Veikkausliiga

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Veikkausliiga
2024 Veikkausliiga

Veikkausliiga (Finnish:

betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name. Veikkausliiga was founded in 1990; before that the top division was called Mestaruussarja
(championship series) since 1930 which was an amateur or semi-professional league. Between 1908 and 1930 the championship was decided as a knock-out cup competition.

Structure

During the 1990 and 1991 seasons the Veikkausliiga was played under the name "Futisliiga" (Swedish: Fotbollsligan).[1]

As with certain other cold-climate European countries, league matches in Finland are played in summer, with a schedule usually from April to October. The format and number of teams has changed frequently. As of 2020 there are 12 teams, which first face the other teams two times. After the two rounds, the league is divided into championship group (6 teams) and challenger group (6 teams), and both groups play a single series of five further matches. At the end of the season, the last team is relegated to Ykkönen, whose winner is promoted to Veikkausliiga, and the second last team plays a two-leg play-off versus the Ykkönen runner-up.

In 2010 the average annual salary with fringe benefits for a league player was 24,400 euros.

European Professional Football Leagues association.[3]

Clubs

, Finland, in August 2016.

The Veikkausliiga clubs in the

2024 season
are presented in the table below. Number of seasons includes seasons played in Veikkausliiga and preceding Mestaruussarja and seasons of predecessor teams after season 2023. In the case of mergers, the seasons of the predecessor with the most seasons are counted.

Club
City Stadium Capacity 2023 position Number of
seasons*
AC Oulu Oulu Raatti Stadium 4,392 7th 5
Ekenäs IF
Ekenäs
Ekenäs Centrumplan 1,900 Promoted from Ykkönen 1
FC Haka Valkeakoski Tehtaan kenttä 3,200 9th 66
FC Inter Turku Turku Veritas Stadion 4,828 6th 27
FC Lahti Lahti Lahti Stadium 4,750 10th 51
HJK Helsinki Bolt Arena 10,770 1st, Champions 85
IF Gnistan Helsinki Mustapekka Areena 1,100 Promoted from Ykkönen 0
IFK Mariehamn Mariehamn Wiklöf Holding Arena 1,650 11th 19
Ilves Tampere Tammelan Stadion 8,000 8th 42
KuPS Kuopio
Väre Areena
5,000 2nd 67
SJK Seinäjoki OmaSP Stadion 5,817 4th 13
VPS Vaasa
Lemonsoft Stadion
4,660 3rd 59

Former clubs

Club Home town Seasons
AC Allianssi Vantaa 2002–2005
Atlantis FC Helsinki 2001
FC Honka Espoo 2006–2014, 2018-2023
FC Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna 2002–2004
FC Jazz1 Pori 1991–2004
FC Jokerit Helsinki 1999–2001, 2003
FC KooTeePee Kotka 2003–2008
FC Kuusysi2 Lahti 1990–1995
FC Oulu Oulu 1992, 1994
FC Viikingit Helsinki 2007
FinnPa
Helsinki 1993–1998
HIFK Helsinki 2015-2017, 2019-2022
JJK
Jyväskylä 2009–2013, 2017
KPV Kokkola 1990, 2019
KTP Kotka 1999–2000, 2015, 2021, 2023
Kumu Kuusankoski 1990
MP Mikkeli 1990–1996
MyPa
Kouvola 1992–2014
OTP Oulu 1990–1991
PK-35 Helsinki 1998, 2016
Ponnistus
Helsinki 1995
Reipas2 Lahti 1990–1991
RoPS Rovaniemi 1990-2001, 2004-2005, 2008-2009, 2011, 2013-2020
TPV Tampere 1993–1995, 1999
Tampere United3 Tampere 2000–2010
TPS Turku 1990-2000, 2003-2014, 2018, 2020
TP-Seinäjoki Seinäjoki 1997
TP-47 Tornio 2004–2005

1) FC Jazz was formerly known as PPT (Porin Pallotoverit).
2) Kuusysi and Reipas merged their professional teams in 1996 to form
FC Lahti. Kuusysi returned to Kakkonen in 2011 under the name Lahti Akatemia, while Reipas returned to Kolmonen one year later.
3) Tampere United was formed in 1998 after it inherited the place of

FC Ilves
. Tampere United was dissolved in 2011 and Ilves, which in the meantime had bought the place of KooVee in second division, got promoted back to the highest league in 2015.

