AC Oulu

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
AC Oulu
Full nameAC Oulu
Founded2002; 22 years ago (2002)
GroundRaatti Stadium, Oulu
Capacity5,000
ChairmanTomi Kaismo
ManagerTuomas Silvennoinen
LeagueVeikkausliiga
2023Veikkausliiga, 7th of 12
WebsiteClub website

AC Oulu is a Finnish professional football club based in Oulu, currently playing in Finland's premier division, Veikkausliiga. Formed in 2002, the club have played five seasons in Finland's highest football league Veikkausliiga and 16 seasons in the second highest league Ykkönen. They currently play their home games at Raatti Stadium, and the club colours are navy blue, and white.

History

AC Oulu – FC Hämeenlinna in Castrén Stadium, Oulu, on 11 October 2009

Early years; 2002–2010 and the first promotions

AC Oulu was founded in 2002 as a joint initiative of the OLS, OPS, OTP and Tervarit clubs with the aim of bringing top level football back to Oulu. FC Oulu played in the Veikkausliiga in the early '90s as the most recent team from Oulu to play top-tier Finnish football.

After four seasons in the Ykkönen, AC Oulu reached the Finlands premier division Veikkausliiga in 2007. However, they were relegated back to the Ykkönen at the end of their first season in the top division. After two seasons in the second tier AC Oulu won promotion again to the Veikkausliiga at the end of the 2009 season after finishing top of the Ykkönen.

Having finished 11th in 2010 season the club were initially going to continue in the Veikkausliiga for the 2011 season. However, they were denied a league licence for financial reasons and therefore dropped down to the Ykkönen.

AC Oulu – KTP in Raatti Stadium, Oulu, on 21 May 2018

"Eternal Ykkönen"; 2011–2020

Since the relegation for financial reasons in 2010, AC Oulu played in Ykkönen for ten years, where it was considered as a candidate to promote for a long time. During 2009–2014, the former Finland national team winger Mika Nurmela played for the club, and simultaneously worked as a sporting director in AC Oulu. During 2016–2018, the former national team defender Markus Heikkinen played for the club as a player-coach. Since 2017, he has also been working as a sporting director for the club. In 2018, Tomi Kaismo and his investment company OTC-Sijoitus Oy, became the biggest shareholder of the club.[1][2] The club managed to create stability to their economy during those years, and finally won Ykkönen in the 2020 season, gaining a promotion back to Veikkausliiga for the 2021 season, previous time being in 2010.[3]

Veikkausliiga; 2021–present

In the 2021 Veikkausliiga season, after the run of poor results, the head coach Jyrki Ahola was sacked in September and replaced by Portuguese Ricardo Duarte.[4][5] AC Oulu finished 11th in the league, and successfully defended its place in the relegation play-offs against RoPS.[6]

In the 2022 season, the club finished in the 7th place, after having narrowly missed the top-6 championship group in the league. AC Oulu established its place in the league, after having mostly played in the second-tier Ykkönen since its foundation in 2002.

In the early 2023, AC Oulu reached to the final of the pre-season

FC Famalicão
.

In August 2023, the head coach Duarte announced that he will leave the club after the season, and his option will not be exercised.[8] Only a couple of weeks later, the club announced that Duarte was sacked with an immediate effect, following the loss in the 2023 Finnish Cup semi-final against Ilves, and the miserable results in the league.[9] However, in the end of the season, the club renewed its position in 7th place in the league, having narrowly missed the top-6 again.[10]

Stadium

Honours

Statistics

Divisional History

Year League T Tier G W D L GF - GA P
2003 Ykkönen 8. Tier 2 26 9 8 9 37 - 37 35
2004 Ykkönen 5. Tier 2 26 10 9 7 39 - 33 39
2005 Ykkönen 10. Tier 2 26 8 7 11 32 - 33 31
2006 Ykkönen 2. Tier 2 26 15 7 4 53 - 25 52
2007 Veikkausliiga 14. Tier 1 26 5 7 14 28 - 49 22
2008 Ykkönen 4. Tier 2 26 10 11 5 40 - 26 41
2009 Ykkönen 1. Tier 2 26 16 5 5 57 - 24 53
2010 Veikkausliiga 11. Tier 1 26 8 6 12 31 - 44 30
2011 Ykkönen 3. Tier 2 24 14 6 4 51 - 22 48
2012 Ykkönen 6. Tier 2 27 9 10 8 38 - 35 37
2013 Ykkönen 5. Tier 2 27 11 7 9 36 - 38 40
2014 Ykkönen 4. Tier 2 27 13 8 6 46 - 32 47
2015 Ykkönen 5. Tier 2 27 12 8 7 31 - 28 44
2016 Ykkönen 4. Tier 2 27 12 7 8 50 - 31 43
2017 Ykkönen 4. Tier 2 27 12 6 9 40 - 40 42
2018 Ykkönen 4. Tier 2 27 13 5 9 41 - 30 44
2019 Ykkönen 7. Tier 2 27 7 8 12 34 - 30 29
2020 Ykkönen 1. Tier 2 22 15 5 2 38 - 16 50
2021 Veikkausliiga 11. Tier 1 27 6 5 16 21 - 44 23
2022 Veikkausliiga 7. Tier 1 27 11 6 10 46 - 43 39
2023 Veikkausliiga 7. Tier 1 27 11 5 11 41 - 45 38
2024
Veikkausliiga
Tier 1

