2018 Veikkausliiga

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Klauss (21)
2017

The 2018 Veikkausliiga was the 88th season of top-tier football in Finland. HJK were the defending champions.

Fixtures for the 2018 season were announced on 17 January 2017. The season started on 7 April 2018 and ended on 27 October 2018.[1]

Teams

JJK were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2017 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions TPS
.

HIFK as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team FC Honka in a relegation/promotion playoff.

Stadia and locations

RoPS
Location of teams in 2018 Veikkausliiga
Club Location Stadium Turf Capacity
FC Honka Espoo
Tapiolan Urheilupuisto
Natural
6,000
FC Inter Turku Veritas Stadion
Natural
10,000
FC Lahti Lahti
Lahden Stadion
Natural
15,000
HJK Helsinki
Telia 5G -areena
Artificial 10,770
IFK Mariehamn Mariehamn Wiklöf Holding Arena
Natural
4,000
Ilves
Tampere Tammelan Stadion
Natural
5,040
KuPS Kuopio
Savon Sanomat Areena
Artificial 5,000
PS Kemi
Kemi Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto
Natural
4,500
RoPS
Rovaniemi Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Artificial 4,000
SJK Seinäjoki OmaSP Stadion Artificial 6,000
TPS Turku Veritas Stadion
Natural
10,000
VPS Vaasa Elisa Stadion Artificial 6,000

Personnel and kits

Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsors
FC Honka Finland Erik Jansson Finland Tommi Saarinen Puma
FC Inter England John Allen Finland Timo Furuholm Nike Alfons Håkans
FC Lahti Finland Toni Korkeakunnas Finland Mikko Hauhia Umbro Halton
Lahti Energia
Prima Power
HJK Finland Mika Lehkosuo
Rafinha
Adidas Apu
IFK Mariehamn Finland Peter Lundberg Finland Kristian Kojola Puma Hotell Arkipelag
Ilves Finland Pontus Augustinsson Finland Mika Hilander Adidas LähiTapiola
Pihlajalinna
Kiilto
KuPS Finland Jani Honkavaara Finland Petteri Pennanen Puma LähiTapiola
PS Kemi Colombia Julián Guevara Craft Various
RoPS Finland Toni Koskela Finland Antti Okkonen Puma
SJK
Alexei Eremenko Sr.
Estonia Mihkel Aksalu Adidas LähiTapiola
Prima Power
Elisa
TPS Finland Tuomas Pekkarinen Finland Sami Rähmönen Puma OP Turun Seutu
Silja Line
LähiTapiola
VPS Finland Petri Vuorinen Finland Sebastian Strandvall Puma Various

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment Table
RoPS Finland Juha Malinen Signed by Finland U19 31 October 2017 Finland Toni Koskela 1 November 2017 [2] Pre-season
SJK Scotland Brian Page
Finland Toni Lehtinen
End of caretaker spell 31 October 2017 Finland Tommi Kautonen 1 November 2017 [3]
SJK Finland Tommi Kautonen Sacked 21 May 2018
Alexei Eremenko Sr.
22 May 2018 [4] 9th
FC Inter Italy Fabrizio Piccareta Resigned 9 June 2018 England John Allen 10 June 2018 [5] 8th
PS Kemi Finland Jari Åhman Sacked 30 June 2018 Scotland David Hannah 1 July 2018 [6] 12th

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 HJK (C) 33 24 6 3 61 19 +42 78 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round[a]
2
RoPS
33 18 8 7 42 25 +17 62 Qualification for the
Europa League first qualifying round
3 KuPS 33 17 7 9 56 37 +19 58
4 Honka 33 15 13 5 51 33 +18 58
5
Ilves
33 14 7 12 45 41 +4 49
6 VPS 33 10 11 12 37 43 −6 41
7 Inter Turku 33 10 10 13 37 44 −7 40 Qualification for the
Europa League first qualifying round[b]
8 Lahti 33 9 13 11 30 38 −8 40
9 SJK 33 8 8 17 28 37 −9 32
10 IFK Mariehamn 33 8 7 18 37 59 −22 31
11 TPS (R) 33 7 8 18 37 55 −18 29 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
12
PS Kemi Kings
(R)
33 6 6 21 29 59 −30 24 Relegation to the Ykkönen
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. Champions League first qualifying round
  2. 2017-18 Finnish Cup

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.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of match played 27 October 2018
Rank Player Club Goals
1
Klauss
HJK 21
2 Finland Rasmus Karjalainen KuPS 17
3 The Gambia Macoumba Kandji Honka 16
4 Spain Borjas Martín Honka 12
Finland Petteri Pennanen KuPS
6 Finland Aleksei Kangaskolkka IFK Mariehamn 10
Finland Sebastian Strandvall VPS
8 Finland Timo Furuholm Inter Turku 9
Cameroon Marius Noubissi
Ilves
10 Finland Mika Ääritalo TPS 8
Finland Benjamin Källman Inter Turku
Finland Lassi Lappalainen RoPS

Awards

Annual awards

Award[7] Winner Club
Player of the Year
Klauss
HJK
Goalkeeper of the Year Spain Antonio Reguero RoPS
Defender of the Year Nigeria Faith Obilor HJK
Midfielder of the Year Finland Petteri Pennanen KuPS
Striker of the Year
Klauss
HJK
Breakthrough of the Year
Klauss
HJK
Coach of the Year Finland Toni Koskela RoPS

Team of the Year

Team of the Year[8]
Goalkeeper Spain Antonio Reguero (RoPs)
Defence Finland

Henri Aalto (Honka)

Nigeria

Faith Obilor (HJK)

Finland

Leo Väisänen (RoPs)

Nigeria

Taye Taiwo (RoPs)

Midfield Finland

Sebastian Strandvall (VPS)

Finland Sebastian Dahlström (HJK)

Spain Borjas Martin (Honka) Finland

Petteri Pennanen (KuPs)

Attack
Klauss
(HJK)
Senegal Macoumba Kandji (Honka)

References

  1. ^ "Veikkausliigan otteluohjelma 2018 julkaistu". www.veikkausliiga.com. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Juha Malinen siirtyy Suomen U21 poikamaajoukkueen päävalmentajaksi". Rovaniemen Palloseura (in Finnish). Rovaniemen Palloseura. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  3. ^ "Tommi Kautonen SJK:n päävalmentaja kaudesta 2018". SJK (in Finnish). SJK. 16 October 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Alexei Eremenko sr. korvaa Tommi Kautosen". SJK (in Finnish). SJK. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Tiedote: Fabrizio Piccareta jättää FC Interin". FC Inter (in Finnish). FC Inter. 10 June 2018. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  6. ^ "PS Kemi vapautti Jari Åhmanin tehtävistään – David Hannah uusi päävalmentaja". PS Kemi (in Finnish). PS Kemi. 30 June 2018. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  7. ^ Happonen, Jesse (2018-11-03). "Tässä Veikkausliiga-kauden 2018 kaikki palkitut – HJK-tähti putsasi palkintopöydän". Arvokisat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  8. ^ "Jalkapallotoimittajat nimesivät oman tähdistöjoukkueen". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-02.

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