleen kuukauden pelaajaksi (in Finnish)
  11. ^ [1] (in Finnish)
  12. ^ [2] (in Finnish)
  13. ^ [3] (in Finnish)
  14. ^ Is, Stt- (2017-11-03). "Filip Valencic on Veikkausliigan kauden paras pelaaja". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  15. ^ "Jalkapallolehdistön tähdistö valittiin – KuPS sai hopeaa, Ilves pronssia ja Lahtikin pääsee europeleihin – Päivän Lehti". www.paivanlehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.