2018 Veikkausliiga

Football league season
Veikkausliiga
Season2018
ChampionsHJK
29th title
RelegatedTPS
PS Kemi
Champions LeagueHJK
Europa LeagueRoPS
KuPS
Inter Turku
Matches played198
Goals scored490 (2.47 per match)
Top goalscorerKlauss (21)
← 2017
2019 →

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

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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 Brazil 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 Russia 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 Russia 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:

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.

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away HJK HON ILV INT KPS LAH MAR PSK RPS SJK TPS VPS
HJK — 3–2 3–1 3–0 1–2 1–2 2–0 2–0 2–2 4–0 2–1 5–0
Honka 1–2 — 4–1 2–2 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 3–1 2–0 0–1
Ilves 0–0 3–3 — 1–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–0
Inter 0–0 2–3 0–1 — 0–1 2–0 3–0 1–0 3–3 2–0 1–2 1–3
KuPS 2–2 1–1 3–1 5–1 — 1–1 2–1 2–3 0–1 1–1 3–2 1–2
Lahti 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 — 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 3–2 1–1
IFK Mariehamn 0–1 1–2 2–0 2–3 1–4 1–2 — 2–1 1–3 1–0 3–2 2–2
PS Kemi Kings 1–2 1–1 0–2 2–4 3–2 0–0 2–3 — 0–1 1–0 2–2 0–1
RoPs 1–2 1–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 — 1–0 0–0 1–0
SJK 0–1 2–0 2–3 0–1 1–3 1–0 1–1 0–1 2–1 — 4–0 0–0
TPS 0–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 3–2 0–0 0–2 — 0–1
VPS 1–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–2 4–1 3–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 —
Source: Veikkausliiga (in Finnish)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Home \ Away HJK HON ILV INT KPS LAH MAR PSK RPS SJK TPS VPS
HJK — – – 3–0 – – 2–0 0–0 3–0 1–0 – 1–0
Honka 0–0 — – – – 2–0 – 2–1 – – 3–0 3–1
Ilves 1–2 0–1 — 1–0 – 0–1 – 4–0 – – 2–0 –
Inter – 0–2 – — 0–1 – 1–1 – 0–0 – – 1–1
KuPS 0–1 1–1 2–0 – — 2–1 – 3–1 – – 2–1 –
Lahti 0–2 – – 0–0 – — – 1–2 1–2 – 2–5 1–1
IFK Mariehamn – 0–0 3–6 – 1–2 3–0 — – – 1–0 2–2 –
PS Kemi Kings – – – 0–2 – – 2–0 — 0–2 0–0 – 0–2
RoPs – 2–1 1–0 – 1–1 – 1–0 – — 0–1 – –
SJK – 0–1 2–3 2–2 1–2 0–0 – – – — 1–0 –
TPS 0–4 – – 1–0 – – – 4–1 1–2 – — 4–1
VPS – – 1–2 – 0–3 – 1–1 – 1–2 0–2 – —
Source: Veikkausliiga (in Finnish)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of match played 27 October 2018
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Brazil 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 Brazil 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 Brazil Klauss HJK
Breakthrough of the Year Brazil Klauss HJK
Coach of the Year Finland Toni Koskela RoPS

Team of the Year

Reguero
Obilor
Aalto
Väisänen
Taiwo
Dahlström
Martín
Pennanen
Klauss
Kandji
Strandvall
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 Brazil 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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