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Toni Koskela

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Toni Koskela
Koskela with RoPS in 2018.
Personal information
Full name Toni Koskela
Date of birth (1983-02-16) 16 February 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Helsinki, Finland
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Puotinkylän Valtti
Jokerit
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Jokerit 9 (1)
2003 → Hämeenlinna (loan) 9 (0)
2004 KooTeePee 25 (4)
2005–2006 Cardiff City 2 (0)
2006 Ilisiakos 2 (0)
2006 KooTeePee 11 (2)
2007–2008 Molde 52 (4)
2009 JJK 17 (1)
International career‡
2004 Finland U21 3 (0)
Managerial career
2013–2017 HJK (assistant)
2015–2017 Klubi-04
2018–2019 RoPS
2019–2023 HJK
2023–2024 AEL Limassol
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 January 2009

Toni Koskela (born 16 February 1983) is a Finnish football manager and former player. He most recently managed Cypriot First Division club AEL Limassol.

After a short professional career, he has managed three Finnish teams, including HJK.[1] He had to retire from his footballing career in 2009, aged 26, due to numerous knee injuries.[2]

Playing career

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After starting his career in Finland, Koskela was snapped up by Championship side Cardiff City but he failed to impress at the club making just three appearances in all competitions, including an FA Cup game against Arsenal.[3] In November 2005 he was close of signing a contract with Bristol City but Cardiff did not want to let him go, so the transfer failed. Eventually he was released by the club and quickly transferred to Greek club Ilisiakos.

He has also played for FC Jokerit, FC Hämeenlinna,[4] FC KooTeePee and JJK Jyväskylä[5] in the Finnish Veikkausliiga, and Norwegian club Molde FK.

International career

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A former Finnish youth international, Koskela also represented Finland under-21 youth national team in 2004.[6] In April 2005, Koskela and Njazi Kuqi were both temporarily suspended from the international duties by the Finnish FA, due to leaving the U21 team's hotel in Prague without permission from the head coach Markku Kanerva.[7]

Managerial career

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Koskela started coaching in youth teams of PK-35 and HJK.[8] In 2013, he started as an assistant coach of HJK first team, and since 2015 managed the club's reserve team Klubi 04 in third-tier Kakkonen.[9] Koskela led Klubi 04 to win the Kakkonen Southern Group, but the team eventually lost in the promotion play-offs to GrIFK.[10] At the end of the 2017 season, Koskela led Klubi 04 to win a promotion to second-tier Ykkönen.[11]

RoPS

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Koskela was named the head coach of Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) ahead of the 2018 Veikkausliiga season. In his first year as a head coach in the Finnish premier division, Koskela led RoPS to win a silver medal with one of the smallest budget in the league.[12] At the end of the season, he was awarded the Coach of the Year.[13]

HJK Helsinki

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In May 2019, he was named the new manager of HJK Helsinki following the sacking of Mika Lehkosuo. He stated that it was good to "return back home" to HJK, after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal.[14] HJK reportedly paid RoPS a fee of €150,000 for Koskela's contract.[15] During his first three full seasons as the head coach of HJK, Koskela led the club to three straight Veikkausliiga titles in 2020, 2021 and 2023. In addition, he managed the club to two visits in the group stages of European competitions, qualifying for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League and for the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League. He was named the Manager of the Year in the 2022 Veikkausliiga season, for the second time in his career.

HJK parted ways with Koskela on 13 July 2023, after a 1–0 win over Larne FC in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, following a relatively poor run of overall form in domestic results.

AEL Limassol

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On 15 October 2023, Koskela was named the manager of AEL Limassol in Cypriot First Division.[16][17] After winning two of his three first games in charge, he received a massive amount of positive support from the fans on social media. On 22 January 2024, the club announced the termination of Koskela's contract on mutual agreement.[18] Later Koskela revealed in Finnish media, that prior to his departure, the club had big financial problems to pay salaries for the players and the staff.[19]

Personal life

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His mother is a former basketball and handball player Kristiina Koskela, and his maternal grandfather was the former referee Fjalar Åsten, who refereed in football, bandy, handball and rinkball.[20]