Veikkausliiga 1990–present

Season Winner Runners-up Third place
1990
HJK Kuusysi MP
1991
Kuusysi MP FC Haka
1992 HJK Kuusysi FC Jazz
1993 FC Jazz
MyPa
HJK
1994 TPV
MyPa
HJK
1995 FC Haka
MyPa
HJK
1996 FC Jazz
MyPa
TPS
1997 HJK VPS
FinnPa
1998 FC Haka VPS PK-35
1999 FC Haka HJK
MyPa
2000 FC Haka FC Jokerit
MyPa
2001 TamU HJK
MyPa
2002 HJK
MyPa
FC Haka
2003 HJK FC Haka TamU
2004 FC Haka AC Allianssi TamU
2005
MyPa
HJK TamU
2006 TamU HJK FC Haka
2007 TamU FC Haka TPS
2008 FC Inter FC Honka FC Lahti
2009 HJK FC Honka TPS
2010 HJK KuPS TPS
2011 HJK FC Inter JJK
2012 HJK FC Inter TPS
2013 HJK FC Honka VPS
2014 HJK SJK FC Lahti
2015 SJK RoPS HJK
2016 IFK Mariehamn HJK SJK
2017 HJK KuPS Ilves
2018 HJK RoPS KuPS
2019 KuPS FC Inter FC Honka
2020 HJK FC Inter KuPS
2021 HJK KuPS SJK
2022 HJK KuPS FC Honka
2023 HJK KuPS VPS

Performance

Performance by club

The following clubs have won:

Finnish Championship Cup Competition (1908–1929)
Mestaruussarja (1930–1989)
Veikkausliiga (1990–present)

30 clubs have been Champions.

Club Titles Runners-up Winning Years
HJK
33
14
1911, 1912, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1923, 1925, 1936, 1938, 1964, 1973, 1978, 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
FC Haka
9
7
1960, 1962, 1965, 1977, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004
HPS
9
6
1921, 1922, 1926, 1927, 1929,
1957
TPS
8
12
1928,
1975
HIFK
7
7
1961
KuPS
6
12
1976, 2019
FC Kuusysi
5
4
1991
Kiffen
4
1913, 1915, 1916,
1955
ÅIFK
3
5
1910, 1920, 1924
Reipas Lahti
3
3
1970
VIFK
3
2
1953
Tampere United
3
2007
VPS
2
5
1945, 1948
KTP
2
1951, 1952
OPS
2
1979, 1980
FC Jazz
2
1993, 1996
MyPa
1
5
2005
FC Inter Turku
1
4
2008
SJK
1
1
2015
PUS
1
1
1909
Sudet Vyborg
1
1
1940
KPV
1
1
1969
FC Ilves
1
1
1983
Unitas
1
1908
HT
1
1942
Ilves-Kissat
1
1950
Pyrkivä Turku
1
1954
TPV
1
1994
IFK Mariehamn
1
2016

Top scorers

Season Player Club Goals
1990
Poland Marek Czakon
Ilves
16
1991
Finland Kimmo Tarkkio FC Haka 23
1992 Brazil Luiz Antônio Moraes FC Jazz 21
1993 Finland Antti Sumiala FC Jazz 20
1994
Dionísio
TPV 17
1995 Russia Valeri Popovitch FC Haka 21
1996 Brazil Luiz Antônio Moraes FC Jazz 17
1997
Rafael
HJK 11
1998 Finland Matti Hiukka RoPS 11
1999 Russia Valeri Popovitch FC Haka 23
2000 Finland Shefki Kuqi FC Jokerit 19
2001 Finland Paulus Roiha HJK 22
2002 Finland Mika Kottila HJK 18
2003 Finland Saku Puhakainen
MyPa
14
2004 Finland Antti Pohja TamU 16
2005 Finland Juho Mäkelä HJK 16
2006 Finland Hermanni Vuorinen FC Honka 16
2007
Rafael
FC Lahti 14
2008 Finland Aleksandr Kokko FC Honka 13
Finland Henri Myntti TamU
2009 Finland Hermanni Vuorinen FC Honka 16
2010 Finland Juho Mäkelä HJK 16
2011 Finland Timo Furuholm FC Inter Turku 22
2012 Georgia (country) Irakli Sirbiladze FC Inter Turku 17
2013 Finland Tim Väyrynen FC Honka 17
2014 Finland Jonas Emet FF Jaro 14
Argentina Luis Solignac IFK Mariehamn
2015 Finland Aleksandr Kokko RoPS 17
2016 Finland Roope Riski SJK 17
2017 Finland Aleksei Kangaskolkka IFK Mariehamn 16
2018
Klauss
HJK 21
2019 Slovenia Filip Valenčič FC Inter 16
2020 Finland Roope Riski HJK 16
2021 Finland Benjamin Källman FC Inter 14
Cameroon Ariel Ngueukam SJK
2022 Scotland Lee Erwin FC Haka 20
2023 Serbia Bojan Radulović HJK 18

Individual all-time records

  Player in activities

See also

References

  1. ^ Antti Koivukangas (31 March 2016). "Fotbollsligan 1990: Kuusela ledde HJK till guld" (in Swedish). Yle. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  2. ^ Palkkatutkimus 2010 Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "The Finnish Football League Association Veikkausliiga - EPFL". epfl-europeanleagues.com. Retrieved 16 March 2018.

External links