Current squad

As of 11 March 2024[13]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Finland FIN Samuli Hölttä
3 DF Finland FIN Otso-Pekka Parkkila
5 DF Equatorial Guinea EQG José Elo
7 MF Finland FIN Asla Peltola
8 MF Finland FIN Jere Kallinen
9 FW England ENG Ashley Coffey
10 MF Wales WAL Danny Barrow
11 FW Finland FIN
Jesse Huhtala
13 FW United States USA Justin Rennicks
14 MF Finland FIN Niklas Jokelainen
16 MF Finland FIN Otto Salmensuu
18 MF Greece GRE Dimitrios Metaxas
19 MF Finland FIN Aleksi Paananen
20 DF Finland FIN Juho Lehtiranta
21 MF Finland FIN Roope Salo
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 MF Finland FIN Julius Körkkö
24 DF Finland FIN Yassin Daoussi
25 MF Finland FIN Daniel Heikkinen
26 DF Finland FIN Niklas Orjala
27 GK Finland FIN Nuutti Kaikkonen
28 DF Finland FIN Eelis Taskila
35 GK England ENG Calum Ward
67 FW Finland FIN Rene Kähkönen
71 FW Finland FIN Julius Paananen
MF Northern Ireland NIR Jake Dunwoody
GK Finland FIN Johannes Pentti
DF Finland FIN Alexander Forsström
FW Brazil BRA Marcos André (on loan from Retrô)
DF Norway NOR Liiban Abadid (on loan from IF Brommapojkarna)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
FW Finland FIN Onni Suutari (at Tallinna Kalev)

Youth and reserve teams

In the summer 2020, AC Oulu and one of its founding member clubs Oulun Luistinseura (OLS) signed a new co-operation deal, by which AC Oulu acquired the U-17 team and OLS first team under its command.[14][15]

In the end of the 2023 season, the club's U17 team won the silver medal in the league of their age group.[16] In addition, the club's reserve team OLS gained a promotion from Kakkonen to new Ykkönen.[17]

On 13 November 2023, the club announced that they had signed a co-operation deal with one of their associate clubs Oulunsalon Pallo (OsPa), and acquired the control and the management of the OsPa first team in Kolmonen, as AC Oulu's second reserve team for youth players.[18]

After the 2023 season, Olli-Pekka Piisilä, the head coach of the AC Oulu/OLS U17 team, was awarded The Best Coach of the Boys' Team by the Football Association of Finland.[19]

AC Oulu/OLS reserve team

Reserve team squad

As of 6 February 2024[13]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
31 FW Finland FIN Narit Sarkkinen
34 FW Finland FIN Olli Sassi
38 FW Finland FIN Eemil Merikanto
41 DF Finland FIN Santtu Seppänen
63 FW Finland FIN Aleksi Isomäki
68 GK Finland FIN Johannes Pentti
71 FW Finland FIN Eemeli Raittinen
DF Finland FIN Nikolas Similä
MF Finland FIN Asla Peltola
DF Finland FIN Anselmi Nurmela
DF Finland FIN Eetu Saarela
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Finland FIN Jesse Korhonen
DF Finland FIN Kasper Flygare
DF Finland FIN Touko Ridanpää
FW Finland FIN Lauritapio Tiainen
GK Finland FIN Juuso Saarikoski
MF Finland FIN Hugo Karlsson
GK Finland FIN Onni Sillanpää
FW Finland FIN Aleksi Räisänen
MF Finland FIN Vili Saarikoski
MF Finland FIN Lucas Piirto
FW Finland FIN Antti Torniainen

Management and boardroom

Management

As of 18 November 2023[20][21][22]

Name Role
Finland Tuomas Silvennoinen Head Coach
Finland Mikko Viitsalo Assistant Coach
Finland Rauno Ojanen Assistant Coach
Finland Mikko Isokangas Assistant Coach
BrazilFinland Rafinha Assistant Coach
Finland Jani Luukkonen Goalkeeping Coach
England Luke Robertson Performance Coach
Finland Retu Värri Fitness Coach
Finland Olli Kyösti Technical Assistant
Finland Pasi Moilanen Team Manager
Finland Jari Malmi Kit Manager
Finland Ari Korkala Physiotherapist
Finland Ville Puukka Doctor

Boardroom

As of 23 November 2023[23]

Name Role
Finland Tomi Kaismo Chairman
Finland Timo Kalermo Vice Chairman
Finland Hanna Väänänen CEO
Finland Markus Heikkinen Director of Football