Career statistics

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As of 23 May 2024[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Jokerit II 2000 Ykkönen 7 0 – – 7 0
Jokerit 2001 Veikkausliiga 24 2 0 0 1[b] 0 25 2
2002 Ykkönen 1 0 0 0 – 1 0
2003 Veikkausliiga 9 1 0 0 – 9 1
Total 34 3 0 0 1 0 35 3
Hämeenlinna (loan) 2003 Veikkausliiga 9 0 – – 9 0
KooTeePee 2004 Veikkausliiga 25 4 0 0 – 25 4
Cardiff City 2004–05 Championship 2 0 0 0 – 2 0
2005–06 Championship 0 0 1 0 – 1 0
Total 2 0 1 0 – – 3 0
Ilisiakos 2005–06 Football League Greece 2 0 – – 2 0
KooTeePee 2006 Veikkausliiga 11 2 – – 11 2
Molde 2007 1. divisjon 28 3 – – 28 3
2008 Tippeligaen 24 1 1 0 – 25 1
Total 52 4 1 0 – – 53 4
JJK 2009 Veikkausliiga 17 0 – – 17 0
Career total 159 13 2 0 1 0 162 13
  1. ^ Includes Suomen Cup, FA Cup and Norwegian Cup
  2. ^ Includes UEFA Cup

Managerial statistics

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As of 22 January 2024[22]
Team Nat From To Record
P W D L GF GA GD W%
Klubi 04 Finland 1 January 2015 31 December 2017 75 39 20 16 166 79 +87 052.0
RoPS Finland 1 January 2018 22 May 2019 54 26 11 17 70 54 +16 048.1
HJK Helsinki Finland 23 May 2019 13 July 2023 174 99 36 39 318 193 +125 056.9
AEL Limassol Cyprus 15 October 2023 22 January 2024 13 4 1 8 15 23 −8 030.8
Total 316 168 68 80 569 349 +220 53.16

Managerial honours

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HJK

RoPS

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "HJK UEFA Youth League 2015-16 squad". UEFA. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Polvivamma pakotti Toni Koskelan katsomon puolelle" (in Finnish). veikkausliiga. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Flop Koskela finished at Cardiff" BBC Sport Retrieved 14 November 2007
  4. ^ FC Hämeenlinna vuokrasi Toni Koskelan, Kaleva, 9 July 2003
  5. ^ Toni Koskela vahvistaa JJK:ta kesäkuun loppuun, Ilta-Sanomat, 14 April 2009
  6. ^ Toni Koskela » U21 EURO Qualifiers 2004/2005, worldfootball
  7. ^ Kuqi ja Koskela väliaikaiseen pelikieltoon, Kaleva, 7 April 2005
  8. ^ Polvivamma pakotti Toni Koskelan katsomon puolelle, veikkausliiga.com, 11 March 2013
  9. ^ Toni Koskela aloittaa Klubi 04:n päävalmentajana, hjk.fi, 15 September 2014
  10. ^ Klubi 04-GrIFK 0-3 (0-2) yht. 1-8, hjk.fi, 17 October 2015
  11. ^ Klubi 04:n nousun arkkitehti Toni Koskela siirtyy RoPSin päävalmentajaksi, Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, 10 November 2017
  12. ^ HS: Toni Koskela sopi RoPS:n profiiliin täydellisesti - ”Rajamäet ja muut vapaat nimet on jo nähty”, suomifutis.com
  13. ^ a b Happonen, Jesse (3 November 2018). "Tässä Veikkausliiga-kauden 2018 kaikki palkitut – HJK-tähti putsasi palkintopöydän". Arvokisat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  14. ^ "HJK on nimittänyt uudeksi päävalmentajakseen Toni Koskelan" (in Finnish). HJK Helsinki. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  15. ^ HJK maksoin hurjan summan RoPSin luotsista, MTV Oy, 25 July 2019
  16. ^ "Νέος προπονητής ο Toni Koskela | Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού".
  17. ^ Kyproslaisseura tiedotti palkanneensa Toni Koskelan - valmentaja kommentoi uutista Yle Urheilulle: ”Sopimus on viimeistelyä vaille valmis”, Yle, 15 October 2023
  18. ^ Ανακοίνωση, ael-fc.com, 22 January 2024
  19. ^ Toni Koskela sai potkut – teki MTV Urheilulle karun paljastuksen seuran kulisseista, mtvuutiset.fi, 22 January 2024
  20. ^ Fjalar Åsten on poissa, Ilta-Sanomat, 26 January 2016
  21. ^ "Toni Koskela". worldfootball.net.
  22. ^ "Toni Koskela Manager profile" (in Bosnian). 8 November 2023.
  23. ^ Liimatta, Ville (1 December 2023). "Vuoden 2022 Captain's Ball: Kaikki voittajat ja palkitut kootusti". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
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