Managers and captains

Managers

Captains

Top goalscorers

Season Player G League
2003 Brazil Jeferson Pires 12 Ykkönen
2004 Brazil Jeferson Pires 10
2005 Brazil Jeferson Pires 5
Finland Jukka Puurunen
Brazil/Finland Rafinha
2006 Serbia Dragan Pejic 15
2007 Finland Janne Hietanen 5 Veikkausliiga
2008 Zambia Donewell Yobe 8 Ykkönen
2009 Zambia Donewell Yobe 14
2010 Canada Frank Jonke 8 Veikkausliiga
2011 Canada Randy Edwini-Bonsu 16 Ykkönen
2012 Finland Joonas Sohlo 9
2013 Finland Joonas Sohlo 7
2014
Dritan Stafsula
11
2015 The Gambia Kemo Darboe 6
2016 Democratic Republic of the Congo/Finland Aristote M'Boma 18
2017 Serbia Saša Jovović 8
Alvarado Morín
2018
Alvarado Morín
17
2019 Finland Juho Mäkelä 11
2020 Finland Aapo Heikkilä 9
2021 Liechtenstein Dennis Salanović 4 Veikkausliiga
Nigeria Lucky Opara
2022 Argentina Michael López 10
2023 England Ashley Coffey 13

Notable former players

References

  1. ^ AC Oulun pääomistaja Tomi Kaismo kertoo nyt, miten hän suhtautuu seuran jättitappioihin – "Aion olla pitkään mukana", Kaleva, Kai Nevala, 4 April 2023
  2. ^ KAISMO JATKAA AC OULUN HALLITUKSEN PUHEENJOHTAJANA, acoulu.fi, 19 April 2023
  3. ^ AC Oulun korpivaellus kesti tolkuttoman kauan, mutta nyt se on ohi – tähtipuolustaja avoimena: ”Tämä on ollut unelma koko ajan”, Ilta-Sanomat, Jarmo Korhonen, 3 May 2021
  4. ^ Jyrki Aholalle lyötiin eteen lohduton valinta: eroa tai tulee kenkää – tyly ”jäähyväislahja” kertoo tilanteesta kaiken, Ilta-Sanomat, Janne Oivio, 29 September 2021
  5. ^ Professori Duarte aloittaa nyt urakkansa Oulussa, eikä tilanne voisi olla pahempi: ”Mitään taikatemppuja ei ole”, Ilta-Sanomat, Janne Oivio, 15 October 2021
  6. ^ AC Oulu säilytti sarjapaikkansa – RoPS-hyökkääjä ei sulattanut joukkuekaverin ulosajoa: "Se oli tuomarivirhe", Yle, Hinni Hirvonen, 7 November 2021
  7. ^ Sami Hyypiä Trophy jaossa lauantaina – Liigacup 2023 huipentuu finaaliin, Veikkausliiga, 31 March 2023
  8. ^ AC Oulun päävalmentaja Ricardo Duarte jättää seuran kauden jälkeen, Veikkausliiga, 17 August 2023
  9. ^ AC Oulu teki uuden päätöksen – Ricardo Duarte jättää seuran jo nyt, suomifutis.com, 25 August 2023
  10. ^ AC Oulun karmea sulaminen huipentui runkosarjan päätöskierroksella – HJK:lla ja KuPSilla kiivas mestaruustaisto, Ilta-Sanomat, 3 September 2021
  11. ^ "Finland – List of League First Level Tables". RSSSF.
  12. ^ "Finland – List of League Second Level Tables". RSSSF.
  13. ^ a b "Joukkue 2024" (in Finnish). AC Oulu. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  14. ^ RESERVIJOUKKUE KAKKOSEEN - TOIMISTO, VALMENNUS JA TAUSTAT KASASSA!, acoulu.fi, 22 December 2020
  15. ^ Seuraesimerkki Huuhkaja- ja Helmaripolulta: Näin OLS:ssa varmistetaan, että tieto kehittää päivittäistä tekemistä, Finnish FA/Palloliitto, 23 August 2023
  16. ^ AC OULU / OLS -JUNIORIT TAISTELEE HOPEAMITALISTA LAUANTAINA, acoulu.fi, 28 September 2023
  17. ^ OTTELUENNAKKO: RESERVIJOUKKUEEN ENSIMMÄINEN KARSINTAOTTELU KOHTI YKKÖSLIIGAA PELATAAN TÄNÄÄN, acoulu.fi, 13 October 2023
  18. ^ AC OULUN PELAAJAPUTKI PÄIVITTYY, acoulu.fi, 13 November 2023
  19. ^ Captain's Ball 2023 – Palkitut osa 1, Finnish FA, 1 December 2023
  20. ^ AC Oulun uusi valmennuskolmikko: Rauno Ojanen, Tuomas Silvennoinen ja Mikko Viitsalo, Yle, 8 November 2023
  21. ^ Joukkue 2024, edustus, acoulu.fi
  22. ^ Joukkue 2024, reservit, acoulu.fi
  23. ^ "Yhteystiedot" (in Finnish). AC Oulu. Retrieved 15 September 2020.

External links